Kimberly Jones has been on the scene for a little while now. I first saw her with Biggie's Junior Mafia crew on a track called "Player's Anthem". She definitely held her own against Biggie and Lil Cease and I was looking forawrd to hearing her on more songs. On "Get Money" she also showed that she was going to be a force to be reckoned with in the hip hop game. "Get Money" was a male/female rebuttal on the issues that are involved in male/female courtships or relationships. Once Junior Mafia's CD ran its course, I started hearing Lil Kim solo tracks like "Queen B....", "Big Momma Thing" and "No Time", so I knew that a solo CD was coming soon. Lil Kim dropped "Hardcore" and she demonstrated that she was definitely going to represent for the ladies in any and every way possible. She wasn't afraid to express those views explicitly either. Many fans of rap music had never heard a female rapper express themselves in that way and with the infamous picture in the CD cover, ladies and gentlemen were very interested in Lil Kim. Then as what many artists do, Lil Kim released a very tight song on the Money Talks soundtrack enitled "Money Talks", which was produced by Timbaland and featured Junior Mafia. Lil Kim was on the right track. Then her mentor, friend, and lover The Notorious BIG was shot and killed and that really affected her. This effect carried on to her next CD, "The Notorious KIM". While she did have nice tracks on the CD like "Lil Drummer Boy" featuring Cee Lo & Redman, "S*** My D***", "Aunt Dot", and the heartfelt tribute to Biggie featuring Mary J Blige, "Hold On", Lil Kim wasn't able to match the overall success of "Hardcore". Lil Kim rebounded with "La Bella Mafia" with the Timbaland produced single, "The Jump Off", "Get In Touch With Us" w/Styles P from The LOX, and the infamous "Magic Stick" w/50 Cent. 50 Cent wouldn't do a video for the song though and that affected sales numbers on the CD. This is one reason why Lil Kim & 50 Cent are still beefin' 'til this day. "The Naked Truth" is clearly Lil Kim's best CD since "Hardcore". She is able to catch all of the street elements of "Hardcore", while still pleasing her commercial fan base. "Spell Check" has Lil Kim spelling her way through a nice track with words for Junior Mafia, 50 Cent and many others. This track gets things off to a good start. "Lighters Up" is the 1st single from this CD that is produced by her ex- boyfriend Scott Storch. This was definitely the best choice for her 1st single. "Shut Up B****" would have worked as well, but the track has more of a street element to it, which was why I think Lil Kim just used this track at the beginning of the "Lighters Up" video. Seeing what Lil Kim has been through because of her trial, "Shut Up B****" is the prefect song to combat all that negative energy that she had towards everything that was going on. This is still my favorite track on the CD so far. "Whoa" is a nice club track that will give people energy when they hear the DJ spin the record at a club. Lil Kim has better club bangers but "Whoa" is still sufficient enough. "Slippin'" is produced by Denaun Porter of D12 fame. He hooks the chorus up and Lil Kim does a good job on warning us on the ways of the world. "All Good" is another song for the clubs and samples Biggie's voice for the song's title. No matter what Lil Kim goes through The Notorious BIG we always be one of her main motivators in her life. He will always be on her mind. She refernces some of his rhymes in the song as well. Any Lil Kim fan will enjoy "I Know You See Me". This track is vintage Lil Kim. After hearing this track, I undterstand why The Source would even think about giving her 5 mics. The chorus is off the hook and this demonstrates why Lil Kim is the best female rapper in the game today. (No disrespect to Missy Elliott, Rah Digga, Remy Ma, Jean Grae and when she gets herself back together, Foxy Brown). "I Know You See Me" should definitely be the next single. No song captures Lil Kim's street element better than "Quiet". Lil Kim gets alot of her chest on this track and has words for Lil Cease, Foxy Brown and others during this track. The Game hooks up the chorus and Lil Kim even goes Marshall Mathers on us during some of the bars of the song. "Durty" starts off with a Millie Jackson sample and Lil Kim mixes reggae with hip hop on this nice track. She even tries to sing a tad bit as well. "We Don't Give A ...." features Twista and Bun B from UGK on a nice down south bounce track. If you haven't purchased Bun B's new solo CD, "Trill", you need to do so. Any fans of UGK will enjoy his solo CD. "We Don't Give A ****" is a nice change of pace from all of the street and club tracks on the CD. "Last Day" allows Lil Kim to get more frustrations off her chest before she has to do her jail term of a year and a day. When Lil Kim is able to reflect on past personal moments through rhyme she is at her best. This is one of the best tracks on the CD. "The Naked Truth" doesn't have too many things wrong with it. "Gimme That" is a bland attempt to recreate "Magic Stick". Lil Kim would have been better off leaving this track off of the CD. "Kitty Box" is an interesting track but like Sunshine Anderson would say we've "Heard It All Before". While guest appeances by Snoop and TI are nice for the CD, the songs that they are featured on do little to try to make those songs better than the best songs on the CD. Overall, Lil Kim has done a real nice job with "The Naked Truth". If you are a Lil Kim fan then you should have this CD in your collection. However, this is not a 5 mic CD. A 5 mic CD is "Illmatic" from Nas, "The Low End Thoery" by A Tribe Called Quest and "The Chronic" from Dr. Dre. However, when the president of The Source is dating Lil Kim's manager then you can understand why she would be given 5 mics. Anyway, "The Naked Truth" is Lil Kim's best CD since "Hardcore". Hold your head up Kim, we'll be hear waiting to celebrate with you once your time is over.
Luv. F. Zee
