On Saturday (July 18), Aretha Franklin, Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder and Queen Latifah helped celebrate Nelson Mandela's 91st birthday at New York's Radio City Music Hall. The superstars paid tribute to Mandela's life and work with a combination of their own songs and collaborations with African musicians. Though Mandela was not present, he sent a video message thanking everybody for their support and encouraging everybody to continue to fight for justice. President Obama sent a video message to similar effect.

The evening's accidental highlight came when Cyndi Lauper stepped on stage to duet with Lil' Kim on Lauper's "Time After Time." It was a groovy version of the song, featuring a little Lauper freestyle at the end.

By Nicole Tahan

Steve-O, Lil' Kim, Belinda Carlisle ... current and former MTV faves are representing big time on season eight of "Dancing With the Stars." Last night's premiere had some laughing, and others completely surprised. And one of the most surprising performances came from Lil' Kim.

Many typical "DWTS" viewers weren't aware of the Queen Bee's existence. Before she performed, the Grammy-winning rap star explained in a short clip where and when she first saw "Dancing with the Stars": "When I was in prison. And I watched it faithfully!" And almost instantly, the phrase "Lil' Kim prison sentence" became a hot search on Google Trends.

And in case that's how you got to this story, here's a little review: In 2005, Lil' Kim was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for lying to a federal grand jury, which she said she did to protect friends who were involved in a 2001 shooting outside of New York radio station Hot 97. "At the time I thought it was the right thing to do, but I now know it was wrong," she said.

In her "DWTS" intro clip, Kim said that one of her friends in prison told her she should be on the show. "And here I am," she said. "Can you believe it? I can't believe it!" Lil' Kim gave an amazing performance and looks like she's really dedicated to doing her best.

Fellow MTV star Belinda Carlisle, founder of the all-female '80s band the Go-Go's, also wowed fans on last night's episode. She's paired with hunky dancer Jonathan Roberts, and the two seem to be meshing very well together.

"Jackass" daredevil Steve-O looked a little shaky, compared to the rest. With some more practice, though, he could still take off and lead his pretty partner, Lacy. Perhaps his clown training will come in handy in the coming weeks.

You've got to love Lil' Kim's lawyer, Londell McMillan. A suit filed Tuesday by Brookland Media, an upstart label that claims it inked a deal with Kim earlier this year and planned to release her LP as its debut offering, contends that the MC has made "outlandish" demands not covered under the terms of her contract. One such demand calls for Akon and Wyclef Jean to be hired on as additional producers for the project.

In trying to demonstrate why that demand fit their definition of "outlandish," Brookland's suit charges Kim is "known in the music industry for her extravagant and costly excesses."

McMillan's response, which he gave to the New York Daily News, was honest. "Surprise, surprise — an artist of superstar stature wants to protect her image," he said.

The suit also claims that the rapper refuses to record another note until her contract is renegotiated. The label is seeking $2.5 million dollars for the undelivered album, and recently was awarded a ruling that bars Kim from taking her rhymes elsewhere.

According to McMillan, it's unlikely the case will make it to court: "We'll work it out around a conference table, in front of a judge or over some martinis," he told the News.

Read more about Lil' Kim's latest legal woes here.

First the sad news: It looks like the world may never get to read the debut novel by Lil' Kim or Foxy Brown’s autobiography, "Broken Silence."

OK, there's no good news, at least not for the female MCs, both of whom were sued by publisher Simon & Schuster on Thursday over advances for books they never delivered.

This whole thing got us thinking: What might the title of Kim’s novel have been? "Bee Stings"? "Mafia Queen"? What about an updated name for the Foxy memoir? "Nailed It"? "Na Na Hey Hey"?

What do you think the books should have been called?

By Dan "Monty" Montalto

By now, you've likely heard the story of girl-kisser Katy Perry.

Born Katy Hudson in 1984 to conservative Christian parents, Katy was raised in a very religious household. She even released a Christian album in 2001 that featured songs such as "Faith Won't Fail." But sometime between then and 2007, the pastor's daughter traded in songs about her faith in God for songs about her faith in the awesomeness of drunken same-sex hookups.

What's really interesting about this story is what Katy revealed to MTV News in an interview just last week:

"I was raised in a very pseudo-strict religious household where the only thing on the menu was 'Oh Happy Day,' 'His Eye Is on the Sparrow' and 'Amazing Grace' — all eight verses of it," she said. "So the New Kids on the Block are new to me now; they're not a comeback. I'm like, 'Oh, this is a cool song!' I missed out on a couple other things, but I'm catching up."

Read more...

· With 98 murders in Chicago since the beginning of the year, Kanye West has had enough.

· You know how Spank Rock was a no-show at Coachella? Turns out Naeem “Spank Rock” Juwan had to undergo surgery for a “serious sudden ailment.” Here’s hoping he recovers.

· Not enough Scott Weiland in your life? The ex-Velvet Revolver and once-again Stone Temple Pilots singer says his upcoming solo album will be a double CD.

· Everyone knows these are financial hard times. But how hard? Even a player like Lil' Kim is getting her Bentley repossessed -- though her camp claims the matter is “currently being resolved.”