Lil’ Kim’s new mixtape is here! The Queen Bee is officially back in the rap game with Lil’ Kim Season, a 10-track teaser of much more music to come. “We moving and shaking, cooking and baking,” the rapper told Billboard ahead of the mixtape’s drop last night. She’s currently planning a second mixtape appropriately titled Lil’ Kim Season 2, plus some “other projects” that she fervently avoids calling albums. “I would love to be able to announce that Kim is putting out an album, but [the industry] doesn’t work like that,” she says. “What I can say, for sure, with confidence, is that my fans will continuously hear new music from me and get videos. Very soon.”
Lil Kim Season includes a freestyle remix of Rihanna’s No. 1 hit “Work” featuring Drake, and another freestyle over Drizzy’s “Summer Sixteen.” Lil’ Kim and Drake have had a fairly convoluted beef history, with Kim apparently displeased that the Canadian rapper sided with Nicki Minaj after she accused Minaj of jacking “her swag.” Evidently Kim isn’t one to hold a grudge, and has now declared herself a diehard Drake fangirl despite their rocky past.
“Everyone who knows me, knows I’m a huge Drake fan,” she says. “Our relationship isn’t that big but I don’t know him at all. I’ve always been a huge Drake fan. I just love that song. When I first heard it, I was like, ‘Oh, this song right here.’ But that’s how I feel about most of the Drake songs I hear anyways. When it comes to music, he really can’t do no wrong to me. That song was one of my favorites. I liked that a lot. Drake is in my top five right now, that’s who I listen to all the time. I love ‘Back 2 Back.’ My daughter sings ‘Back 2 Back.’ I could name Drake songs for 30 minutes straight that I like.”
The Queen Bee also talks about being inducted into the royal fam at Kanye West’s Yeezy Season 3 show in February, and the enduring appeal of the iconic monochromatic looks she rocked through the late 90s. Earlier this year Solange had a “Crush on You” ball named after Kim’s 1996 track, at which guests were required to wear yellow, red, blue, or green. “It sometimes just feels like Lil’ Kim season,” Notorious K.I.M. explains plainly. Word.
You can download Lil Kim Season here.
Credits
Text Hannah Ongley
Photography Kathy Lo