andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

Thursday night, Lil’ Kim celebrated her 34th birthday at Miami Beach nightclub Mansion, reports Perez Hilton. The singer/dancer’s birthday was July 11, but she kept the celebration going all month long.

Despite a stint on the eighth season of Dancing With the Stars this spring, Hilton reports Lil’ Kim has been having trouble paying her bills.

Rapper LIL’ KIM caused commuter chaos when she was pulled over by police for not having license plates on her vehicle in New York.

The star – real name Kimberly Denise Jones – was also reprimanded by officers for not carrying her driver’s license on Thursday (30Aug07).

After speaking with the officers, Jones signed autographs for waiting fans before being driven away by her lawyer Bernie Jackson, reports New York Post. (LJ/WNWCNP/ES)

(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.

Rapper Lil’ Kim is being sued by a Jamaican singer and songwriter who claims that Kim stole her lyrics.

Tanya Stephen, 33, filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court accusing Kim, 32, whose real name is Kimberly Denise Jones, of stealing her lyrics for the song “Durty.” The song appears on Kim’s last album “The Naked Truth.” The song almost has the exact same lyrics as Stephen’s song “Mi and Mi God”, which was recorded in Jamaica and released in 1997. Not only did she use Stephen’s lyrics, but Kim also used the same West Indian accent on her song.

“If she had bothered to give props where due even once, I would have said, ‘Let it go.’ That isn’t even one of my better works. Really, if she had linked me, I would’ve written her a much better song for free,” said Stephens, reports MTV.

Stephens is asking for the ownership rights of the song and all past and future royalties.

“The lawsuit against Atlantic Records and Lil’ Kim is the result of Royalty Networks Inc’s failed attempts to extract unreasonable sums and percentages of Lil’ Kim’s new song for an interpolated use of a song which happens all the time in hip-hop. There are no damages to Tanya Stephens, they never objected until after their efforts failed, and Kim was and remains willing to be fair. This matter should have been resolved but it appears to be another money and media play at Lil’ Kim’s expense. This issue was no secret. Kim was advised licenses were obtained by those who handle clearances at the time. We shall defend this action,” said L. Londell McMillan, Kim’s entertainment attorney, reports AllHipHop.com.

Lil’ Kim didn’t make it a secret that she was a huge fan of Stephens. They met up in 1999 to record together for Kim’s album. They even sang and performed “Mi and Mi God” together. However, Stephen’s contribution never made the album.

Lil’ Kim has currently been released from jail, after serving only a 10 month sentence. Kim was sentenced after she lied under oath about a shooting that happened outside of New York Hot 97 radio station.

The court date is uncertain at the moment. Kim’s camp did not comment on the lawsuit.

Rapper Lil’ Kim has been granted a special gift for the upcoming U.S. Independence Day. She’ll be released from prison on Monday — nearly three months early — on account of good behaviour.

“I am thrilled to be coming home,” she said in a statement, according to MTV News. “I thank all my fans for all their letters, as well as my family and friends for all their support throughout the past 10 months.”

Kim (real name: Kimberly Jones) will remain under house arrest for 30 days after her release. She will also be on probation for three years.

She has been in prison, serving a 366-day sentence, since September 19.

In March 2005, Kim was convicted on one count of conspiracy and three counts of perjury in connection with the trial of a 2001 shooting incident outside the Hot 97 radio station in New York.

Only 2 weeks after getting a year-long prison sentence for conspiracy and federal perjury, rapper Lil’ Kim, real name Kimberly Jones, is getting even with one of her long time friends who coincidentally help put her in jail.

Lil? Kim has filed a whopping $6-million federal suit against ex-Junior M.A.F.I.A. member James ?Lil? Cease? Lloyd, who testified against Kim during her trial.

She is accusing him of using her name and image without approval for a DVD he was planning to promote.

The suit filed on Monday in U.S. District Court alleged that Lloyd?s use of her name and image in the DVD titled ?The Chronicles of Junior M.A.F.I.A Part II: Reloaded? resulted in a false endorsement, as well as false advertising. Due to personal and business differences, Lil? Kim split with Junior M.A.F.I.A in 2001.

Kim?s legal team says the rapper decided to file after Cease claimed the DVD will feature tell all interviews with her, and other former associates of the rapper.

?The timing of this suit, has absolutely nothing to do with Lloyd?s testimony as a witness at her trial. It’s about protecting Lil? Kim?s rights,? says Frank Salzano one of Kim?s attorneys.

Lil? Kim has already scored a point for her team. On Tuesday, U.S District Judge Jed S. Rakoff granted her a temporary restraining order prohibiting Cease, Junior M.A.F.I.A, and Ground Zero Entertainment from using her name or image in this DVD without her consent.

Kim?s suit also seeks a permanent injunction blocking the DVD and damages against Lil? Cease and Ground Zero for an earlier edition DVD titled, ?The Chronicles of Junior M.A.F.I.A,? which was released last year and featured footage of Kim herself, as well as P. Diddy Combs, and the Notorious B.I.G.

?This action is to protect her property rights, and brands against unauthorized use. We are expecting similar acts to follow,? says another member of Kim?s legal team, L. Londell McMillian.

A hearing on the permanent injunction request is set for later this month.

Grammy Award winning rapper Lil’ Kim has been sentenced to a year in prison after lying to a federal jury about a shooting outside a radio station in 2001.

Lil’ Kim, born Kimberly Jones, was convicted in March for perjury and conspiracy and will spend 366 days in jail rather than the spend three years and seven months that prosecutors wanted. She was also fined $50,000.

Judge Gerald Lynch said that Lil’ Kim deserved more time than Martha Stewart, who spent five months in jail and another five under house arrest, because while Stewart lied about a white-collar crime rather than a violent one. Lil’ Kim also took the stand and repeatedly lied unlike Stewart.

“You sat right next to me there and stared in the eyes of the jurors, and you tried to charm them and you tried to fake them out,” he said.

But Lynch acknowledged Lil’ Kim for returning to court on Wednesday and admitting that she had lied to protect members of her entourage.

“I testified falsely to the grand jury and during the trial. At the time I thought it was the right thing to do, but now I know it was wrong,” she said with her voice breaking.

She also wanted to take full blame for her assistant who is awaiting sentencing for perjury and conspiracy also.

“Consider my life’s work and not just the days in the grand jury and on the witness stand in the courtroom. I’m a good, God-fearing person,” she told the judge.

It all started when Lil’ Kim’s entourage ran into a rival rap group, Capone-N-Noreaga. The entourage confronted them about the song, “Bang Band” which contained an insult to Lil’ Kim from rival female rapper Foxy Brown.

One man was hurt in the shootout.

Lil’ Kim told the grand jury that she didn’t see her friends, manager Damion Butler and Suif Jackson, known as “Gutta,” at the shootout.

But security photos from the radio station showed Butler opening the door for Lil’ Kim. Witnesses also said that they saw her at the station with Butler and Jackson.

She’ll start her sentence on Sept. 19.