The Naked Truth (Lil' Kim Album)
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''The Naked Truth'' is the fourth studio album by American rapper
Lil' Kim Kimberly Denise Jones (born July 11, 1974), Those giving 1974 include: * * * * * better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper. She was born and raised in New York City and lived much of her adolescent life on the streets after ...
, released on September 27, 2005. The album was released the same week she started her year-long prison sentence for
perjury Perjury (also known as forswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an insta ...
and it was her last studio album released by
Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...
before deciding to part ways in 2008. Two official singles were released from the album: " Lighters Up" as the lead single, released in September 2005, and " Whoa", as the second and final single, in February 2006. ''The Naked Truth'' remains the only album by a female rapper to be rated five mics by ''
The Source The Source may refer to: Film and television * ''The Source'' (1918 film), 1918 American drama directed by George Melford * ''The Source'' (1999 film), a 1999 documentary film about the Beat generation * ''The Source'' (2002 film), a 2002 scienc ...
''. The album has sold nearly 500,000 copies in the United States.


Singles

The first single taken from the album was " Lighters Up". It was released on September 13, 2005, and was a moderate success, peaking at number 31 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The second, and final, single from the album was " Whoa". Released on February 7, 2006, it was less successful than its predecessor and failed to make the Hot 100. It did manage to chart in the UK, peaking at number 43.


Promotional singles

The first promo single taken from the album was "Shut Up Bitch". For the release the title was censored to "Shut Up". Released to radio on July 12, 2005, the song served as a promotional single for the album and peaked at number 73 on the ''Billboard'' Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It can be heard at the start of the "Lighters Up" music video. The second promo single was "Spell Check". It was released to US radio as a promo single for the album in December 2005, alongside "Whoa". The song was promoted in the music video for "Whoa" with Kim rapping the first verse and chorus near the end.


Critical reception

The album received generally positive reviews. At
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, which assigns a rated mean out of 100 from mainstream critics, the album received a score of 66. In a rare 5 star-ratings, ''
The Source The Source may refer to: Film and television * ''The Source'' (1918 film), 1918 American drama directed by George Melford * ''The Source'' (1999 film), a 1999 documentary film about the Beat generation * ''The Source'' (2002 film), a 2002 scienc ...
'' declared ''The Naked Truth'' a "fitting title for the superior album that longtime Lil' Kim fans always knew she had in her," while Joan Morgan, writing for ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
'', called it Lil' Kim's "finest album" yet as well as "an easy contender for best rap record of the year." ''
Vibe Vibe, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing. Vibe may also refer to: People * DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ * Lasse Vibe (b ...
'' magazine's Rondell Conway wrote about the album: "With scathing lyricism and infectious beats, ''Truth'' validates the Queen Bee's position as the definitive rap vixen." ''
Blender A blender (sometimes called a mixer (from Latin ''mixus, the PPP of miscere eng. to Mix)'' or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsify food and other substances. A stationary ...
'' magazine gave the album four stars, calling it her "strongest work since her pheromone-thick 1996 debut." Rating the album 9/10, ''
PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...
'' wrote: "All in all, ''The Naked Truth'' is a great musical and lyrical effort, as well as a timely response to the media and the peanut gallery. Anybody out there wondering if Kim has the chops to stay in the game should be satisfied now." ''
Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...
'' journalist Jess Harvell, who gave the album a positive 7.8 rating, stated, "''The Naked Truth'' may be better than 80% of the other rap albums to be released in 2005, but that doesn't make it another ''
Ready to Die ''Ready to Die'' is the debut studio album by American rapper The Notorious B.I.G., released on September 13, 1994, by Bad Boy Records and distributed by Arista Records. The album features productions by Bad Boy founder Sean Combs, Sean "Puffy ...
''." Nathan Rabin from ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'' found that ''The Naked Truth'' "could benefit from judicious cutting, but for its superior first half at least, it boasts the intimacy of a diary entry and the urgency of a kite sent straight out the penitentiary." ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' critic Peter Relic felt that ''The Naked Truth'' "may be a convincing act of bravado, but it isn't the whole story ..The vulnerability behind that mask is what's missing here; if she could articulate it, she might have a true classic." ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
''s Michael Endelman noted that the album "finds the pint-size fashionista tackling subjects beyond her typical raunchy raps and odes to conspicuous consumption. Her very-real-life drama has inspired some of her most focused work ..and also some of her worst." Sal Cinquemani, writing for
Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...
, found that "the preemptively defensive album's biggest problem is that it's surely nowhere near as interesting as its yet-to-be-recorded post-slammer follow-up will be." Less impressed,
Kelefa Sanneh Kelefa T. Sanneh (born 1976) is an American journalist and music critic. From 2000 to 2008, he wrote for ''The New York Times'', covering the rock and roll, hip-hop, and pop music scenes. Since 2008 he has been a staff writer for ''The New Yorker ...
from ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' called ''The Naked Truth'' a "surprisingly dull album, with too many stale conceits and run-of-the-mill beats. Somehow, an avatar of gaudy overkill has fallen victim to an unlikely weakness: underkill." Andy Kellman from
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
rated the album two ouf ot five stars. He wrote: "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''. This one's a meandering drag." Thomas Inskeep from ''
Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...
'' called the album "uninspired" and "calculated" and concluded:"If this is ''The Naked Truth'', she needs to put some clothes on; this is one of 2005’s most thudding disappointments."


Commercial performance

''The Naked Truth'' debuted at number six on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and at number three on the
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...
chart, selling 109,000 copies in its first week. By January 2008, it had sold 412,000 copies domestically.


Track listing

Sample credits *"Spell Check" contains interpolations of "
Mo Money Mo Problems "Mo Money Mo Problems" is a song by American rapper the Notorious B.I.G., released as the second single from his second studio album, ''Life After Death'' (1997) on July 15, 1997, by Bad Boy Records and Arista Records. It features guest per ...
" by Notorious B.I.G. *"All Good" contains samples from " Juicy" by Notorious B.I.G.. *"I Know You See Me" contains samples from " Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get" by
The Dramatics The Dramatics are an American soul music vocal group, formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1964. They are best known for their 1970s hit songs " In the Rain" and " Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get", both of which were Top 10 Pop hits, as well as their lat ...
. *"Durty" contains samples from "Wild Bird" by
Martha Veléz Martha Veléz (born in New York City on August 25, 1945) is an American singer and actress of Puerto Rican descent. Biography Veléz started singing at age five and won an opera scholarship at age 12, as a mezzo-soprano. She studied for three y ...
and elements from "Phunk U Symphony" by
Millie Jackson Mildred Virginia Jackson (born July 15, 1944) is an American R&B and soul recording artist. Beginning her career in the early 1960s, three of Jackson's albums have been certified gold by the RIAA for over 500,000 copies sold. Jackson's songs o ...
. *"Kitty Box" contains elements from " Love Buzz" by
Shocking Blue Shocking Blue was a Dutch rock band formed in The Hague in 1967. They were part of the Nederbeat movement in the Netherlands. The band had a string of hit songs during the Counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture movement of the 1960s and e ...
.


Personnel

* Kimberly "Lil' Kim" Jones –
executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...
* Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G." Wallace – executive producer * Craig Kallman – executive producer * Hillary Weston – co-executive producer, manager * Jean Nelson – co-executive producer, A&R * Gee Roberson – co-executive producer, A&R * Dre Weston – A&R * Kyambo "HipHop" Joshua – A&R * Lanre Gaba – A&R administrator * Jamel Jackson – product manager * Veronica Alvericci – product manager * Dan the Man for Dan Man Productions – engineer * Chris Gehringer – mastering * Will Quinell – assistant mastering engineer * L. Londell McMillian – legal affairs * Berdon LLP – business affairs * Deborah Mannis-Gardiner – sample clearances * Robert D'Este – photography (cover and page 12) * Roger Erickson – photography (outside inlay and pages 2–11) * Patty Wilson – styling * Kithe Brewster – styling * Will Robinson – hair * JJ – makeup * Andrew Zach – art producer * Ellen To – art direction, design * Alex Kirzhner – design


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naked Truth, The 2005 albums Albums produced by Fredwreck Albums produced by J. R. Rotem Albums produced by Mr. Porter Albums produced by Scott Storch Atlantic Records albums Lil' Kim albums International Rock Star Records albums Albums produced by Red Spyda