Kimberly Jones's status as the first lady of porn-rap has always overshadowed her music, which wasn't a problem as long as she maintained her high profile.
But it's three years since her last album, and Kim has been overtaken by smuttier contenders such as Christina Aguilera. Clearly, she's aware of it, and on La Bella Mafia comes out swinging. "I'm the first rap bitch to shake up the charts/I'm the reason this rap game is unisex," she huffs on Heavenly Father.
The rest of the record is devoted to similarly bellicose boasts, as she bigs up herself and former mentor Notorious BIG (who, six years after his death, still wangles an executive-producer credit).
The defensiveness isn't pretty; more worryingly, the single-entendre lewdness that was her raison d'être is almost entirely absent. Lil' Kim without sexual explicitness? What's the point?
