Lil' Kim (ft. The Notorious B.I.G.) – "Queen Bitch" (1996)

I write a rhyme

Melt in your mouth like M&M’s

Everyone knows that M&M’s “melt in your mouth, not in your hand.”

Forrest Mars, Sr., got the idea for M&M’s in the 1930s when he saw Spanish Civil War combatants eating British-made Smarties, which were chocolate pellets with a shell of hardened sugar syrup that prevented the chocolate from melting.

Mars started producing M&M’s in 1941, and sold the candy exclusively to the U.S. armed forces during World War II.  (Chocolate was rationed during that war.)

There was no “m” printed on M&M’s until 1950.  That “m” was originally black, but was changed to white in 1954.

In 1976, red M&M’s were replaced with orange M&M’s after Red Dye #2 had been found to be carcinogenic by the FDA, which banned its use.  M&M’s had never used Red Dye #2 – they were made with Red Dye #40, which was safe – but the public was suspicious of red foods as a result of the banning of Red Dye #2.  Red M&M’s made a comeback in 1987.

In 1995, tan M&M’s were replaced by blue ones.  Today, plain M&M’s are a mix of blue, brown, green, orange, red, and yellow candies.

If it was up to me, I’d replace the brown M&M’s with purple ones.

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When I was growing up, there were only two varieties of M&M’s candy: plain and peanut.  (I don’t know why the manufacturer of M&M’s added that apostrophe not the product’s name when that name is a plural noun, not a possessive noun – but they did.)

Today you can get not only plain and peanut M&M’s, but also peanut butter, almond, pretzel, puffed rice, dark chocolate, and caramel M&M’s.  

A couple of those varieties sound promising, but why gild the lily?  I’m sticking with plain M&M’s.

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Did you know that M&M’s are the most-referenced candy in pop music?

According to LyricFind, M&M’s are mentioned in 122 songs.

Skittles are mentioned in 100 songs, while Hershey’s are referenced 92 times.  

The other types of candy that are most popular with songwriters include Kit Kat (which is mentioned in 60 songs), Jolly Rancher (39 songs), Tootsie Roll (38), Starburst (36), Twizzlers (16), and Lifesavers (9).

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“Queen Bitch” was released in 1996 on Lil’ Kim’s debut album, Hard Core, which has sold over five million copies to date.

Rolling Stone said that Hard Core was a “landmark of bold, hilarious filth” that “single-handedly raised the bar for raunchy lyrics in hip-hop.”

Click here to listen to “Queen Bitch.”

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