Throwback Thursday: May 2002 – Kelly Hu

Check out what we were up to in May of ’02. Don’t worry, we’ll leave out our middle school class picture.

Every week, we send someone stumbling into the dark Maxim archives to see what we were up to way back when. This week we’re going back to May of 2002, when Kelly Hu was a kung-fu goddess, Moby was the weirdest singer around, and Lil’ Kim hadn’t seen the inside of a jail cell.

Cover Girl: Kelly Hu

Where You’ve Seen Her: When this Hawaiian beauty’s career got off the ground, we were still putting off term papers and paying for our prom dates. Talk about overachievers. But everything really blew up for Kelly after she won the Miss USA Teen pageant at 17, becoming a working model and appearing in various commercials (she was also the sole reason we ate Philadelphia cream cheese). When she donned our cover in ’02 she was starring alongside the Rock in The Scorpion King, and kicking just as much ass as he was. And naturally, looking way better doing it.

Where She Is Now: At 45, Kelly looks as good as ever. Currently she can be found all over your TV, starring in series like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Arrow, and Warehouse 13. Rumors recently swirled that she got hitched to her long-time boyfriend, but we still insist on admiring her from afar regardless. 

Featuring:

We Want Answers!: Moby


These days we’re completely surrounded by bizarre, costumed, fake-blood-indulgent musicians – we’re looking at you, Gwar – but in 2002, Moby was as weird as it got. The king of electric music and the quintessential hippie, Richard Melville Hall (and you thought “Moby” was bad) had worldwide success with his albums Play and 18, and quickly became a household name thanks to the hit single “South Side.” Now, the singer isn’t as prominent; he recently released an acoustic album and forewent a world tour, though he travels internationally as a headlining DJ. It sounds weird, but these days Moby is actually seeming pretty normal.

Lil’ & Loud

Pre black-and-white striped jumpsuit, post purple pasties, Lil’ Kim had us at attention in 2002. Blowing up the rap scene as one of the few females in the industry, the native New Yorker went from rags to riches when she was spotted by Biggie Smalls at the ripe old age of 20. A lot has changed for the singer since then, but we expect a comeback with her new album Hard Core: Back 2 Da Streetz, out later this year. But please, don’t hold us to that statement.

More Throwback Thursdays:

Throwback Thursday: March 2003 – Brooke Burns

Throwback Thursday: October 2004 – Avril Lavigne