4. Lil’Kim: $18 million
Kimberly Denise Jones, better known as Lil’ Kim is notorious. Born on July 11, 1975, Lil’ Kim is a well-known rapper, songwriter, record producer, model and actress. Lil’ Kim struggled throughout the early stages of her life, and through these hard times, she met Notorious B.I.G (Christopher Wallace) who was a big influence on her, both personally and musically. At the age of 19, Lil’ Kim got her start with Junior M.A.F.I.A, a group created by Biggie Smalls. A year later, she decided to release her own solo album Hard Core (1996). Her lyrics and style had a fierceness and edge that was completely different from other female rappers of that time.
After the death of Notorious B.I.G, Lil’ Kim took a break in her career and released her next album The Notorious K.I.M only in 2000. It wasn’t until her remake of the song “Lady Marmalade” with singersChristina Aguilera, Pink and Mya for the soundtrack of the movie Moulin Rouge in 2001, did her career flourish. The song reached No.1 on the charts and won a Grammy, making Lil’ Kim one of the most sought after rappers of the 21st century. She later went on to release another album La Belle Mafia(2003). In 2005, she was sentenced to jail for an incident that happened in New York City in 2001. Before her one year and one day sentence, she released another album, The Naked Truth (2005). After her time in prison, Lil’ Kim released her mix tape Ms. G.O.A.T (2008), and later released her second mix tape Black Friday (2011), as a response to her feud with female rapper Nicki Minaj.
Lil’ Kim found success in the 1990s and 2000s. She also appeared in films like, Zoolander (2001) andYou Got Served (2004), and on television as a contestant on Dancing with the Stars (2009), returning in 2015 for their 10th year anniversary. Lil’ Kim still remains active in the rap scene and she is a name anyone can recognize and will always remember.
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