Lil' Kim is one of the best-selling female rappers of all-time, thanks to hits such as Not Tonight, Magic Stick and Lady Marmalade, which skyrocketed to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2001, while also earning her a Grammy award for Best Pop Collaboration.
Her debut album Hard Core, which was released in November 1996, sold a whopping five million copies worldwide and her follow-up The Notorious K.I.M, pushed another 3.2 million units, which made it apparent that the New York native was a force to be reckoned with in the music industry.
She went on to release three more albums, made a ton of money from endorsement deals, partnerships and TV appearances, yet her net worth has shockingly dropped to a low number. The sum seems surprising considering all the success she’s had throughout her career, but Kim is also no stranger to falling behind on paying her taxes amongst other financial issues.
How Has Lil' Kim’s Net Worth Dropped To $500,000?
In June 2018, Kim reportedly filed for bankruptcy and hoped to auction off her New Jersey home to help pay off her enormous $4 million debt.
Official court documents revealed that the 90s rap superstar was earning $18,000 a month, but as her personal expenses were reaching close to $13,000, Kim was left with no option but to file for bankruptcy as the Drugs hitmaker couldn’t find any way to pay back the growing amount of money she owed the IRS.
It was claimed at the time that she owed the government a whopping $1.8 million in back taxes - but that didn’t include the other hefty charges that were also piling up under her name, which contained a $2 million home loan and $186,000 in legal bills.
Kim, who found fame through her ties with the late Notorious B.I.G, listed $2.5 million worth in assets, which included several luxury cars, including a $52,000 Bentley, and roughly $25,000 in jewelry, while she also claimed not to be receiving any child support from Mr. Papers - the father of her six-year-old daughter Royal Reign.
According to reports, things had gotten so bad for Kim that she ended up borrowing $25,000 from her longtime friend Missy Elliott, who she’s been pals with since the mid-'90s.
Amid her financial problems coming out in the press, Kim took to her Instagram page as she dined at a restaurant with her daughter who had celebrated her fourth birthday. Her caption read: “Yall check this out, while y’all doing all that yappin’, I am out with my baby for her birthday party. I got something for all y’all. I can’t wait.”
“Let me tell you something, when you are a child of God, you can’t be touched boo! It ain’t going to happen.”
In July 2019, however, things were finally back in order for Lil' Kim whose bankruptcy had been dismissed by a judge after the self-proclaimed Queen of Rap was able to get her finances on track again.
The 44-year-old requested having a judge dismiss her one-year bankruptcy case after being granted a loan modification for her New Jersey home with the help of her lawyer.
According to The Blast: “Lil' Kim said she had been able to get her finances into good shape and no longer needed the court's protection her from creditors. She explained all was good after sitting down with a lawyer and obtaining a loan modification.
“The judge sided with her and has officially closed the case. Lil' Kim will now be on her own to deal with creditors and debt,” the publication continued.
The same month her finances were sorted and back in order, Kim returned to reality TV with the premiere of her VH1 show Girls Cruise, starring May and TLC’s Rozonda ‘Chilli’ Thomas.
Things continued to look up for Kim, who then went on to release her long-awaited fifth studio album, 9, in October 2019. It was her first album release since 2005’s The Naked Truth, which dropped the same month she began serving her one-year prison sentence after being convicted for perjury.
The long wait to put out a full body of work appeared to have drastically affected Kim’s rap career as the album failed to impact the Billboard Hot 100 - or any other national chart that incorporates streaming numbers - selling less than 1,000 copies in its first week.
It ultimately became her lowest-selling album to date, and currently, there are no plans for a follow-up. Welp - but at least Lil' Kim has her finances sorted, which ultimately prevented her from facing time behind bars.
We're crossing our fingers she won't find herself in financial problems again.