Lil’ Kim has topped the charts in the past with her music. Now, she’s gearing up to release her long-awaited memoir The Queen Bee — will it sell more than one of the most popular books of all time?
During a recent Instagram Live, the “Not Tonight” rapper spoke about her upcoming memoir and claimed it’s currently “surpassing the Bible” in the amount of copies preordered thus far.
“When we post our presales, we be surpassing the Bible, and that’s crazy,” said Lil’ Kim, 49, in a clip from the broadcast that’s since been shared to social media. “And the thing is it’s, like, the Bible. I don’t take that lightly. Y’all already know that.”
Prince Williams/ Filmmagic
While the total number of preordered copies of The Queen Bee is unclear, the Bible reportedly sold around 5 million copies in 2022, according to Publishing Perspectives‘ citation of an NPD BookScan report.
Lil’ Kim’s memoir would have to move an unprecedented number of copies to outperform high-selling recent memoirs like Jennette McCurdy’s I’m Glad My Mom Died, which publisher Simon & Schuster states has sold over 2 million copies since its August 2022 release.
This year, Britney Spears’ memoir The Woman in Me has topped the New York Times bestseller list for multiple weeks since its Oct. 24 release. The book sold 1.1 million copies in its first week in pre-orders, print books, ebooks and audiobooks formats, according to Gallery Books, a division of Simon & Schuster.
Kaitlyn Morris/FilmMagic
It’s unlikely Lil’ Kim’s memoir will outsell the Bible, but she does have a substantial story to tell. The Queen Bee, cowritten with Kathy Iandoli, will find the rapper recounting her life and career as a Grammy-winning female artist in the male-dominated hip-hop genre.
She announced the book in 2021, telling PEOPLE in a statement, “I’m excited to finally get to tell my story after all this time. Many people have thought they knew the story of Lil’ Kim, but they have no idea.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Arturo Holmes/Getty
Elsewhere in the recent Instagram Live, Lil’ Kim opened up about why The Queen Bee has been delayed since its original Nov. 1, 2021 release date was unveiled, telling fans the book is “done.”
“It’s some crazy s— going on behind the scenes,” she said. “You have to be really careful when you deal with these book companies because they try to, like, literally take advantage of you.”
According to publisher Hachette Books, The Queen Bee is currently set for release on Sept. 23, 2025.
