Lil' Kim

Rapper / Convict

Name at birth: Kimberly Denise Jones

One of the few female stars in hardcore rap, Lil' Kim got her start with the help of Notorious B.I.G. and rappers Junior M.A.F.I.A.. She went solo in 1996 with Hard Core, which included the rap hit "No Time," a duet with Sean "Puffy" Combs, and became notorious for her sexually explicit lyrics and outfits. As an actress she has appeared in the Rachael Leigh Cook film She's All That (1999) and Ben Stiller's 2001 comedy Zoolander.

Extra credit: Lil' Kim is sometimes compared with fellow female rapper Foxy Brown... In March of 2005 she was convicted of perjury and conspiracy in connection with a shooting incident outside a Manhattan radio station. She was fined $50,000 and sent to prison; she was released in July of 2006, after ten months in jail.