Lil’ Kim’s power as an MC has always been reinforced by her featured verses. Kim has the ability to command attention and be the most memorable voice on a song. She’s done this, effortlessly since her early Junior M.A.F.I.A. days on “Player’s Anthem” and “Get Money”. Below are 20 of her top featured verses, from the mid 1990’s to 2017. Scroll all the way down to find a few gems that don’t even appear on Spotify, but are required Queen Bee listening.
The playlist
…opens with every white girl’s best-known Kim verse, “Lady Marmalade”. Kim was the only artist on the song contributing a new piece. The following two songs are both iconic, career-defining Kim moments: “It’s All About The Benjamins (Remix)” and “Quiet Storm (Remix)”. Beyond that are iconic collaborations with Mary J. Blige (“I Can Love You”) and Christina Aguilera (“Can’t Hold Us Down”).
Deep Cuts
Dig a little deeper and discover her 2000 Will Smith collab “Da Butta”. Will recruits the Queen Bee to trade bars over a funky beat. Kim’s on her braggadocios flow. She shares life lessons like “You know what i learned? let them keep talking. Pull up in the Azora and let them keep walkin”. And when Will admits that “haters be makin’ me wanna flip and react” Kim cuts him off with “nah nah nah nah chill Will. Let me do that.” Always the ride or die.
Then there’s the amazing, “Get Money”-sampling, “Still Rich” with Berner and Wiz Khalifa from 2016. Kim demonstrates her ability to own a beat she defined over 20 years earlier with a new verse. She takes an old Biggie line and again flips it, referring to herself as a “Moschino hoe” with a “Valentino flow” while admitting that she’s a shopaholic.
There’s also the little-known official remix to Britney Spears’ “Gimme More (Kimme More Remix)”, where Kim details “hooking up with a fan” and “getting freaky with this video cam.” Salacious, sexy, and form-fitting for the classic Britney track.
Menacing Kim
Puff Daddy’s “Real N*ggas” is a hard track. Kim’s verse initiates a dark piano loop, as she relentlessly spits that she’ll “put a contract out and stop ya lungs” “buy out everything you playin’, including your name” and declares “screw barking, I take bites out of you niggas”. She plays scorned lover on Biggie’s “Another”, a track from Life After Death that often gets overlooked. “Why go from first class to coach?” Kim wonders after lyrically annihilating Biggie. One of the few who holds that accolade.
On “Do Wrong” she does a formidable Twista impression, keeping up with the rapid-fire rapper himself. Listen to the way she delivers “Shit he about to be rockin it, lookin sweeter than chocolate, he got the smell of a Reese’s.” Amazing.
Dirty Kim
It wouldn’t be a Kim playlist without some raunchy lyrics. She goes rock and roll with Tommy Lee on “Get Naked”. “Call me black Barbie” she commands before delivering the delicious “fuck a blow job it’s a motherfucking hobby” and then “under 7 inches? Eh! Sorry.”
“You want a freaky girl? Welcome to Kimme’s world” she opens with on Gucci Mane’s 2007 “Freaky Girl”. She brags about her deep throat, multiple orgasms and potential for orgies among other things. The kicker is the closer, where she admits that she’s got a man so whipped and all she did was “let him eat my coochie.” Pussy = power.
Bonuses
There are a few Kim features from over the years that you won’t find on Spotify/streaming, but still warrant mentioning:
Floatin’ On Your Love (Puff Daddy Remix)
“Mr. Biggs, you know you got to keep me jiggs.” A gem among Kim’s early features. She links up with the legendary Isley Brothers and delivers the unforgettable “make it shift in my uterus” line. Filthy, fearless, and fierce.
Satisfy You (Remix)
A true rarity. Kim spits for just over a minute straight on this 2000 Puffy remix.
Naughty Girl (Remix)
This bares the ‘remix’ name, but it’s arguable that this is actually the original version of the song. Take a look at the Dangerously In Love thank you’s and Kim’s name appears under ‘producers and artists who contributed to this project’. There are 2 versions of this remix, one featuring two verses from Kim, and another featuring one and a spoken intro. In that intro, Kim calls herself and B “the Queen Bees”, the first time Beyonce is ever referred to by her now-ubiquitous nickname.
We Takin’ Over (Remix)
A little known (official) remix from 2006, and one of her first post-prison appearances. Kim annihilates this early DJ Khaled track. Most notably she pops off “I’m in a new state, a new place, with new plates, shit damn near a new face.” It’s one of the few times she addresses her plastic surgery, but does so in a masterful way.
Anything (To Find You)
An unfortunate consequence of circumstance. Kim was originally the sole feature on this, then 1 of 2, and then removed from the song due to disputes with the estate of BIG (specifically Ms. Wallace). Kim’s verses pack a punch as she flows over the BIG-sampled Missy Elliott beat, dropping lines that include “just cause you make me cum, don’t mean that you’re the one. Most dudes only good for they tongue”. She’s even acknowledging her public perception when this record dropped in 2011 (due to her physical appearance and budding Nicki Minaj beef) “I ain’t felt hypnotized since Biggie left, now I’m public enemy… me against the world is my mindset.”