La Bella Mafia is the third album and fourth recording by American female rap artist Lil' Kim. It was released on March 4, 2003 to positive reviews and debuted at number-five on the Billboard 200 charts, selling 166,000 copies in its first week. The album was certified Platinum by the RIAA and has sold over 1 million copies worldwide.
In late 2001, Lil' Kim left Junior M.A.F.I.A. and severed ties with all members. She also ended her friendship an...
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La Bella Mafia is the third album and fourth recording by American female rap artist Lil' Kim. It was released on March 4, 2003 to positive reviews and debuted at number-five on the Billboard 200 charts, selling 166,000 copies in its first week. The album was certified Platinum by the RIAA and has sold over 1 million copies worldwide.
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 after he abandoned her when her sophomore album The Notorious K.I.M.—on which he served as executive producer—received a lukewarm reception.
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...
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