10 reasons Lil' Kim's Hard Core album has been good for Hip Hop.
November 12 marks 15 years sinceΒ Lilβ KimΒ dropped her solo debut. βHard Coreβ took a burgeoning femme fatale and placed her in the heart of the neo-gangster movement hip-hop was embracing at the time thanks to the Notorious B.I.G. Oozing slick sexuality and punchy, reckless man-eating musings, 'Hard Coreβ was an X-rated experience. Kimβs contribution to rap with her first LP left a lasting impression on rap music as a whole β one that still echoes today. In honor of the Queen Beeβs decade-and-a-half old womanifesto, The BoomBox has compiled 10 reasons why Lilβ Kim and 'Hard Coreβ both deserve a seat at the hip-hop table. 10. Bad Boy Found Its Bad Girl While itβs true that Lilβ Kim was never formally signed to Bad Boy Records β she was under Biggie and Lance βUnβ Riveraβs Undeas Recordings before getting an imprint of her own β she was the female balance Puff needed in his posse. That βonly female in my crewβ line she declared a year later in 'All About The Benjaminsβ was birthed because of 'Hard Core.β Kim strutted her stuff withΒ Junior M.A.F.I.A.Β earlier on, but her solo album really drove the point home that βbeside every man is a bad girl.β 9. Queen Bee Takes Hip-Hop to Hollywood The title βQueen Beeβ wasnβt invented by Lilβ Kim, but she surely perfected it. The top of hip-hopβs hive was a position Kim demanded and achieved with 'Hard Core.β Her boldness vibrated into Hollywood, as years later the film 'Mean Girlsβ showed the leader of the pack being called the Queen Bee. In 'Sex & the City,β when Kim Cattrallβs character Samantha Jones β a Queen Bee of sorts β is undergoing chemotherapy, she dons a proud pink wig at a Hollywood premiere, earning her the nickname βLilβ Kim.β
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8. The Return of the Word βLilββ Some may see this as a glaring disadvantage in the rap name pool, but Lilβ Kim was the first βLilββ in a lilβ while to do it big in hip-hop. Once Lilβ Kim got started,Β Lilβ CeaseΒ got some appreciation and from there the Lilβ names have flooded. A year later,Β Lil Waynewould enter the scene with the Hot Boys, and the rest is history. See what Lilβ Kim did for the culture? Once again, huge fail to some hip-hop fans, but a gigantic win to others. 7. Hip-Hop Had Its Sexy Back Thereβs a scene in the film 'Notoriousβ where Naturi Naughton portrays Lilβ Kim and raps to Biggie β played by MC Gravy. Sheβs rhyming ruggedly and Big stops her and advises she has to make it sexy for men to listen to her. If that conversation actually happened prior to 'Hard Core,β then Biggie was correct. The opening on 'Big Momma Thangβ made it clear what Kim came to do. The imagery on the album inserts only furthered the notion that this was true pitbull-in-a-skirt rap, where lyrical fornication was in order. Praises toΒ Foxy BrownΒ too, who underΒ Jay-Zβs watchful eye achieved the same with 'Ill Na Na.β 6. 'Hard Coreβ Struck a Balance Itβs no surprise that not everyone was a huge fan of 'Hard Coreβ or the movement that Lilβ Kim was starting. Many women felt that Kimβs brazenness and unrelenting sexuality placed women right back to where they started as mere accessories in a male-driven industry. As a result, opposing female rappers likeΒ Lauryn Hill,Β Rah DiggaΒ andΒ Da Bratpushed forward in addition to their predecessors likeΒ Queen LatifahΒ andΒ MC Lyte. For the first time, women in hip-hop had options. You could be sexy or not be sexy. The choice was yours.
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5. Biggieβs Presence Was Felt A lover and protΓ©gΓ© of the lateΒ Notorious B.I.G., Lilβ Kim was under his careful tutelage during the creation of 'Hard Core.β B.I.G. stepped out of his comfort zone to craft female-driven lyrics on tracks like 'Queen Bβ-,β where he chimes in with, βYou nβ-s got some audacity/ Ya sold a million, now youβre half of me. Get off my dβ.β When Biggie passed less than a year later in 1997, hip-hop was feeninβ for the projects he had near completion just to get another dose of his brand of crack rap. Considering his huge influence on 'Hard Core,β this is another B.I.G. contribution to his legacy. 4. Kim Showed Us Her Hits No doubt about it, 'Hard Coreβ produced a large number of hits off the 15-track offering. Even those that didnβt chart evolved into hip-hop classics eventually. There was the intro track 'Big Momma Thangβ that featured Jay-Z β donβt forget Lilβ Cease β and followed with the Puff-assisted 'No Time.β Then there was 'Crush On You,β which, oddly, only featured Cease on the album version, but the single had Kim and Biggie on it β plusAaliyahΒ in the video. Finally, 'Not Tonight,β which morphed into the 'Ladies Night (Remix)β and saw Da Brat, Left Eye, Missy Elliott and Angie Martinez lend rhyming assists. 3. Hip-Hop Received a Gender Reassignment Lilβ Kim could have easily called herself King Bee with the way she was stepping into the role of a man on 'Hard Core.β Topics included men on their knees committing sex acts while sheβs watching cartoons, plus a response to Biggieβs song 'Dreamsβ with her own track 'Dreams,β which spoke of being with male R&B singers. She even adopted a motherly Mafia role in βM.A.F.I.A. Land,β where she says, βRight hands wash the left hands. Loyaltyβs priority in this fam.β Women had a voice as deep as a manβs on 'Hard Core.β
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2. Kim Practiced What She Preached Hip-hop is flooded with champagne wishes and caviar dreams that in reality are just beer and potato chips. Beyond that, declaring loyalty to the streets is a highly debatable argument. On 'Hard Core,β Kim rhymed about designer threads. Years later, she became Marc Jacobsβ poster child for Louis Vuitton. She also pledged allegiance to la familia β years later sheβd go to jail for all of them for committing perjury. Like Jay-Z said in 'Roc Boys,β βTo Lilβ Kim and them, you know the women friend who carry work cross state for a gentleman.β Hip-hop had some realness, and sheβs under five feet tall. 1. Nicki Minaj Can Thank Her Later Say what you will about the present situation between Lilβ Kim andΒ Nicki Minaj, but Kimβs 'Hard Coreβ mothered an entire generation of the female rappers that followed. By discussing sexuality in an unabashed style, upping tax brackets with lavish lifestyles and sitting in the same thrones men dominated in hip-hop for years, 'Hard Coreβ opened up doors. Those doors are still wide open, and many have walked through them βΒ Trina,Β Shawnna,Β Eve, the list goes on. While Nicki Minaj is currently leading the charge for females in rap, itβs still important to note where that style originated β 15 years ago.














