Lil' Kim

If you're going to do whatever possible to look like a doll, you might as well go all the way and sound like a talking doll, which is one thing Lil' Kim does effectively during much of The Naked Truth, her fourth album in ten years. When she yanks the cord out of her back and comes to life, it's only to deliver her most spiteful and bitter lines. She has many gripes and an even larger number of foes. The release of the album coincided with the beginning of a yearlong prison sentence for perjury and conspiracy, so it's entirely understandable why she would have some embittered thoughts to get off her chest, but even when she's playing the role of a hedonist, she seems distracted and disinterested. The productions are provided by a lengthy list of beatmakers, which gives the album a lot of range but not a good sense of flow. 7 Aurelius' work on "Kitty Box" is the most creative of all, spinning Shocking Blue's "Love Buzz" (one of the greatest previously unused breaks) into a swirling maze of sleaze. Hopefully, Kim's year away will leave her refreshed and ready to make a return album that's as exciting and as colorful as Hard Core or La Bella Mafia. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi