In 2023, we’re still talking about the wigs Lil’ Kim wore 25 years ago.
It’s hard not to. They’re what the word “iconic” is reserved for. You can immediately place them, even when they’re disembodied from the full ensemble. You remember other details, too: scotch taping the cover of Manhattan File to your bedroom wall in 2001 because that teal wig with the Chanel logo stamped on the bangs was so fly. The spot in the living room you were sitting when Lil’ Kim hit the 1999 VMA red carpet in that purple jumpsuit, accessorized with that purple pasty and a matching purple wig.
Those moments are a part of hip hop history, and as the genre turns 50 this year, there is no more fitting time to honor the artists that helped make them happen. From April 5 to July 23, the Baltimore Museum of Art does exactly that with “The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century.” The exhibit explores the influence of hip hop through art and fashion, showcasing artifacts of the genre and pieces inspired by the culture. Virgil Abloh, Telfar Clemens, Chance The Rapper, and Kendrick Lamar are just a few of the several interdisciplinary artists whose work is featured in the show.
Included in the exhibit are four recreations of wigs Lil’ Kim wore in the late ’90s and early 2000s, done by her then-hairstylist, Dionne Alexander. Alexander, now based in Dallas, was part of a team that included stylist Misa Hylton and makeup artist Nzingha. The three worked with Kim and unwittingly created the aesthetic blueprint female rappers still strictly adhere to.
Image Source: Courtesy Baltimore Museum of Art
Not that Alexander knew it at the time. “I didn’t understand the depth of the influence,” she tells POPSUGAR over a Zoom call. It wasn’t until the actual exhibit that Alexander realized the impact of the work she’d done all those years ago. “People were getting emotional about those wigs, telling their stories about Lil’ Kim and what the femininity she brought to the hip hop game…
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