Niatia Jessica Kirkland, better known by her stage name Lil Mama, is an American hip hop recording artist. A rapper, singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress, Lil Mama was a talent show judge for seven seasons on America's Best Dance Crew. She was also cast for the role of Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, in the VH1 biographical film "CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story", which aired in October 2013.
Background
Kirkland is the third child and eldest daughter of eight kids. Being the eldest daughter of eight, she acquired her nickname "lil mama". Kirkland faced personal and financial struggles at an early age. As one of eight brothers and sisters, she started to express herself artistically through poetry and dance.
Education
She was raised in Brooklyn, New York where she attended Edward R. Murrow High School.
Career
In 2006, Kirkland signed a recording contract with Jive Records. Her first studio album "VYP" (Voice of the Young People) was released in late April 2008. The album spawned four singles: "Lip Gloss", "G-Slide (Tour Bus)", "Shawty Get Loose" and "What It Is (Strike a Pose)". The album sold 19,000 copies in the first week, debuting at number 25 on the Billboard 200. Lil Mama served as a judge on the competitive dance contest television series America's Best Dance Crew. She joined the judges's circle in 2008 at the age of nineteen.
Since the release of her first album, Lil Mama has been in the studio working on new music. She released the singles "Dough Boy" featuring Mishon, "On & On & On", and "NYNYLALA" featuring Snoop Dogg, all of which failed to chart. She has since released two singles entitled "Scrawberry" and "Hustler Girl" featuring Clyde McKnight. In 2009 she announced the title of her proposed new album as "Voice Of The Young People: I Am That", although this has not been released.
On October 7, 2012 RCA Music Group announced it was disbanding J Records along with Arista Records and Jive Records. With the shutdown, Lil Mama (and all other artists previously signed to these three labels) will release her future material on the RCA Records brand. "Voice Of The Young People: I Am That" will have guest appearances including Soulja Boy, Khalil, Vanessa Hudgens, LoLa Monroe, Teyana Taylor, Trina, OMG Girlz, Nas, Chris Brown among others.
At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, Lil Mama came onstage while Jay-Z and Alicia Keys performed "Empire State of Mind". While Jay-Z was ending his final verse, Lil Mama left her seat in the audience, got onto the stage, and started bobbing her head to the beat. Jay-Z was surprised but continued to perform. Right before this moment, Beyonce had even tried to hold her from going up. Jay-Z patted Lil Mama on the leg to fall back, jokingly telling her, "you T-Paining right now," a reference to a similar incident two months earlier when T-Pain jumped onstage with Jay-Z at Summer Jam during his performance of "D.O.A.". At the end of the performance, Lil Mama came to foreground and posed alongside Jay-Z and Keys. She later clarified that she "would never ... try to disrespect Jay-Z or take a moment that someone has created it and try to relive it. I’m too original for that and I respect him too much for that."
In October 2009, she also appeared in cycle 13 of America's Next Top Model. with Benny Ninja.
Lil Mama starred as Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes in the VH1 TLC biographical film "CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story", which aired on October 21, 2013, alongside Keke Palmer and Drew Sidora, who played Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas and Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, respectively.