Notorious K.I.M. [PA] - Lil' Kim (CD 2000)

Music listeners who are easily offended by talk of sex will want to wave crosses and run screaming from Lil' Kim's sohpomore album, "The Notorious K.I.M.", which relies HEAVILY on sex as the dominate theme in this solid effort from a talented young woman. She first shocked fans when she emerged, at age eighteen no less, with "Hard Core" her first cd where she shocked listeners with her frank discussions about sex and money. She does no less here, only this time she is more explicit in her lyrics and has the success of her first cd to discuss here.

As with most rap albums today, there is a plethora of artists lending their voices to these tracks. The best thing about these guests is that they don't dominate Kim's rapping and lead vocals. They take a supporting role. Sisqo's support on the hilariously raunchy "How Many Licks" is as the backup chorus, and his tenor voice sounds great repeating the same refrain which, to my regret, is too suggestive to print here! In a very surprising track, "Hold On", Mary J. Blige lends her excellent voice to this track in which Kim reflects on her friendship with the Notorious B.I.G. It is very thoughtful and a very nice dedication to her lost friend. A good showcase of Kim as more than just a sex goddess. Appearances by Lil' Cease, Grace Jones, and Puff Daddy are also well done and not too much on their respective tracks.

One of the overlying themes of this cd is that Kim now has power and knows how to use it. She weaves lyrics together that are addressing her new business woman persona, as she does in the track "Notorious KIM", and her stance as the dominant female rapper in "No Matter What They Say", where she laughingly raps that "I get paid just for laying in the shade/to take pictures with a glass of lemonade." These songs are well done musically as well because both incorporate elements of mariachi music, a bit of Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight", and heavy bass lines resembling a police siren, to show that she CAN manipulate different sounds and styles to showcase her variety. The sampling of the old "Knight Rider" TV theme song for "How Many Licks" is quite clever.

Of course though we cannot overlook the sex element of Lil's Kim. It is part of her persona, and it CERTAINLY is prevalant in this cd. "She Don't Love You" addresses how she is the one and only woman for a certain young man rapped about in the song. You will have to use your imagination here about lyrics due to vulgarity issues. Hey, I like being a member of this site, soooo, I don't want to print too much explicit stuff! Anywho... she also addresses the issue in "Queen B****", "How Many Licks", and the blatant "Suck my ****". The profanities are piled high in this cd, so listeners who are not too keen on that should not listen to this cd, but if you like seeing a female rap about the same things that male rappers rap about, and honestly she does it with more intellegance than a lot of the men do, then this cd is definitely worth a listen.