She holds a writing credit on 72 of the 80 tracks across her five studio albums. The outside writing is concentrated on her debut, where The Notorious B.I.G. co-writes five of fifteen tracks; on The Notorious K.I.M. and 9 she is credited on every track.
By the Numbers
5
Studio Albums
80
Tracks Credited
90%
Self-Written
31
Years Active
192
Collaborators
Authorship Breakdown 72 / 80 self-written
Who wrote the songs?
Across all 80 tracks: how many Lil' Kim wrote alone, how many they co-wrote, and how many were written by others. The bracket marks every track they hold any writing credit on.
Lil' Kim has a writing credit90%
18%
73%
10%
Sole author14tracks18%
Co-written58tracks73%
Outside writers8tracks10%
Role Fingerprint how they contribute
Lil' Kim's roles across the catalogue
Share of all 80 tracks where they are personally credited, by role.
Lyricist (words)90%
Composer (music)90%
Producer3%
Performer100%
Authorship Over Time writing credit per album
Lil' Kim's writing credit per album, in release order. Hover any bar for the album.
avg 90%
93%
100%
94%
94%
100%
1996Hard Core
2000The Notorious K.I.M.
2003La Bella Mafia
2005The Naked Truth
20199
Early · 96% written
Late · 96% written
Authorship by Decade track-weighted
93%
1990s
Hard Core
96%
2000s
The Notorious K.I.M., La Bella Mafia +1 more
100%
2010s
9
Authorship Spectrum pure performer to complete author
Where Lil' Kim sits on the scale from a pure performer (0%, sings songs written by others) to a complete author (100%, writes everything). The bright marker is their catalogue authorship score, plotted against other artists on the site.
Lil' Kim
Other artists on the site
Reference artists spread across the scale, closest by genre and era.
Written by Lil' Kim, Angie Martinez, Left Eye, Da Brat, Missy Elliott, Khalis Bayyan, Dennis "D.T." Thomas, James "J.T." Taylor, Claydes Smith, Meekaaeel Muhammad, George Brown, Robert "Kool" Bell, Earl Toon, Kimberly Denise Jones
Co-wrote
No Time
Hard Core
Written by Lil' Kim, Diddy, Stevie J, James Brown, Kimberly Denise Jones, Sean John Combs
Co-wrote
Crush on You
Hard Core
Written by Lil' Cease, Fanatic, The Notorious B.I.G., Jeff Lorber, Christopher George Latore Wallace
Outside writers
How Many Licks?
The Notorious K.I.M.
Written by Lil' Kim, Diddy, Mario Winans, Kimberly Denise Jones, Sean John Combs
Co-wrote
Magic Stick
La Bella Mafia
Written by Lil' Kim, 50 Cent, Sha Money XL, Carlos Evans, Roy Hawkins, Rick Ravon, Phillip Mitchell, The Notorious B.I.G., Kimberly Denise Jones, Christopher George Latore Wallace
Co-wrote
The Jump Off
La Bella Mafia
Written by Lil' Kim, Timbaland, Mr. Cheeks, Easy Mo Bee, "Buttnaked" Tim Dawg, Kimberly Denise Jones
Co-wrote
Lighters Up
The Naked Truth
Written by Sean Monty, Derek Miller, Lil' Kim, Kimberly Denise Jones
Co-wrote
Whoa
The Naked Truth
Written by Lil' Kim, Kimberly Denise Jones
Wrote it
None of the signature songs above fall in this category.
Discography 5 albums
Covers all five Lil' Kim studio albums in their standard editions. Conspiracy (1995) is credited to Junior M.A.F.I.A. rather than to her, and the mixtapes released between 2005 and 2019 are outside this studio-album scope.
Bubble size = tracks worked on together. Showing the 150 most frequent of 192. TN The Notorious B.I.G. · CG Christopher George Latore Wallace · LC Lil' Cease
The Authorship Story
Data Insight
Kim holds a writing credit on 72 of the 80 tracks across five albums, and the shape of the exceptions is the story. The Notorious B.I.G. co-writes five of the fifteen tracks on Hard Core, the highest outside share on any of her records, and his name keeps appearing on two more albums after his death in 1997. From The Notorious K.I.M. onward she is on every track of two consecutive albums, which is the point where the ghostwriting question that followed her debut stops having an answer in the credits.
Quick Facts
DebutHard Core in 1996, two times platinum in the US
Chart peakThe Notorious K.I.M. reached number 4 in the US and number 1 on R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Worldwide salesHard Core and The Notorious K.I.M. sold over five million each
AuthorshipWrites 72 of 80 album tracks
GroupCame up through Junior M.A.F.I.A.
Biggest hit"Magic Stick" reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100
Creative Fingerprint
Authorship that rises rather than fades: a debut with heavy outside co-writing, then two albums written end to end under her own name.
The Story
Lil' Kim, born Kimberly Denise Jones in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn in 1974, came up through Junior M.A.F.I.A. and released her debut Hard Core in 1996. Five studio albums followed across twenty-three years: The Notorious K.I.M. in 2000, La Bella Mafia in 2003, The Naked Truth in 2005 and 9 in 2019. The first four all reached the US top eleven, and Hard Core and The Notorious K.I.M. each sold over five million copies worldwide.
Awards & Recognition
Hard Core certified two times platinum by the RIAA
The Notorious K.I.M. and La Bella Mafia both certified platinum by the RIAA
The Notorious K.I.M. reached number 1 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart
Frequently Asked Questions Lil' Kim
Does Lil' Kim write her own songs?
She holds a writing credit on 72 of the 80 tracks across her five studio albums. The outside writing is concentrated on her debut, where The Notorious B.I.G. co-writes five of fifteen tracks; on The Notorious K.I.M. and 9 she is credited on every track.
Kimberly Denise Jones. She was born on 11 July 1974 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
Did Biggie write for Lil’ Kim?
He is credited as a co-writer on five of the fifteen tracks on Hard Core, and also produced two of them. His name appears on two more of her albums after his death in 1997, on tracks built from earlier recordings.
What is Lil' Kim's biggest song?
"Magic Stick" from La Bella Mafia, which reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Not Tonight" reached number 6 and "The Jump Off" number 17.
What is Lil' Kim's best-selling album?
The Notorious K.I.M., at roughly 5.1 million worldwide, just ahead of Hard Core at five million. Hard Core is the higher US certification at two times platinum.
Who produces her records?
A different team on each album. Mario Winans produces seven tracks on The Notorious K.I.M., the largest single share anywhere in her catalogue, and Sean Combs four. The Notorious B.I.G. produced two tracks on Hard Core.
What is Junior M.A.F.I.A.?
The Brooklyn rap group she came up through, formed around The Notorious B.I.G. Their 1995 album Conspiracy is a collaboration credited to the group rather than to her, so it sits outside her solo catalogue.
Why was there a gap between 2005 and 2019?
Fourteen years separate The Naked Truth from 9. She released mixtapes across that period, but 9 in 2019 is the next studio album, and it did not chart.
Lil' Kim
