I wonder if Lil' Kim knows that after Simon & Schuster gave her a $40,000 advance to write an novel in 2003, they turned around in 2005 and gave Foxy Brown, of all people, $75,000 for a memoir called Broken Silence, which I'm going to take a wild guess was meant to be about her sudden hearing loss.

But I guess it doesn't really matter that one was paid more than the other — neither woman actually wrote, or hired ghost writers to write, their books. The publishing house is now suing them. Contractual obligations often fall by the wayside when one is sent to jail. [ND]

• The past is coming back to haunt Jennifer Lopez and Diddy — it's been haunting Shyne for a while now. [SR]

• Keep Lil Wayne away from the homonyms! [BX]

• Wesley Snipes is trying to make a little money before his appeal fails and he has to go to jail. [EUR]

• Russell Simmons explains, in great detail, the custody arrangement between him and Kimora. He's happy with it. [PH]

• Rick Ross and Foxy Brown aren't getting married because, he says, he's "married to the money." Oh, sweet romance! [MTV]

• Amy Winehouse doesn't actually have emphysema, she just has scarring in her lungs that could lead to emphysema. That's why it was okay for her to smoke a cigarette upon exiting the hospital. [MG]

• Diamonds are for never? [Jezebel]

• Jill Scott's engaged! To a drummer named Lil John Roberts! Thank goodness its not a different Lil Jon. [BV]

• Does this look and sound like a straight-to-DVD production or what? [NB]

• Rick Ross and Foxy Brown plan to reveal their engagement at the BET Awards. Made for each other, those two are. [NR]

It's fitting to post this song, which is ultimately about settling ("sleeps around but he gives me a lot?" Aim higher next time!), on the same morning I find out that Foxy Brown and rotund rapper Rick Ross are in a very serious romance. But which one is actually settling in this equation?

• Would you like for your kids to be schooled by Will Smith? [CB]

• Mya surely regrets ever getting herself involved with those G-Unit brats. [NB]

• Floyd Mayweather wants to quit boxing, which is new that interests boxing fans, I guess. He also wants to beat up Reggie Bush for "taking" Kim Kardashian. He also needs to get a life. [SR]

• When you release a really bad album that doesn't do well, try to just blame it on jail and your label. That's the route Foxy Brown is taking, anyway. [Bossip]

• Suge Knight's nemesis is really flirting with death, isn't he? [RWS]

• It's dangerous to be O.J. Simpson's significant other. But we knew that. [D-Listed]

• Iman will grace the cover of Vogue Italia's all-black issue. I was hoping they would highlight someone new, but I understand. [Fashionista]

• More wedding photos and gushing commentary from the weirdest newlyweds ever. I can't believe Nick Cannon got that huge "Mariah" tattoo on his back. [NB]

• Negative, Tina. Negative. [DL]

• A juror on a marijuana possession trial was caught smoking weed during a recess and arrested. You can't make this stuff up folks. [C&D]

• Foxy Brown's Jet cover looks, uh, hastily executed. And that's all I have to say about that. [RWS]

FOXY BROWN PLEDGES TO KEEP HER BLACKBERRY IN HER PURSE Foxy Brown won't be going back to Rikers Island anytime soon, unless she throws something at another neighbor. Today, she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge associated with a fight with her neighbor last year that culminated in a thrown Blackberry and a black eye. The plea allowed her to avoid felony charges — and a trip back to jail. "There was no penalty and we consider it a victorious day today, and we're moving forward so she can focus on her career, family and fans," her attorney said. "She feels great. She's really happy and excited to move forward. We're very pleased with this outcome." [MTV]

• Alicia Keys sings about a teenage love affair — not gangsta rap, thankfully. [CL]

• Foxy Brown's legal troubles aren't over. Of course they aren't. [NR]

• Orlando Brown, Raven-Symone's young co-star on That's So Raven, is missing. [Bossip]

• In case you're wondering why urban music is dying a slow death. [SB]

• Can Solange upstage Beyonce? Uh, no. [STR8NYC]

HER PAROLE OFFICER MUST BE SO PROUD Foxy Brown, on the day she was released from prison: ""I did almost a year in prison, a year in prison, just because my name is Foxy Brown." Not, of course, because of all that other stuff she did before they sent her to jail.

After 8 months in the clink, Foxy Brown has officially been released from prison. Of course, TMZ was there to catch her as she caught her first taste of freedom. Countdown until she messes up again starts…. now!

But it's not like there's no hope for Foxy. She is all set to do star in her new reality show on VH1, which will surely be representative of the quality programming VH1 has offered the public thus far. She can also look to other rappers who faced incarceration in the middle of their careers for tips on how to proceed.

CONTINUED »

FOXY ALMOST FREE Beauty supply store workers, lock your doors. Neighbors, shield your heads from flying Blackberries. Foxy Brown is back in business, and will be released from Rikers Island at the end of the week. According to bank-robber-turned-manager Chaz Williams, "She did every single minute of her bid in jail, and she did it under the most severe conditions. They had her on continuous lockdown just because she is a celebrity. They were trying to break her spirit." Isn't that sort of the point? It was her "spirited" nature that landed her in jail in the first place. [SP]

It's probably not the best idea for Foxy Brown to invite the entire world witness what are sure to be numerous parole infractions once she's released from jail, but sometimes money talks. The currently-incarcerated former rap star is in talks with VH1 (who else?) to star in her own reality show after she is released from Rikers Island.

Foxy Brown will be following in the venerable footsteps of Flavor Flav, Bret Michaels, Tiffany Patterson (aka New York), and a bunch of D-list drug addicts. Our girl has finally made it! [SP]

• Things just got more dismal in Kenya. [NYT]

• Drama in the black blogosphere! Moral of the story: don't call Maya Angelou a ho. [WAOD]

• This is pretty despicable, but, having gone to a big sports university, not shocking in the least. [Jezebel]

• This is one brave Ugandan. [QT]

• Missy does her new video in 3-D. Always ahead of the video curve, this one. [MTV]

• Foxy Brown is denied again. Maybe she should come up with another angle, because the hearing loss thing isn't striking a chord with the judges. [XXL]

• The eight-volume African American National Biography compilation, edited by Harvard's Henry Louis Gates and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham will bring a lot of would-be-famous black names out of obscurity. [WP]

• Mitt Romney shows he can relate to the black youth. That "Who Let The Dogs Out" song is so happenin' right now. [FOX]

• Foxy Brown gets no love from the judge. [6ABC]

• Sean Hannity fulfills expectations. [NH]

• The case for HBCUs.

• Ice Cube is set to star in a remake of Welcome Back, Kotter. And that's all I have to say about that. [MMB]

• The birthplace of hip hop is in jeopardy. [NYT]

• O.J. Simpson's bail got doubled. The amount of care I have for this particular subject remains the same. [SP]

• "But please understand that sitting in a prison with murderers and criminals is not rehabilitating or what I need to deal with my inner issues." That's what they all say, Foxy. [MTV]

• Randy Moss is in some sort of trouble. Or something. [Newser]