Before 'Bling Empire,' Kim Lee Danced In Nicki Minaj & Kanye West Music Videos

In Bling Empire, Kim Lee is one of the ultra-wealthy Asian Americans at the center of Netflix's new reality show. Although she's introduced as a famous DJ, Season 1 mainly focuses on her personal life and relationships with her friends. But in real life, Kim Lee's real job outside of Bling Empire makes her one of the most recognizable cast members.

Although she now has a DJing career that Kane described in the show as "Asia's Calvin Harris," Kim actually got her start as a model. She walked at runway shows in Los Angeles, Paris, and New York Fashion Week shows, wearing iconic designers such as Marc Jacobs and gracing the international covers of magazines like GQ and Esquire. In 2011, FHM even crowned her as the Sexiest Woman in the World.

You might have noticed Kim bears more than a passing resemblance to fellow model and social media star Kylie Jenner, but as the Bling Empire star told NextShark in 2018, she was working with the "influencer aesthetic" before Kylie.

"[People] would call me a 'wannabe Kylie.' I think she's gorgeous, but people that know me would say I've been looking like this before Kylie became 'Kylie,'" she said.

Kim also has plenty of on-camera experience. She showed her acting chops in film and TV projects like The Hangover Part II, Entourage, and CSI. And Bling Empire isn't even her first reality TV gig; she went on The Amazing Race in Vietnam back in 2013 and hosts Yo! MTV Raps on MTV Asia.

Although the 32-year-old previously appeared in music videos for famous artists like Kanye West and Nicki Minaj, she was inspired to truly break into the industry after partying with the Black Eyed Peas in 2012. Soon after, one of her mixes featuring West went viral, and the rest is history. Kim now has her own merch and has racked up over half a million Instagram followers.

Throughout her busy life, the DJ still takes time to make more of her own music, which is featured on her Soundcloud and Spotify. As if that weren't enough, she also plays the piano.

Kim Lee's latest job might be Bling Empire, but as her resumé makes clear, it's just the latest of her many experiences.

Bling Empire Season 1 is now streaming on Netflix.