Rapper Lil' Kim and actor Justin Chambers are celebrating their birthdays today.
Lil' Kim, 40
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Rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, model and actress Lil' Kim turns 40 today. Born Kimberly Denise Jones, Lil' Kim's career jump started in 1995 with The Notorious B.I.G.'s group, Junior M.A.F.I.A. She released her debut studio album, Hard Core, in 1996, and it earned Platinum certification. Lil' Kim released three consecutive No. 1 hits from her debut album, "No Time," "Not Tonight (Ladies Night remix)," and "Crush on You," a record for a female rapper. Her albums that followed, The Notorious K.I.M. and La Bella Mafia, were also certified Platinum, making her the only female rapper besides Missy Elliott to have at least 3 platinum albums.
Lil' Kim was featured on the single, "Lady Marmalade," alongside Mýa, Pink and Christina Aguilera which went to No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The hit remake won two MTV Video Music Awards including Video of the Year, and a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 44th Grammy Awards in 2002.
In 2005, Lil' Kim served a year long prison sentence for lying to a jury about her friends' involvement in a shooting four years earlier. During her incarceration, her fourth album, The Naked Truth, was released. She returned to the public eye in 2009 with an appearance on Dancing with the Stars.
Lil' Kim is in a relationship with rapper Peoples Hernandez, known by his stage name Papers. She gave birth to her first child, daughter Royal Reign, in June.
Justin Chambers, 44
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Actor and former fashion model Justin Chambers turns 44 today. Chambers was discovered by a modeling scout and went on to represent Calvin Klein in a fragrance campaign. He worked throughout Europe, Japan, and the United States for Calvin Klein, Armani, and Dolce & Gabbana. Chambers later moved to New York to pursue and acting career. He earned a few television roles, including a recurring role in the soap opera Another World as Nicholas Hudson, and New York Undercover. In 1998 he was cast as series regular in the short-lived CBS primetime soap opera Four Corners. Chambers also appeared in several television movies, such as Harvest of Fire, Rose Hill and Seasons of Love.
Chambers starred in several movies including Liberty Heights, The Wedding Planner, The Musketeer, Southern Belles, The Zodiac and the HBO original movie Hysterical Blindness. In 2003, Chambers was cast as one of the leads in the CBS crime drama Cold Case but left after only four episodes.
In August, 2004, Chambers was cast as intern Alex Karev in the medical drama series Grey's Anatomy. In 2006, along with other cast members, he was awarded a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. In 2009, he also guest-starred on the Grey's Anatomy spin-off, Private Practice, for the Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice crossover event.
Chambers married Keisha, a former model agency booker, in 1993. They have five children together: Isabella, twins Maya and Kaila, Eva and Jackson.