For fans who have followed Lil’ Kim's career since she made her debut alongside the Notorious B.I.G.-fronted Junior M.A.F.I.A. collective in the ‘90s, the numerous changes to her physical appearance have been hard to ignore. With press ramping up for the 20-year anniversary of Lil’ Kim’s debut, Hardcore, the MC is again drawing headlines for comments indirectly addressing her ever-changing appearance.
“I’m a Spanish girl trapped in a black girl’s body,” Kim said in a previously unreleased video posted by the Lil’ Kim fan account @LilKimRoyal on Twitter. “But I’m all mixed up, girl.”
Kim continues in a stream of unintelligible Spanish followed by pantomime Salsa dancing. While there has been much speculation about Kim’s appearance, a 2000 interview with Newsweek was one of the few times Lil’ Kim spoke openly about a plastic surgery procedure, as she confirmed a breast augmentation.
“That surgery was the most pain I’ve ever been in in my life,” Kim told Newsweek. “But people made such a big deal about it. White women get them every day. It was to make me look the way I wanted to look. It’s my body.”
It’s unclear when the video was taken, and Kim has yet to publicly address the viral clip. The comments about being “all mixed up” fall in line with previous statements from Kim about self-esteem issues and her rocky relationship with various men in her life, including her father. When television personality Wendy Williams addressed Lil’ Kim’s appearance, Kim clapped back on Twitter, accusing Williams of being a Notorious B.I.G. castoff. Kim has previously addressed European beauty standards, and the Hardcore track “No Time” found her comparing herself to Ivana Trump, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Demi Moore, and the late Princess Diana of Wales.
