Q&A

VANITIES

GEORGE WAYNE

Big time for Lil’ Kim

Lil’ Kim has proved herself more than equal to the strutting peacocks of the male hip-hop scene. And, like some of her male counterparts, she is fiercely competitive with her rivals, especially Foxy Brown and Faith Evans. With a new album, Notorious KIM, in stores, she talks to our ghetto-fabulous columnist about sleepwear, her MAC cosmetics campaign, and, we’re quite sure, Olympic diving events.

George Wayne:How old is Lil’ Kim right now? Lil’ Kim: In my early, early 20s.

G.W.When did you have your breasts enlarged, and why?

L.K. I really don’t want to talk about that.

G.W.Why not? You have spoken about it before. L.K. I’ve talked about it so many times, and there are so many people in the industry who have them, and no one talks about it.

G.W.It must have been a painful process.

L.K. Yeah.

G.W.Do you suffer from mood swings?

L.K. Yeah, I think we all have mood swings. We go through so much, especially celebrities. I wouldn’t call it mood swings, but there are certain times when I am depressed.

G.W.You love to dress up, LiV Kim. Why does it take you hours to get ready to go anywhere?

L.K. Well, as you can see, it is a process to have this image.

G.W.You create drama with your wardrobe. Which designers are you favoring these days? L.K. I have a little of everybody, from Iceberg to Versace. So I can’t really say—I wear them all.

G.W.To paraphrase the legendary fashion editor Diana Vreeland, “A little vulgarity brings spice to life.” Would you agree?

L.K. Yeah, I can say that. It depends on how you do it, too. As long as you’re doing what you want to do, and you ain’t bothering anybody.

G.W.Have you ever gone muff-diving?

L.K. What diving?

G.W.Muff.

L.K. I don’t know what that is.

G.W.But you do know about blackberry molasses?

L.K. Yeah.

G.W.Can you give me a definition as to what that means?

L.K. Explain to me what you are talking about. G.W.You explain to me what you mean by "blackberry molasses" and I will explain muff-diving.

L.K. If you can explain what muff-diving is, I can answer your question right away.

G.W.Have you ever had oral sex with another woman?

L.K. No.

G.W.That’s what muff-diving is.

L.K. If someone wants to go muff-diving, that’s up to them—nothing wrong with it.

G.W.Sex is an integral part of your gig. Let’s talk about the MAC campaign, Viva Glam III, which is a monumental statement for you and Mary J. Blige.

Is she one of your closest friends?

L.K. Yeah, she was definitely a woman whom before I got into the game I looked up to, and was inspired by everything she did. When I looked at her, I saw a lot of things in her that I saw in myself. And to actually meet her so early in the game was a blessing.

G.W.What does it mean to you, being part of this campaign? You follow the queenious drag queen RuPaul, whom some people say you look like.

L.K. I don’t feel like I look anything like him, even though he is a beautiful person. To be a part of MAC is an honor. I was doing something for a good cause.

G.W.Why do you call rapper Foxy Brown evil? L.K. I don’t feel like talking about her right now, either. I am a very spiritual person, so if I feel somebody is evil, you can only imagine why I said it.

G.W.When do you think you will come to the point where you could talk about Faith [Evans], and the fact that she took your man from you?

L.K. I’ve moved on from her, that time, and that period.

G.W.Do you have a sex life?

L.K. I can honestly say I haven’t had sex in three months, because I’ve been working a lot. But when it’s time, there are partners that I have known for a while, and I will go back to them. G.W.This infamous journo wants to know: do you sleep in a thong, in a nightgown, or in the raw?

L.K. Sometimes I sleep in a thong, T-shirt, and sweatpants; sometimes I sleep in a “wifebeater.” Sometimes I sleep in no clothes. G.W.What was the hardest part of the ereative process this time around?

L.K. It’s always hard when you have to top something that may be untoppable. Hard Core is an album that’s going to go down in history. It made history, and everyone is going to remember it. Everyone loved it— it sold two million copies. It’s hard to come over that.

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