 From bucking in the club with group Crime Mob to her recent solo activities, Princess’ pretty little girl Imani has melted almost as many hearts as her talented owner.
Anyone can clearly see the amount of love that Atlanta-based rap diva Princess has for her first-born child Imani Desiree Lewis. With the pride of a new mother, Princess always has her bubbling four-year-old daughter in tow on the road performing with her group Crime Mob.
“That’s my baby. She’s everywhere I go,” says Princess. “She’s very attentive and very playful. She is very prissy. She would never, ever walk outside when it’s raining. I would have to pick her up and cover her up with a jacket. Her feet cannot get wet. It’s crazy.”
Even in the morning, Princess can always tell if the ground is wet because Imani will immediately let her know. “I’ll open the door, and she’ll go outside and tap the ground and run back in. She’ll hold it until it stops raining,” she says. “I think she’s like that because she’s been spoiled since the day I had her.”
Princess purchased the feisty, charcoal black Pomeranian at a pet store when the pup was only three weeks old during the summer of 2004. Ironically, that was the same year that Crime Mob’s debut single “Knuck If You Buck” started to blow up.
Imani was by her surrogate mother’s side when Princess along with fellow group members Diamond, Killa C, Cyco Blac, M.I.G. and Lil Jay charted up to Number 5 on Billboard’s R&B/ Hip-Hop album charts with their self-titled debut. And Imani even got a cameo in the video for “Circles,” a release from Crime Mob’s second album Hated On Mostly.
 Still in the group, Princess recently released mixtape Taking Over the Throne: Class Is In Session, landed a solo deal with Warner Brothers and is enjoying the success of seething single “Pretty Rave Girl,” a techno-influenced vibe with heavy Hip-Hop bass. Imani has been by her side in support every step of the way.
“When I did The FADER magazine photo shoot, she was there, and they were like ‘cute dog. Let’s get her in the shot,” Princess remembers. “It was a good shot. They wanted to do the same thing for the “Circles” video. Hopefully, somebody will pick her up and get her on some canned goods or something.”Named for the Pomeranian region in Western Europe, the Pomeranian breed originated from the sled dogs of Greenland and brought into Europe in Pomerania. English breeders are credited for reducing the dog’s size and developing the many colors.
The Pom gained international popularity when Queen Victoria of England returned from a vacation in Florence, Italy with a Pomeranian named Marco. Royalty in her own right, rap diva Princess is not the only nobility who loves Pomeranians. Historical figures were said to own Pomeranians include Sir Isaac Newton, Queen Victoria and Michelangelo, whose dog would sit and watch him paint the Sistine Chapel. And more recent celebrities with the breed are Paris Hilton, Sharon Osbourne, Nicole Richie and Hillary Duff.
While the dog’s breed has fancied its owner over time with their small, five-pound frame, dynamic bursts of energy and keen intelligence, to Princess Imani its simply her baby. “That’s like my child- my first born,” she says. “I always liked that name, and I wanted my first born to be named Imani.”
Photography by Roderick Horton
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