Debut album by Kimberly "Lil' Kim" Jones, rapper from Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. The production is handled by Ski Beatz, Stretch Armstrong, Puff Daddy, Fabian Hamilton, Faraoh, Minnesota, Armando Colon, Jermaine Dupri, Cornbread and The Hitmen (Carlos Broady, Fanatic, Nashiem Myrick, Prestige, Rashad Smith, Stevie J). Accredited guests are Lil Cease, Puff Daddy, Jermaine Dupri, Jay-Z, in addition to the uncredited Notorious B.I.G., Big Troy, Fela, Adilah, and Junior MAFIA, represented by Trife and Larceny.
The lyrics focus on sex, violence, streets, guns, and materialism: most of the verses are written by Biggie Smalls, who appears five times without ever delivering a verse, limiting himself to hooks and skits, without taking away space from the lead rapper. Lil Kim loads the stanzas of strongly sexual bars, performed with a good, energic, velvet and yet too static flow, and is credited with being the first female rapper to make an extremely explicit, dirty and scandalous hardcore album that is successful in mainstream hip-hop. The production has the glossy sound of Puff Daddy, musically, it's not too bad and it's not memorable, Faraoh makes an appropriately mafia soundscape for "MAFIA Land", the rest of the selection is fine.
Promoted by three singles and an effective marketing campaign, the disc, released by Undeas/Big Beat, Atlantic subsidiary, it obtained a positive reception from critics and a good response from the public, finishing third among the hip-hop albums and double platinum certified. Consisting of 15 tracks (4 skits; the intro is one of the worst skits in hip-hop) and 53 minutes of material that can be framed under the term "porn rap", the effort is a must for fans of this subgenre, forgettable for everyone else.
Rating: 6/10.
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