The Memoir Of Ms. Butterfly

Niatia Jessica Kirkland was born in 1989 in Brooklyn, New York, and is the eldest daughter of eight children. She was raised in Harlem, New York, from her kindergarten to her eighth-grade year.

 After that, she moved back to Brooklyn and attended Edward R. Murrow High School until her Senior year, where she continued her education through independent studies. Lil Mama is the third generation of West African, Trinidadian, and Jamaican descent and the third-born child. Being the oldest daughter, she got her nickname “Lil Mama.” She has two older brothers and three younger brothers, one of whom is also a dancer and underground rapper, along with her younger sister and last brother. In addition, she has one maternal aunt and several paternal uncles.

Kirkland faced personal and financial struggles at an early age and experienced even more poverty when her mother, Tara, was diagnosed with breast cancer, which often led Kirkland to struggle in school as she had to care for her siblings and see her mother back and forth in hospitals from procedures. Both her parents had separated when she was a young child, but Lil Mama always maintained a close relationship with her father, visiting him consistently. As a result, her family became homeless, and their mother moved her and her siblings into a shelter due to poverty.

 Lil Mama told Power 105.1 she stayed in the caves for seven years, from kindergarten to the beginning of her eighth-grade year, when they managed to get an apartment in the Bronx and gain more stability. Her younger sibling’s father was deceased, so her mother was the Matriarch of her family. She contributed to helping her mother financially by taking up small jobs such as baking. Growing up, Kirkland witnessed many hardships in her community, including gang & drug violence, teen pregnancy, and domestic violence.

As one of eight children, she began to express herself artistically by writing poetry and music. She even trained at dance schools for Ballet, Jazz, Tap, South African, Hip-hop, and Street dance; she was in many competitions and recitals, making her a professional dancer. She was influenced by Mc Lyte, Lil Kim, Left Eye, Missy Elliot, Lauryn Hill, and her parents. Her mother was a talented singer, her father, Allen Brunner, was a musician, and D.J. Lil Mama decided to explore her talents further when she took an interest in Rap Culture. From then on, she continued to perfect her rapping skill and became an avid free stylist.

Lil Mama became known as the Voice of the Young People for being a teen sensation and connecting with her younger fans as she continued to present herself as that and embrace it in her music videos and songs. She became the Queen of Hip-Pop for mixing her rhymes with pop influences, which started after she collaborated with Avril Lavigne. She first introduced herself as the “Birth of Hip-Pop” at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards sporting a baby-styled look.

 She later told MTV how she intended to spread and influence more artists to spread the hip-hop genre. After her 2009 re-release of her single “L.I.F.E.,” Mama introduced her fans to a new side of the darker reality that young people face.

 The song was followed by a music video that incorporated the song’s themes, including teen pregnancy, drug addiction, child abandonment, domestic violence, and more. This showed Lil Mama as a legitimate rapper for even adults to listen to. Since the release of her first album, Lil Mama has been in and out of studios making new music. First, she released the single “Dough Boy” featuring Mishon. After that release, she made appearances on tracks with other artists, including “Turn it up” with Mishon and “Sexiest” by Yahaira.

 She also released “On & On & On” and “NYNYLALA,” featuring Snoop Dogg. The two singles were intended to be a part of her second studio album, but instead, they were released on iTunes and digital download but were later removed for unknown reasons. She then released two more singles, “Scrawberry” and “Hustler Girl” both singles were followed by music videos.

 Scrawberry introduced a new look for Lil Mama, wearing colorful wigs and futuristic attire; this would be her unique style for the next few years; however, the song was released on her MySpace page and YouTube. But, again, it was unclear if it was removed from streaming services, and her other two singles.” Hustler Girl” garnered $1.5 million. Which topped her income from her Billboard hits “Shawty Get Loose” and Lip Gloss which earned her $1 million and $800,000.[ Her next collaboration to follow, “Billionaire,” would make her $1.8 million.

Lil Mama made appearances on every red carpet in every award show. She was featured on many remixes of award-winning songs, one most notable being Lil Wayne’s “A Milli”; she was brought on stage at his concerts to perform the song. Lil Mama was even featured in the Grammy Award-nominated album First Love by artist Karina Pasian a close friend to Mama and veteran music artist. In 2009, she announced the title of her proposed sophomore album as “Voice Of The Young People: I Am That, after her single “What It Is” failed to chart. The song “What It Is” was the last single with a music video to be added to her album and was used to commercialize the album. When the song failed to chart, it flopped her album sales, putting her in hot water.

On October 7, 2012, R.C.A. 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) would release future material on the R.C.A. Records brand. However, Lil Mama had left Jive Records before the transition to R.C.A.; she stated in an interview that she was not in a suitable space to make music and decided to take a hiatus. Voice Of The Young People: I Am That the proposed second studio album would have had guest appearances, including Soulja Boy, Khalil, Angel Haze, Lola Monroe, Teyana Taylor, Trina, Keke Palmer, Nas, and Chris Brown, among others. Due to her leaving Jive, the album never saw a release; instead, it and the few singles recorded with Zomba Records were shelved. But she managed to release some of the songs directly online for her fans which included “Scrawberry,” “On & On & On,” and “N.Y. NY LA LA feat. Snoop Dogg”. The other singles she planned to record with the featured artist were never recorded and were disbanded. From her leaving Jive, Lil Mama became an independent artist.

On June 13, 2012, America’s Best Dance Crew came to a series finale. Lil Mama had served as a judge for a total of seven seasons. The following year she released a single on her Myspace page called “As Bad As Me,” which was later added to YouTube.

In October 2013, Lil Mama starred as Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes in the VH1 TLC biographical film CrazySexyCool: The T.L.C. Story, which aired on October 21, 2013, alongside Keke Palmer and Drew Sidora, who played Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas and Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, respectively. The movie generated 4.5 million views in one night. This was her first acting debut and breakout role, in which she received positive feedback from Left Eye’s fans. Lil Mama was the first to be cast, and from both the success of the movie and the close relationship she formed with T-Boz and Chilli. The group T.L.C. took a chance on Lil Mama, allowing her to substitute for the late Lisa Left-Eye Lopes. T.L.C. took Lil Mama on tour, and Lil Mama carried out Left Eye’s legacy by rapping her verses. Lil Mama’s journey with T.L.C. ended after they performed at the 2013 American Music Awards Lil Mama and T.L.C. dedicated a performance of Waterfalls for the late Left Eye. After the tribute, Lil Mama and T.L.C. parted ways, and Lil Mama went on to return to making music.

In November 2014, Lil Mama and A.V. were featured on MC Lyte Lyte’s album Legend and Lyte’s first music video in years, “Ball.” The music video was released on November 13, 2014. Lil Mama appeared in the video with both artists, providing rap verses and some of her signature dance moves. The same year she performed the song live with A.V. and Mc Lyte on The Real.

In May 2015, Lil Mama released the video for her song “Sausage” on WorldStarHipHop]The song was inspired by The Sausage movement on Vine after Lil Mama heard two girls on a street corner following the trend. The video incorporates many themes, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Voguing, Mary J. Blige, Caribbean love, and Community Fun. It immediately went viral, with more than 3 million views in its first week, topping the Billboard Music + Twitter charts, passing Maroon 5’s “Sugar,” and knocking out Jason Derulo’s “Want to Want Me. It remained steady in the top 20 well into June, with numerous dance studios and dance jams featuring choreography and routines on social media danced to the Sausage track.

Lil Mama got a chance to perform the song live during halftime of the 2015 B.E.T. Hip Hop Awards. The track was not made available for sale, being absent from both iTunes and Amazon.com due to copyright issues from the inspirations referenced and sampled. (the track listed on the YouTube video is “Mona Lisa” by Slick Rick; the track was only available on the Lil Mama SoundCloud account and her website. The footage also opted out of advertising revenue on YouTube, with no ads appearing before the music video. The following year she released another single, “Memes,” as a response to memes made of her after her notorious interview on The Breakfast Club. Lil Mama released Take Me Back, a mixtape that featured “Sausage” and “Memes.” The mixtape was later up for sale on her website and Soundcloud account; it featured seven songs, including a cover and re-edition of Rihanna’s “Work.” The song received mixed reviews online on YouTube and her website. People were not fond of her vocals on the hook but adored her choreography. The last song to be added was “To Fly,” which caught less attraction after her website was taken down for unknown reasons. To Fly was a video filmed in a club featuring her younger brother Arnstar as one of the dancers. She also produced her singing vocals on the hook. The song was another copyright issue that couldn’t be made for sale and was solely released through her mixtape and her Soundcloud page. The music video is a YouTube exclusive.

After her acting debut, Lil Mama made what S.O.H.H. called an “Epic Comeback.” Lil Mama was back on red carpets, Award Shows, Talk Shows, and magazine covers. In 2016 Lil Mama made an appearance on Hip Hop Squares as a contestant; the episode was highlighted because of the controversy Tamar Braxton started with the host. That same year Lil Mama, alongside Dej Loaf, gave a tribute to Lil’ Kim at the VH1 Hip Hop Honors; Kim thanked Mama later with a post of the award on her Instagram page.

In June 2015, Mama was listed as a featured speaker at an event sponsored by B.E.T. and the Hip Hop Sisters Network. Titled “Women, Wealth and Relationships,” the event also featured guest speakers MC Lyte, Shanice, and Elise Neal, as well as the main speaker and financial advisor specialist Lynn Richardson. The event, held on June 27, 2015, focuses on empowering black women in their lives and financially, providing answers to thorny issues such as men, money, and family relationships.

On August 28, 2017, Mama returned to acting, starring in the television movie When Love Kills: The Falicia Blakely Story, based on a true story. It premiered to 1.6 million viewers, ranking as T.V. One’s #1 original movie premiere of all time among all key demos. Lil Mama, director Tasha Smith, and her co-stars Tami Roman and Lance Gross went on a tour to promote the movie and share Falicia Blakely’s story.

Lil Mama took a hiatus from music after the success of her hit single “Hustler Girl” to stay focused on serving as a judge. For seven seasons on MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew at the age of twenty from 2008–2012, she was one of the youngest judges on any competitive television show in history.

Ms. Butterfly Genesis