Lil Mama extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

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Lil Mama
Birth name	Niatia Jessica Kirkland
Born	October 4, 1989 (1989-10-04) (age 20)
Origin	Harlem and Brooklyn, New York, USA
Genres	Hip hop, Pop, R&B, pop rap
Occupations	Rapper, singer, dancer1 Songwriter
Years active	2007-present
Labels	Jive Records, Zomba Label Group (2007-Present)
Associated acts	Chris Brown, T-Pain, Avril Lavigne, Vanessa Hudgens

Niatia Jessica Kirkland (born October 4, 1989),² better known as "Lil Mama", is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and released from Jive Records. Kirkland was born in Harlem and later moved to the East New York section of Brooklyn, New York where she attended Edward R. Murrow High School.

Contents 1 Career 2 Awards and nominations 3 Discography 3.1 Singles 4 References 5 External links

Career

In 2006 she signed a recording contract with Jive Records. Lil Mama worked with producers such as Cool & Dre, Scott Storch, The Runners, and Dr. Luke. In June 2007 she released her first single Lip Gloss. The single, which was her breakout hit, peaked at 10 on U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated Monster Single of the Year at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards. This song was #56 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.

Her second single G-Slide (Tour Bus) was released in September that same year but failed to match Lip Gloss's success failing to chart in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Though the single was a Top Ten hit peaking at #8 on the New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart making it her first single to chart worldwide. The single was featured in the film How She Move.

In February 2008 she released her third single Shawty Get Loose with T-Pain and Chris Brown.

Her debut album VYP (Voice of the Young People) was released via Jive Records April 29, 2008. A fourth official single What It Is (Strike a Pose) with T-Pain failed to chart. A Promo Single Truly In Love Featuring Peter Toh was released in 2009 coincided with a music video.

She is currently a judge on America's Best Dance Crew on MTV. The series which premiered February 7, 2008 has run for five seasons.

On September 14th, 2009, she made national headlines when she went on stage unannounced during Jay-Z and Alicia Keys live performance of Empire State of Mind during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.³ She would later apologize for her behavior, citing the connection she felt to the song as the main reason she decided to act as she did. Although the ensuing media hype was heavily overshadowed by the Kanye West/Taylor Swift incident that occurred on the same night, she was heavily criticized for her behavior by local media outlets⁴⁵ and Jay-Z admitted during a radio interview that he was 'pissed' by her actions⁶ and wish that she would've understood the amount of hard work that was undermined by her behavior.

Awards and nominations

• BET Awards
  • 2009, Best female Hip-Hop Artist (Nominated)
  • 2008, Best female Hip-Hop Artist (Nominated)
• MTV Video Music Awards
  • 2007, Monster Single of the Year: "Lip Gloss" (Nominated)
• Teen Choice Awards
  • 2008, Choice Rap/Hip-Hop Track: "Shawty Get Loose" (Winner)
  • 2008, Choice TV Personality: Randy Jackson's America's Next Best Dance Crew (Nominated)
  • 2007, Choice Rap Artist (Nominated)
  • 2007, Choice Summer Song: "Lip Gloss" (Winner)
  • 2007, Choice Music Hookup: "Shawty Get Loose" (Nominated)
• MTV Asia Awards
  • 2008, Best Hook-up: "Girlfriend" - featured by Avril Lavigne (Nominated)

Discography

• 2008: VYP (Voice of the Young People)
• 2010: Voice of the Young People: I Am That ⁷

Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions							Album
		U.S.			AUS	CAN	NZ	UK
		Hot 100	R&B	Pop
2007	"Lip Gloss"	10		3	—	—	—	—	VYP (Voice of the Young People)
	"G-Slide (Tour Bus)"	124	—	—	—	—	8	—
2008	"Shawty Get Loose" (featuring Chris Brown and T-Pain)	10			41	10	3	57
	"What It Is (Strike a Pose)" (featuring T-Pain)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

References

External links

• Official Website
• Lil Mama at the Internet Movie Database

v • d • e Lil Mama Albums VYP (Voice of the Young People) Singles "Lip Gloss" · "G-Slide (Tour Bus)" · "Shawty Get Loose" · "What It Is (Strike a Pose)" Featured singles "Girlfriend (Dr. Luke remix)"  · "Block Party" Related article America's Best Dance Crew · 2009 MTV Video Music Awards controversy