There are many things about Memphis Rap that remain shrouded in mystery — and the story of Lady Bee & Kingpin Skinny Pimp is easily one of the most intriguing in the genre’s history.
If you’re unfamiliar, Lady Bee was a female rapper who released three albums between 1993 and 1994:
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Sumthin For Da Streets Pt. 1
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Sumthin For Da Streets Pt. 2
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Strictly For That N**a 3*
The Voice Behind the Mic
It wasn’t just wild speculation. The voice, the delivery, and the style on those tapes sounded uncannily like Skinny Pimp — who, for the record, rapped and produced alongside Lady Bee on all three releases.
People weren’t just guessing. This theory had roots in real connections — and over time, it only got deeper.
The Skinny Pimp–Lady Bee Connection
Then came the now-famous photo from 1995.
In it, Lady Bee (Barbara) is seen advertising her local store. Her name is right there in plain sight — but the real kicker? Her license plate reads: DIVORCE.
That one image confirmed to fans that something did go down between her and Skinny. And it only added fuel to the theory that he may have taken over her music career once they split.
When the Internet Got Involved
Once these tapes started surfacing online, the speculation went from rumor to reality fast.
Fans began experimenting with pitch effects, slowing down and adjusting Lady Bee’s vocals on her second and third albums. What they discovered was shocking: when you pitch her voice down — it sounds exactly like Kingpin Skinny Pimp.
The conclusion?
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Lady Bee recorded the first album (Sumthin Fa Da Streets Pt. 1).
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After their breakup, Skinny likely finished the next two albums himself, using pitched-up vocals to imitate her sound.
It’s likely that Skinny had already started working on part two while they were still together. Once the relationship fell apart, he may have erased her verses, finished the tape solo, and released it under her name — to keep the momentum going. After all, there was a real buzz for more Lady Bee tapes at the time.
Then came Strictly For That N**a 3*, pushing the concept even further.
“Where The Big Dicks At?”
Skinny didn’t just imitate Lady Bee’s voice — he went all in. On these later tapes, he recorded tracks with titles like “Where The Big Dicks At”, fully committing to the persona.
Whatever his motivation was — whether it was money, spite, or artistic experimentation — it worked. The tapes sold locally and are still sought after today.
And here’s the twist: it might’ve even inspired others.
Artists like Evil Pimp would later develop alter-egos, most famously StanMan, a pitched-up, younger, more evil version of himself. The concept is eerily similar to what Skinny did with Lady Bee.
Legacy Over Logic
Even knowing all this, the mystique of Lady Bee still holds up.
Whether it was actually Barbara or Skinny behind the mic, the aesthetic, the sound, and the impact of those tapes is undeniable. The fact that fans still bump those albums today — myself included — is a testament to the raw creativity that came out of Memphis in that era.
No matter how it was made, the Lady Bee trilogy is a part of Memphis Rap history. And so is the strange, possibly genre-bending move that Skinny Pimp pulled off — one that might just be one of the most legendary underground plays the city has ever seen.