Lil' Kim at the Gramercy Theatre

Lil’ Kim was born in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn as Kimberly Denise Jones in 1974. She lived much of her adolescent life on the streets after being expelled from home. When she was 19, she performed a freestyle rap for The Notorious B.I.G., who put her in his hit group Junior M.A.F.I.A. in 1995. Lil' Kim's debut studio album, Hard Core, in 1996) spawned three consecutive #1 rap hits, a record for a female rapper. Her following albums, The Notorious K.I.M., in 2000) and La Bella Mafia in 2003, were certified platinum, making her the only female rapper besides Missy Elliott to have at least three platinum albums. In 2005, she served a yearlong prison sentence for lying to a jury about her friends' involvement in a shooting four years earlier. During her incarceration, her fourth album, The Naked Truth, was released. She returned to the public eye in 2009 with an appearance on Dancing with the Stars.

Lil’ Kim returned to the New York stage with a late night performance at the Gramercy Theatre tonight. The show was listed for 10 p.m., but she came on at 1 p.m. I wish I had a dollar for every time she said “New York!”, “make some noise” and “I love you so much.” I wish I had a dollar for every person she allowed on stage with her, from the musicians to backup singers, the dancers and body builders, even the photographers and countless people hanging in the wings. But if I had a dollar for every curse word she spouted, I would have more millions than her. Despite all that, and despite several unexplained disappearances off stage during her 50-minute set, she gave the audience what they came for, the hits. Way too often, she pointed the microphone to the audience, having the fans sing or rap the lyrics to her hits. In all, we probably got about a half hour of true performance from her. I would say she got off easy.