http://www.kimmykim.com/

THIS lonely lady feels that BEP has gone to a direction that she really didn't care for. BTW, her decison to quit the BEP was final during the making of the group's third album Elephunk. Yes, we're talking months before Stacey Ferguson (Fergie) was hired by will.i.am to perform the singing vocals instead (which also resulted in giving full-time membership of The BEP!!!).

Keep in mind that Kim Hill was NEVER a full-time member of the group. However, she was the BEP's original studio vocalist for singing hooks. Also, she was also a co-songwriter for BEP's debut album, Behind The Front.

Considering that her solo debut album will be release soon, I would like to use this thread to discuss the career of Kim Hill and then TRY to imagine what might have been if she was the vocalist of The Black Eyed Peas instead of Fergie.
[Edited 7/5/05 22:36pm]
[Edited 7/5/05 22:36pm]
[Edited 7/5/05 22:41pm]

TonyVanDam said:

I liked her voice better than this Fergie broad. She really did a good job on Joints and Jams.

http://www.kimmykim.com

Here's some more information about Kim:

Pharaoh’s Daughter

“So when Justin Timberlake does the beat box and sings with Al Green, suddenly he
has street cred? Disney must have stock in hip-hop because the Mouseketeers got hard
all of a sudden... Please don't be puzzled by my concern, after all, music is in a state of
emergency. I'm not saying I'm here to save black music, just don't tell me I'm not black
enough if I pick up a banjo. Oh and by the way, neo-soul is a wrap, done, finito."
Kim Hill

She’s the angel who wears her halo as a belt. On her upcoming highly anticipated
album, Pharaoh's Daughter, Kim provides her listeners with a taste of lyrical boldness,
both fearless and vulnerable leaving no stone unturned. She effortlessly manifests an
eclectic and harmonious vibe and transports her fans to what she refers to as a throw
back. "Just think Diana Ross in Mahogany with Grace Jones’s fearlessness mixed with
the ancient Pharaoh's Daughter. Bring it up to date with what’s going on socially,
globally and in hip-hop and you'll find me standing there adjusting my A Cup bra
waiting to hit the mike." She embodies the standard of the singers from yesteryears
through invigorating vocals with thought induced messages that silhouette charismatic,
rhythmically charged production. This is the formula which blazes the trail for her brand
of melodic global flow.

"Don't call it a comeback! I've been here for years," is what LL Cool J told the world in
the early 90's. This exclamation seems appropriately fitting for a woman who has been
on the scene since 1995. Kim is not just another new face in a sea of female songbirds
with head wraps and incense behind their ears. Kim's music created its own trademark
and her live performances created their own audience. She has shared the stage with a
spectrum of artists including the late Biggie Smalls, Outkast, The Black Eyed Peas, The
Pharcyde, Cody Chestnutt, Slum Village, Raphael Saadiq, Jody Watley, De La Soul, No
Doubt, A Tribe Called Quest and Aaliyah to name a few. She co-wrote on Tupac's
"Mamas just a Little Girl," an ode to young single mothers from his 2x’s multi platinum
album, Better Dayz and recorded with Jane’s Addiction. However it was the chance
meeting in 1995 at a BMI Showcase with the then unknown multicultural alternative hip
hop group, The Black Eyed Peas that sent Kim on a whirlwind adventure that would
ultimately change her career.

They embraced her sound and brought her into the studio with them where she co-
wrote several songs on their groundbreaking album, Behind the Front including the hit,
"The Way You Make Me Feel." Kim became known as the Peas stand out vocalist and
quickly assimilated into the roots of their progressive family tree, contributing to
numerous tracks on both Behind the Front and Bridging the Gap. Hill's writing style and
concepts gave birth to songs such as "On My Own", which featured Les Nubians and
Mos Def, as well as the irrepressible "Hot." Even the members of Cypress Hill agreed,
"The Peas give an entertaining show with having the live band and dancing all over the
place, but their singer Kim Hill is dope!"The youngest of three children born in
Syracuse, New York, Kim learned how to play the violin and piano at the tender age of
six and continued through high school. While attending the dance program at the
prestigious University of The Arts in Philadelphia, Hill was guided by professors
including the legendary Judith Jamieson (Alvin Ailey), and had colleagues such as
?uestlove from the Grammy nominated hip-hop group, The Roots.

During her tenure with the Peas, Kim began to grow artistically as a producer and
writer, learning how to play the guitar and reconnecting with the violin. She soon
captured the attention of executives at Interscope Records with whom she was signed
to in 1998 off of a five song, four track demo she produced in her apartment. But it was
no surprise to Kim when she was dropped by Interscope in 1999 out of fear that her,
"music wasn't black enough." The release from Interscope was a God send and
provided the ammunition for Kim's first independent solo release, Surrender to Her
Sunflower in 2000. The LA Weekly praised the debut by saying, "Hill's Surrender to Her
Sunflower is a testament to her marvelous vocal and song writing talent... the album
features the singer's dexterous soprano gliding across a song expanse of laid-back,
sensuous soul." The video for "Sunshine" featured appearances from Les Nubians and
appeared in regular rotation on MTV Europe and BET which Kim produced and co-
directed. Before she knew it, the young girl who traveled to Los Angeles with $36 in her
pocket was rocking packed houses, such as SOB’s in New York and the Viper Room in
Los Angeles.
On Hill's second CD masterpiece, Suga Hill, the scribe and soloist was nominated by the
LA Weekly for Best Contemporary Blues/R&B Artist in 2001, 2002 & 2003. This ultimately
created an illustrious following from LA to London, generating a buzz and reputation as
a do it yourself independent machine. It became obvious Hill was not interested in
being labeled, nor being signed to one. Critics sang Hills praises from around the world
as she released vinyl in Japan and Europe and started to license her music in films and
television. "It's called bringing the mountain to Mohammad", Hill says of her tireless
strategy of marketing her music. "By the time you reach the end of this L.A. dame's self
distributed full-length debut, one thought constantly plays over and over in your head:
Many of Hill's honey dripping melodies are covered with mid tempo, bounce heavy
grooves that give the album a fanciful, retro charge. If this were 1986, Hill would be so
the shit!", Kim's third cd, "Pharaoh's Daughter", is said to be one of the best
independent releases of the year on her own label, One Brave Indian. "I want to show
artists they can have their four acres and a mule with out the minstrel show. Own the
master, don't do a soft shoe for him", Hill says with a roar of support from her audience
at a live show in Los Angeles. Before releasing the full length, "Right Now", and
"Nutshell" will be released on vinyl through Concrete Grooves/ Giant Step Records.
Look for the album to hit retail summer 2005 with songs like, "Disney", "Hollywood" and
"Mockingbird" by the UK's Bugz in the Attic crew. Dionne Warwick told Vibe magazine,
"I hope she makes it, her songs have an ethereal sound..." Maybe the halo will make its
way back onto Hill's head. Either way, she’ll deliver the goods and continue to raise the
bar of integrity in music.

MsLegs said:

If I'm not mistaken, Kim was also on BEP's second album Bridging The Gap.

BTW, I'm shock to find out that Interscope Records drop her from their label because (....get this) she didn't sound black enough!!!

THAT right there is some foul race card playing shit!
[Edited 7/5/05 22:48pm]

TonyVanDam said:

less obnoxious. but also less popular. nothing livens up sales like putting a "hot" piece of ass out there to shake around while you babble on with your idiocy.

TonyVanDam said:

That record label is full of some straight up bullshit.

MsLegs said:

Forget about Suge Knight or what was one Death Row Records, Interscope is THE Real darkside of the music industry!

TonyVanDam said:

Exactly. Suge was only a pon.

MsLegs said:

THey were definitely a better group when she was there - I love their first album - I still listen to it - I had so much excitement for this group but I can't stand them now - I just can't stomach that 'concious pop' bullshit - When Fergie came to the group she just didn't seem real to me AT ALL

MsLegs said:

I agree. Joints and Jams is STILL their best track, and her work on Behind The Front really made the album (inconsistent as it was).

But Fergie was "decor" for the BEPs to cross over. They would have gone nowhere without her.

namepeace said:[quote]

MsLegs said:

Cross over to what? Corny, run-of-the-mill pop fluff with a "poor man's Britney" as the star?

theVelvetRoper said:[quote]

namepeace said:

there is no such thing..

namepeace said:

And Fergie might have lost her life (let alone her music career) due to her battle with depression & drugs if it weren't for The Black Eyed Peas reaching out to her (especially will.i.am)!

theVelvetRoper said:[quote]

namepeace said:

Uhhhh. . . Yeah!

TonyVanDam said:

Well, if it saved her life I'm happy for her!

sosgemini said:

I know, that's why I had to put it in quotation marks,