10. Lil’ KimHardcore
Lil Kim came coasting out of the ample shadow of Biggie. You could’ve probably fit three of her in there. An old boyfriend once described her to me as ‘the porn Shakespeare’, which didn’t even feel glib. There’s a strain of gay man that loves female MCs, from Roxanne Shante through Ms Dynamite right up to Lady Leshurr. Missy was amazing, but Kim was less fantasy, more reality. The gloss of the production on Hardcore still has some of the feel of kids cutting up tape in the Bronx in the late 70s. Jay Z is the guest spot on Big Momma Thang, which is a little sad now, given what happened to both of them afterwards. When it opens with that incredible string break from Sylvester’s ‘Was It Something That I Said?’, you always expect the 2 Tons of Fun to sweep in but it cuts straight to Kim. She’s funny, cheeky, raw and still sounds brilliant now. If it’d been released in the age of Pornhub, Kim would’ve been the biggest star on the planet. Everyone good loved her.
