Kim’s first single was “Player’s Anthem” on Junior M.A.F.I.A’s debut album “Conspiracy.” This album went gold which some would think of not being such a big deal but for them since it was their first album it was. In 1996 Lil Kim released her first solo album ” Hard Core” which went double platinum. Over 6 million copies of the album was sold around the world. “No Time,” “Crush on You,” and “Not Tonight” were the most popular songs on the album. At that time she had the highest debut for a female artist while being #11 on Billboards Top R&B Albums. Because, of the success that Not Tonight” had a remix was produced that included; Missy Elliot, Angie Martinez, DaBrat, and Left Eye. Furthermore the song was nominated for a Grammy.
Her extremely sexual lyrics caught the attention on many people. Kim’s style was very intriguing because there was not another female rapper out at that time that was so vulgar with her words. Kim’s work has been labeled as ” gangsta porno rap.”
In 1998 “Queen Bee Entertainment” which is Lil Kim’s label was introduced. Two years later in 2000 following that death of Biggie Kim produced the song “The Notorious K.I.M.” which she collab with Puffy on. She was trying to connect to Biggies legacy after his death. This song was able to hit #4 on the Billboard 200 chart.