in the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, top 10 of the Hot R&B Singles chart, and topped the Rap Songs chart, making Lil' Kim the first female rap artist to have two consecutive number-one singles on that chart. Both singles peaked in the top 50 of the UK Singles Chart. A third single, "Not Tonight" (Remix), became a huge top 10 success in 1997, peaking at number six on the Hot 100, number three on the Hot R&B Singles chart, and topping the Rap Songs chart. The single also reached the top 20 on the UK chart and number 10 in Germany. The single was certified platinum by the RIAA. It was nominated in 1998 for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. “Big Momma Thang” was released to commercial radio in the fall of 1996. Critical reception Hard Core received critical acclaim. The Source called the album "a solid debut because phat beats and rhymes are really all it takes, and they're both present", while Rolling Stone magazine included Hard Core in its list of "Essential Recordings of the 90's". In 2003, PopMatters wrote, "Track for track, Hard Cores thuggette-auctioneering flow melds the perfect hybrid of yoni power Mafioso and Park Avenue duchess." Rolling Stone concluded in reviewing the album in the magazine's 2004 version of The Rolling Stone Album Guide: Hip-hop had never seen anything like Brooklynite Kimberly Jones at the time of her solo debut: She single-handedly raised the bar for raunchy lyrics in hip-hop, making male rappers quiver with fear with lines like "You ain't lickin' this, you ain't stickin' this . . . I don't want dick tonight/Eat my pussy right" ("Not Tonight"). Riding the wing of Notorious B.I.G.'s Ready to Die and Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt, Kim's Hard Core helped put East Coast hip-hop back on top in the late '90s. The album's overreliance on old '70s funk samples doesn't detract a bit from the Queen Bee's fearless rhymes: In "Dreams", she demands service from R. Kelly, Babyface, and nearly every "R&B dick" in the field. A landmark of bold, hilarious filth. In July 2022, Rolling Stone ranked Hard Core as the 78th best debut album of all time. Commercial performance Hard Core debuted and peaked at number 11 on the US Billboard 200 and at number three on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, selling 78,000 copies