Lil Kim is one of the few “hardcore” female rappers who have enjoyed great commercial success. Like many men in hip hop Lil' Kim, is known for her music as well as her tangles with the law, censors, and sense of fashion. She started her career with the help of legendary rapper the Notorious B.I.G otherwise known as Biggie Smalls. She joined Junior Mafia and enjoyed success with them and in 1996 she embarked on a solo career. She released Hard Core which is considered certified double platinum. She has released many albums since then and she quickly grew famous for her sexually explicit lyrics and revealing clothes.
Lil Kim often crossed over to territories in hip hop reserved for men. “Kim is a revolutionary figure in the sense that she's a woman who is articulating the same perverted thoughts that men have been rhyming about for years,” as quoted by one critic who wrote in CMJ. “Asserting herself sexually like a hip-hop Millie Jackson, Kim's ribald accounts of healthy sexual appetite come off as empowering,” wrote another in Time Out. Lil Kim says everything that one would expect a man to say and she doesn’t back down from anybody.
Perry talked about the way women in hip hop have negotiated masculinist aesthetics. In the case of Lil Kim she raps lyrics that are typically reserved for men yet she still has a swagger about her that is very feminine. She has raunchy and suggestive lyrics yet she still carries herself and dresses like a woman. She has proved to the world of hip hop that a female MC can come in and have a big influence in a male dominated art form. She is a pioneer for many women who wish to embark on a career in hip hop. Her lyrics, dress, and overall behavior bring a sense of parity between men and women in the world of hip hop.
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