Lil' Kim, 52, is unrecognizable as she lights up the Empire State Building to mark debut LP's 30th anniversary

Lil' Kim looked nearly unrecognizable when she celebrated the start of her whirlwind career at New York City's Empire State Building on Thursday.

The 52-year-old rapper – real name: Kimberly Denise Jones – showed off the latest version of her shifting visage as she celebrated a career milestone, the 30th anniversary of her debut album, 1996's Hard Core.

Kim flipped the Empire State Building's massive lever to illuminate the iconic skyscraper in a pinkish-red hue to commemorate the album, which featured flowery pink text on its racy cover.

The tribute to the former hitmaker's first album precedes two special orchestra-backed concerts on November 18 and 19 to continue the anniversary.

Kim will be performing her debut LP at the shows, titled Hard Core Symphony, with assistance from Thee Phantom, a hip-hop artist who uses live orchestrations for his performances, and The Illharmonic Orchestra.

Her striking Empire State Building look included a sleeveless black midi-dress with white floral designs running up the front zipper to her throat.

Kim paired it with a sleek pair of knee-high black leather boots, and she also wore fingerless black leather and velvet gloves.

She accessorized with a black Louis Vuitton handbag with the brand's recognizable decorations in sparkling silver, and she wore her long brunette locks in curls and waves cascading down her shoulders.

Kim looked shockingly different than she did at the height of her commercial relevance, with a considerably thinner nose, pointier chin and lighter skin.

The changes to her appearance have added up gradually since the early 2000s.

In August, a source close to the rapper explained the reason for her evolving appearance.

'Lil' Kim has suffered low self-esteem for countless years,' they said. 'She gets work done to make her feel better about herself. It's part of her self-care routine.' 

They added that Kim 'likes being youthful and maintaining her looks.' 

'Let's just say she'll do whatever she can to make herself look young again,' they continued, adding that 'Being in your 50s can be daunting.' 

In a 2000 interview with Newsweek, Kim admitted: 'I have low self-esteem and always have.' 

'Guys always cheated on me with women who were European-looking,' she said. 'That left me thinking, "How can I compete with that?" Being a regular Black girl wasn't good enough.' 

Kim – who in 2005 served a ten-month prison sentence on three counts of perjury and one count of conspiracy after lying to protect friends involved in a gun fight – later revealed that her ex-fiancé Damion 'World' Hardy, a former Brooklyn gang leader who ran the Cash Money Brothers criminal enterprise, left her with 'black eyes, bloody lips, busted nose,' and deep physical trauma after an alleged beating.

'I came out of the hospital from getting my nose done, and he broke my s*** again,' she claimed previously. 'I had to have MRIs because one time I was beaten so bad that I couldn't even move, and I had blood clots all in my back and head. I couldn't walk.'

Following the alleged abuse, she said she required medical and cosmetic procedures to repair her facial bones, including a broken nose.

'It's not easy to move on after a traumatic experience like that,' the Daily Mail's source said. 'She can't escape the past. All she has to do is look in the mirror. The abuse she suffered – she will never forget. It's truly changed her life.'

But after getting cosmetic procedures to repair the damage from being assaulted, her subsequent procedures were apparently influenced more by personal insecurities, vanity and intense pressures of industry beauty standards, which she explained in interviews.

While she has disclosed having multiple nose jobs, breast augmentation surgery and temporary sugar injections for fuller lips, which she said was inspired by her desire to transform her look for a movie role, she has remained largely silent on the rampant speculation about her looks.

Rumors of cheek implants, chin contouring, a brow lift, a Brazilian Butt Lift and even a skin-bleaching treatment have followed her for years.

At her Empire State Building celebration, Kim gave a short speech for fans, and she was presented with an award in the shape of the Empire State Building to commemorate the honor.

Kim's debut, Hard Core, was executive-produced by the Notorious B.I.G., who had previously mentored the rap group Junior M.A.F.I.A., which she performed in before going solo. 

Hard Core featured an all-star cast of prominent guest stars, including Jay-Z and Sean 'Diddy' Combs, who also produced, while the Notorious B.I.G. guested on four tracks. 

The album debuted at number 11 on the US Billboard 200 album charts, its highest position, and at number three on Billboard's US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

The album provided three singles: Not Tonight (Ladies Night Remix), which reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart; No Time, a top-40 hit; and Crush on You (Remix), which reached number two on the US Dance Singles Sales chart and number four on the US R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart.

Hard Core's reputation has remained sky-high over the years thanks to Kim's pathbreaking and raunchy lyrics centered around female pleasure, as well as its opulent production.