Lil Kim Enters Beauty Business With New Salon Extending Her Brand
Hip-hop blogger Necole Bitchie has a great story on her site about Lil Kim entering the beauty business. The self-proclaimed queen bee of rap has opened a salon with her cousin that promises to keep getting pretty affordable for the masses. The details:
On Saturday, Lil Kim, her cousin Katrise Jones and Meagan Good gathered in Charlotte for the grand opening of new Salon Se Swa By Queen Bee. The Salon is owned by Lil Kim and her cousin Katrise and they plan to open one in Atlanta soon. The prices are suppose to be affordable with $10 wash and sets, $10 haircuts, & $35 and up perms.
See great exclusive pictures of Lil Kim’s salon opening on Necolebitchie.com.
Now, I have to admit, I am happy for Lil Kim. My friends and I have adored her ever since her first album, ‘Hard Core,’ re-established the female emcee as an important creator of entertainment for popular audiences. But, since those glory days in the ’90s, Lil Kim has never been able to recapture that high point as a mainstream media darling.
Lil Kim has done a great job of staying on the radar though, and has not fallen into complete irrelevance, as often happens to rappers as soon as that luster from their first hit starts to fade. Unlike other more financially successful artists like Queen Latifah and Common, Lil Kim never attempted to parlay her household name into diverse business endeavors, which always seemed strange to me. Hip-hop artists, more than any other group of celebrities, are usually known for fearlessly branching out into a dizzying array of business ventures to keep the checks coming even when their music royalties die down. But despite being well known and connected to some of the biggest hip-hop names, Kim never did the same — until now.
Some might question Lil Kim’s taste in terms of style. Plastic surgery may have made a dent in her natural beauty. Others might wonder what business preparation Kim did in order to plan the opening of her salon, and insure that it runs profitably. Perhaps her business partner and cousin is taking care of the details. While there is no way to know how prepared Lil Kim is, it is still great to see her finally taking her financial security into her own hands by creating a business of her own. Ironically, her well-known if controversial sense of style is the perfect hook to get customers interested in a beauty endeavor.
It might have taken Lil Kim over 15 years to parlay her name into something of her own, but perhaps she is finally confident enough in her brand to go for financial independence. I hope she is successful.
