Queen Bee Lil' Kim Lights Up Barclays Center During WNBA Finals!

Lil’ Kim is still the Queen Bee! As the queen of 90s rap, she’s still got it going on and proved it at the Barclays Center Sunday afternoon.

While the rapper has only performed a handful of times during 2023 so far, she gave an amazing performance to a sold-out crowd during halftime at the WNBA Finals Game 3 in Brooklyn.

With 2023 marking 50 years of hip-hop, it also marks nearly 30 years since Lil’ Kim, 49, dropped her debut album, “Hard Core.” First discovered by Notorious BIG, she’s well known by many generations and made a great addition to a wild Finals series between the the No 1 seed Las Vegas Aces and No. 2 seed New York Liberty.

Lil' Kim's highly anticipated performance on the Barclays Center court was excitedly welcomed by the hyped-up crowd. After an exciting first half of Game 3, fans were ready for an energetic performance by the Brooklyn native Queen Bee.

The Queen Bee brought the energy to the court with a nearly five minute long performance that included many of her hit songs. Along with her dancers and a special appearance by the Liberty's mascot, Ellie the Elephant, Lil' Kim had the crowd going wild.

Gearing up for her halftime performance, the rapper shared information about her Finals show on Instagram on Friday. Captioned, “NEW YORK CITY!!! Pull up to @barclayscenter this Sunday to watch our @nyliberty 🗽 🏀 in the @wnba Finals. Let’s Light IT UP 🔥 🔥 🔥,” many of her fans took to the comments to share their excitement.

Some asked about new music and others were just excited to hear about the halftime show in her hometown of Brooklyn. 

"QUEEN OF HIP HOP👑❤️," one fan wrote. Another added, "THE QUEEN 😩💙🙏WE NEED THAT ALBUM😭😭😭😭😭😭."

This wasn't Lil' Kim's first time performing during halftime at Barclays Center. In 2021, she made it rain cash during halftime at a Brooklyn Nets game.

According to TMZ, the rapper was asked to perform as part of the team's annual Women's Empowerment Game that celebrated the "achievements, contributions, and overall impact women have had on our society." She performed some of her biggest hits while wearing shiny Nets gear with the Brooklyn Nets dance team, the Brooklynettes, dancing alongside her.

Celebrating 50 years of hip-hop music, Lil’ Kim was chosen to grace one of the five covers of EBONY Magazine for the big occasion. The cover was shared by the magazine on their Instagram page a few weeks ago and has received both praise and backlash from fans.

“When it comes to this Hip Hop Game, you don’t wanna bumble with the bee and for almost three decades, Lil Kim has continued to show us why. From her days with Junior Mafia to now, she has always come correct with bars slicker than honey with an impeccable charisma that is impossible to duplicate,” the caption reads.

“As any Queen Bee does, Lil Kim’s example as a formidable female rapper birthed an undeniable blueprint with every move she made. You don’t have to look far for Lil Kim’s impact on Hip-Hop, it’s more evident than ever.” 

Many comments on the Instagram post were positive, but there were plenty of comments that discussed the photo being heavily retouched. 

“Whoever was in charge of editing these pictures needs to get fired and blacklisted. Immediately,” one person said. Another shared, “🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 the QUEEN!!!! Undeniable, effortlessly.”