Lil' Convict

[Shockeye]

Rapper Lil' Kim Convicted of Perjury

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press Writer
The Associated PressThe Associated Press

NEW YORK Mar 17, 2005 — Rap diva Lil' Kim was convicted Thursday of lying to a federal grand jury investigating a shooting outside a radio station. She was convicted of perjury and conspiracy but acquitted of obstruction of justice.

Prosecutors accused the 4-foot-11 Grammy winner of telling "preposterous" lies to a grand jury relying on her eyewitness testimony about the 2001 gunfight outside WQHT, the rap station known as Hot 97.

The shootout occurred on Feb. 25, 2001, when Lil' Kim's entourage crossed paths with a rival rap group, Capone-N-Noreaga. One man was injured as more than two dozen rounds were fired on the sidewalk.

[schild]

Rap groups still had rivals in 2001?

Dumb fucking culture, that is.

[Big Gulp]

Dumb fucking culture, that is.

Especially considering that they named their group after Manuel Noriega, but couldn't be bothered to learn how to actually, y'know, spell it correctly.  Keepin' it real, yo.

[Paelos]

Dumb fucking culture, that is.

Especially considering that they named their group after Manuel Noriega, but couldn't be bothered to learn how to actually, y'know, spell it correctly.  Keepin' it real, yo.

I've always found that you can replace "keepin' it real" with "acting like a dumbass" and it essentially changes nothing.

[HaemishM]

Chappelle illustrated it best with "When Keepin' It Real Goes Horribly Wrong."

[Shockeye]

Jury: Lil' Kim guilty

Mar 17, 2005

Associated Press

March 17, 2005, 5:48 PM EST

Grammy-winning hip-hop diva Lil' Kim was convicted Thursday of lying to a federal grand jury investigating a shooting outside a Manhattan radio station.

She was convicted of perjury and conspiracy but acquitted of obstruction of justice; she faces up to 20 years in prison.

Prosecutors accused the petite singer of telling "preposterous" lies to a grand jury relying on her eyewitness testimony about the 2001 gunfight that took place when her entourage crossed paths with rival hip-hop group Capone-N-Noreaga outside WQHT, the rap station known as HOT 97.

Lil' Kim told the grand jury she didn't recall seeing two people she knew at the scene of the shootout, in which a man was injured.

But security photos taken at the station show one of them opening a door for her and the pair outside together just moments before the shooting.

Lil' Kim's assistant, Monique Dopwell, also was found guilty of perjury and conspiracy and acquitted of obstruction of justice.

The defendants shook their heads as the verdicts were delivered.

The rapper's supporters broke out in sobs.

Asked whether she had any comment as she left court, Lil' Kim shook her head to signal no.

Lil' Kim faces five years in prison on each of three counts of perjury and one count of conspiracy. Dopwell faces five years on each of two counts of perjury and a count of conspiracy; Sentencing was set for June 24.

More than two dozen rounds were fired on the sidewalk during the Feb. 25, 2001, shootout.

Lil' Kim, 29, known for her revealing outfits and raunchy raps, had testified that the gun battle reminded her of the slaying of her legendary mentor, Notorious B.I.G., and even the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

It was "a heartfelt day -- like the day Biggie was killed and 9/11," she said.

"This was a very serious situation," she testified. "I could not come into a grand jury and purposely tell false statements and lie."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cathy Seibel told the Manhattan jurors that the 4-foot-11 Lil' Kim, referred to throughout the trial by her real name, Kimberly Jones, had repeatedly lied to them, just as she did to the grand jury.

"The testimony was preposterous. It was insulting. It was insulting to your intelligence. It was insulting to the judicial process," Seibel told jurors before they returned their verdict on perjury, obstruction of justice and conspiracy charges.

Seibel had belittled the defense that the sunglasses-laden Lil' Kim did not notice two people she knew at the scene of the shootout -- her manager, Damion Butler, and a friend, Suif Jackson, both of whom have since pleaded guilty to gun charges.

"You would have to believe they were magic sunglasses that only block out your friends who were shooting people," Seibel said.

Lil' Kim defense lawyer Mel Sachs had argued that his client had no reason to protect Butler and Jackson because she had already eliminated them from her life.

When Lil' Kim was testifying, Seibel confronted her with evidence she owes nearly $1 million in back taxes. The singer told jurors she leaves decisions about her finances to her manager and accountant.

Among witnesses at the trial were Antoine "Banger" Spain and James "Lil' Cease" Lloyd, Brooklyn rappers who once teamed with Lil' Kim in a group called Junior M.A.F.I.A. They testified they saw Butler and Jackson at the radio station with her.

Lil' Kim had testified that after the shooting she had a falling out with Butler, Banger and Cease because they were freeloading at her New Jersey town house. She said she decided to cut off Butler completely after he caused a ruckus outside a video shoot with Phil Collins, the basis of a defense argument that she had no incentive to lie for him.

"I was just fed up," she said. "They were taking advantage of me." The rapper also testified at length about her modest background and mercurial career, which began with an impromptu audition with rapper Notorious B.I.G. on the street in their Brooklyn neighborhood. She described traveling the world to perform and promote her records.

Lil' Kim won a Grammy Award for her part in the hit remake of "Lady Marmalade" in 2001.

[Strazos]

I hope the bitch rots in prison, with the ugly paw-print tattoos on her breasts.

Rap = Crap. If I was president, I would outlaw most of it.

[schild]

She'll go to jail, come out in a year and host Apprentice Season 4. Who says the American Dream is dead?

[stray]

Rap = Crap.

Yeah, Rap is Crap. I'm a fan of Hip Hop myself.

[schild]

Rap = Crap.

Yeah, Rap is Crap. I'm a fan of Hip Hop myself.

Snap's "The Power," it was the first good rap song in my whole entire life.

[Strazos]

Rap = Crap.

Yeah, Rap is Crap. I'm a fan of Hip Hop myself.

I wasn't aware there was a difference....all the showmanship and shallowness makes me laugh.

[stray]

Rap = Crap.

Yeah, Rap is Crap. I'm a fan of Hip Hop myself.

I wasn't aware there was a difference....

Rap is an imitation. A product. It's the Pat Boone of Rock. The Sum 41 of Punk. There's no definitive explanation really, except that Rap is everything bad that you'd want to detach from an otherwise good thing.

[Strazos]

I thought Hip-Hop sprug from rap...

Which was, ironically, first done by a little white girl.

[schild]

Which was, ironically, first done by a little white girl.

We eat Cadillacs, Lincolns too, Mercuries and Subarus.

[stray]

I thought Hip-Hop sprug from rap...

Which was, ironically, first done by a little white girl.

Good try, but "rapping" and Hip Hop predates her by about 10 years. Even further if you want to count Pinero or Dylan.

edit: Besides, how could she have been the first when she was giving props to Grandmaster Flash in the lyrics? Who was he? Just some guy she felt like mentioning?

[MrHat]

I hope the bitch rots in prison, with the ugly paw-print tattoos on her breasts.

Isn't that Eve?

Snap's "The Power," it was the first good rap song in my whole entire life.

Ahahahahhaah.  Oh man, that site is awesome.

Edit: Useless news deserves useless pictures:

[Paelos]

I wish I had two more hands so I could give those titties FOUR THUMBS DOWN!

[HaemishM]

Both rap and hip-hop have been co-opted by the corporate music industry and turned into demographic morsels of easily digestible shit. PURE UTTER SHITE. There are decent rappers/hip-hop artists out there. But I don't see many artists or musicians of the last 20 years (there are a few) who are not now complete, unrepentant whores who will sell their mother for more exposure. That includes some artists I like. I mean, when you have entire commercials built around rappers from all over the country recording a song via cell phone, you have reached the status of cultural mundanity and corporate consumerism. You ain't edgy, and you ain't keepin' it real, y0.

After Eminem hit it so big, 95% of the rap music sold in the last 5 years has been pure, utter formulaic shite.

[Big Gulp]

PURE UTTER SHITE.

Fuck!  You've caught Anglophile Affectation Syndrome (AAS) too?!?!?  That seems to be going around a lot these days.

[HaemishM]

Calling something SHITE seems so much more intelligent than shit.

[Big Gulp]

Calling something SHITE seems so much more intelligent than shit.

Just as long as you acknowledge that you're following in the footsteps of such luminaries as Madonna:  the Detroit Girl With the Mockney Accent.

[HaemishM]

I'm ok with that. I don't expect to be taking up Kabala anytime soon. I've always been an Anglophile, ever since seeing Monty Python and The Young Ones on MTV in high school. I will often effect any number of fake British/Scottish accents in real life to humourous effect.

Well, I think they are funny. Sod off if you don't.

Should I have ended it with saying that most rap is whacked instead? Seeing as the subject matter lends itself more to the shizzle than the shite.

[ClydeJr]

She said she decided to cut off Butler completely after he caused a ruckus outside a video shoot with Phil Collins, the basis of a defense argument that she had no incentive to lie for him.

I thought this sounded wierd, I mean, Lil Kim and Phil Collins? And then I found this:

When you consider the major influences on hip-hop and R&B, George Clinton, James Brown and Roger Troutman probably come to mind a whole lot quicker than Phil Collins does.

Phil still gets love from the streets, though — so much love, in fact, that a tribute album was released in April on WEA Germany. Urban Renewal Featuring the Songs of Phil Collins includes hip-hop and R&B artists such as Kelis, Joe, Brian McKnight and Ol' Dirty Bastard (rambling incoherently over a synthesized version of "Sussudio") rendering Collins' most famous tunes.

The album was conceived, a source close to the project said, because Collins has had to field so many requests from hip-hop and R&B acts over the years — including DMX, who integrated part of "In the Air Tonight" into "I Can Feel It" — wishing to sample his records...

...Lil' Kim's version of "In the Air Tonight" is the second single. Kim will shoot the video next week, according to a source close to the project. In it, Kim will weave a story about payback, rhyming "Drop top rollin', diamonds on my neck, Bentley ballin', me and ni---- getting high all day, straight to the top 'cause we on our way; coming for y'all, comin' for y'all, I got something for y'all," at which point Collins' sampled voice provides the song's hook.