La Bella Mafia

La Bella Mafia
Studio album by Lil' Kim
Released	March 4, 2003 (2003-03-04)
Recorded	2002–03
Studio	Avatar Studios, The Hit Factory, Manhattan Center Studios, Sony Music Studios, The Source Sound Lab (New York City) Encore Recording Studios (Burbank, California)
Genre	East Coast hip hop Mafioso rap dirty rap
Length	65:33
Label	Queen Bee Atlantic
Producer	Various Big Hill Ron Browz DJ Bless Ez Elpee Full Force Jay "Waxx" Garfield Havoc Kimberly "Lil' Kim" Jones (also exec.) The Notorious B.I.G. (exec.) Phantom of the Beats Sha Money XL Shaft Scott Storch Swizz Beatz Thorobreads Timbaland Kanye West
Lil' Kim chronology
The Notorious K.I.M. (2000) La Bella Mafia (2003) The Naked Truth (2005)
Singles from La Bella Mafia
"The Jump Off" Released: February 28, 2003 "Magic Stick" Released: April 8, 2003 "Thug Luv" Released: October 14, 2003

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	65/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Billboard	Favorable
Entertainment Weekly	B
RapReviews.com	8/10
Rolling Stone
Slant Magazine
The Source
Spin	8/10
Stylus Magazine	B+
USA Today

La Bella Mafia is the third studio album by American rapper Lil' Kim, released on March 4, 2003 by Atlantic Records. It debuted at number five on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 166,000 copies in its first week. A commercial success, La Bella Mafia was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), selling over one million copies in the United States and over two million copies worldwide.

La Bella Mafia received positive reviews from music critics, marking Kim's lyrical ability as impressive and her presence as formidable. It produced two singles that attained Billboard chart success. The lead single "The Jump Off" peaked at number 17 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and at 16 on the UK Singles Chart chart. The second single "Magic Stick", featured 50 Cent, peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. The singles "Magic Stick" and "Came Back for You" earned Kim Grammy Award nominations for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group and Best Female Rap Solo Performance, respectively.

In late 2001, Lil' Kim left Junior M.A.F.I.A. and severed ties with all members. She also ended her friendship and business relationship with longtime collaborator Sean "Diddy" Combs.

Recording sessions for La Bella Mafia began in the spring of 2002. In April 2002, Lil' Kim stated in an interview that she had begun working with Dr. Dre in the recording studio. She told MTV, "I've been talking to Dre a lot. And Dre and I are talking about possibly doing some collaborations. He's a cool cat. I love Dre. Our chemistry in the studio was just like, cool. We've been working, you know, trying to cook up some things". Kim also stated that she wanted to work with Eminem, Timbaland, and The Neptunes.

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Wikipedia