Her 1996 solo debut, 'Hardcore,' made the highest-ever debut on the Billboard charts for a female rap artist. And now, Atlantic Records has provided the 25-year-old with her own label, Queen Bee.ДЇrom the moment she was discovered by rapper Christopher Wallace (a k a Notorious B.I.G., a k a Biggie Smalls) as a round-the-way girl roaming the streets of Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, Kimberly Jones has set new standards for female rappers. She earns cover treatments from mainstream and edgy magazines alike: The Source, XXXL, Vibe, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Jet, Interview (on which she appeared wearing nothing but head-to-toe Louis Vuitton body tattoos). To cash in on the marketing moment, corporate America has come running, showering her with endorsement offers-from Candie's shoes to Viva Glam lipstick. Her fans include many young women who find in her an enviable example of personal strength. Quite the contrary: She considers herself a good role model-an empowered, independent woman in the highly misogynistic world of rap. It's like the kind of pinup men find useful in prison cells and toilets.Д«ut nobody seems bothered by the actual work of this shoot-least of all Kim, who patiently strips down. A full-page advertisement for her new album, 'The Notorious K.I.M.,' shows the star in the back seat of a limousine, naked except for black spike-heel boots and a safari-style hat. The final products-the photographs that will sell Kim's raunchy lyrics and persona to the world-often come close to that. Freak mama.Д¬hange the circumstances only slightly and you could imagine a porn shoot happening in this warehouse.

With the final touches of turquoise eye shadow, pink lips and, of course, her trademark blond wig and blue contact lenses in place, the picture is complete. The theme of the day is baby-doll innocence, and the 4-foot-11 celebrity is appropriately undressed in a sheer blue and pink negligee and high-heeled sandals.

In a nondescript warehouse in Manhattan's Chelsea district, the rapper Lil' Kim is being primed for yet another fashion shoot.

Beneath the mask lyrics