Born in Leipzig during the Weimar Republic, Hipp initially listened to jazz in secret, as it was not approved of by the Nazi authorities.

Critic Leonard Feather heard Hipp perform in Germany in 1954, recorded her, and organized her move to the United States the following year.

[2] Jazz was disapproved of by the Nazi regime, but Hipp listened to it during "clandestine gatherings in friends' homes and [...] during bombing raids.

[3][1] "After the war she became a displaced person and suffered from malnutrition and lacked most basic necessities", wrote Marc Myers for Jazz Wax.

[3] As African-American GIs at that time could not accept paternity to white women, the identity of Lionel's father is unknown.

Feather arranged a visa for Hipp, and found her a job as a pianist at the Hickory House club in New York.

[1][2] One story, recounted in The Daily Telegraph obituary is that drummer Art Blakey asked her to play with his band one night at the Café Bohemia, but "she refused, saying she was drunk, and anyway did not think she was good enough.

'"[4] "Hipp was a rather shy individual who suffered from severe stage fright throughout her career and drowned her fears with excessive alcohol and life-long chain smoking.

[3] Feather may have desired a romantic involvement with Hipp and been rejected, but this is unlikely to have been the reason for the rapid decline of her musical career.

[1] When they eventually found her, they gave her a check for $40,000; the Blue Note representative said she was happy to talk about her art but refused to discuss music.

[2] She was criticized at an early stage for being too similar in style to Horace Silver's blues-based rhythms, having left cool jazz and bebop behind.

There are extra notes in many of the chords that give them a tense, slightly jangling quality, but Hipp was also capable of playing with delicate lyricism [...] and with a rugged, funky edge".