Lil Kim was one of the most prominent female rappers of the mid-1990s. As part of Bad Boy Entertainment, she was Biggie Smalls’ counterpart and was with him everywhere he went. With the power of Diddy behind her, the emcee (real name Kimberly Jones) reached terrific heights in her career but, unfortunately, didn’t maintain her dominance after the dissipation of Junior M.A.F.I.A.
As a true trendsetter, Lil Kim, with her sexually provocative lyrics and coloured hairstyles, set the blueprint for female rappers, with almost every female artist adopting the Lil Kim approach today. Whether it’s their look, lyrical content or fashion sense, you can see the influence permeating modern female rap.
Having had such an incredible career of ups and downs, it would be fitting that Jones have a biopic and in an interview with BET, the ‘Crush On You’ rapper unveiled who she would want to play her in a film.
The lyricist has previously scolded actor Naturi Naughton’s portrayal of her in the 2009 film Notorious and believes that many people would have done a far better job than her. In fact, shortly after the album was released, Kim issued a statement calling it “dreadful.”
Speaking to BET about who she thinks would be a good fit, Jones stated, “I [would] have to find the perfect little girl, then I have to find the teenager, then I have to find the perfect teenager into almost like young adult, and then I play the remaining part myself.”
She continued, “It can only be a girl that’s from the hood that I’m from. I love Teyana [Taylor]. She’s my only other thought. There’s nobody else in the industry at all but Teyana. But, even before Teyana — I love Teyana, but she’s from Harlem – before Teyana, I would love to give some little girls from Brooklyn a chance so I can connect. Really connect.”
Briefly addressing the depiction of her in Notorious, Lil Kim expressed, “I felt like I was not portrayed how I should have been in that movie. I was in love with Big, and he was in love with me. I was never a jump-off. I know that, and Big knew that. I wasn’t even able to choose who I wanted to portray me in the movie.”
A Lil Kim biopic would be an extremely hard feat since she has changed her appearance so much over the years. The musician herself has admitted that in the late ’90s she became addicted to cosmetic surgery and acknowledges that she is completely unrecognisable today as a result. You can watch Lil Kim’s interview in the video below.