Eminem sued by his mom
Of all the people Eminem has ripped on in his rhymes, it was his mom, Debbie Mathers-Briggs, who finally filed a $10 million lawsuit
against the rapper for comments that he made about her on his album and in the media. She claims that she
has suffered various forms of emotional distress, including diminished
self-esteem, humiliation, sleepless nights, harm to her credit rating and
even loss of her mobile home due to the comments.
In a statement issued to MTV News, Eminem's lawyer stated:
"Eminem's life is reflected in his music. Everything he said can be
verified as true -- the truth is an absolute defense to a claim of
defamation. The lawsuit does not come as a surprise to Eminem -- his mother
has been threatening to sue him since the success of his single
'My Name Is...' It is merely the result of a lifelong strained relationship
between him and his mother. Regardless, it is still painful to be sued
by your mother and therefore the lawsuit will only be responded to through
legal channels."
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Lil Kim got a lot of exposure lately for her outfit at the 1999 MTV
Video Music Awards, but apparently it wasn't enough to satisfy the Queen Bee.
Despite an appearance on Howard Stern and prominent play in such mainstream
fare as TV Guide and People, Kim takes it all off for the cover of the November issue of Interview
magazine. According to Launch, Kim will be posing in a very suggestive
manner wearing only a hat and painted-on Louis Vuitton logos, with hands
covering the important parts. The magazine hits stores Oct. 25, but if you can't wait that
long, you can catch Kim in the first video from Tommy Lee's Methods of Mayhem.
The title? "Get Naked," and yes she does... again. You can also see her up in the club
in the video for Mobb Deep's "Quiet Storm" remix. All this adds up to
plenty of publicity for Notorious K.I.M., her sophomore album
scheduled for release early next year. (Pick up the phone, Kim, Playboy
is calling. There's still time before the album drops.) 
A release date finally has been set for Dr. Dre's follow-up to 1992's The Chronic. Now if he could just settle on a name.
Originally, The Chronic 2000, Suge Knight's album of the same name sparked an upgrade to The Chronic 2001.
For whatever reason, he then changed it to Dr. Dre 2001, but as of now has combined the two into Dr. Dre: The Chronic 2001. (Enough already -- no one cares what it's called, just release it!)
At any rate the album drops Nov. 9 and features guest appearances by Snoop Dogg, MC Ren, King Tee, Kurupt and Eminem.
Meanwhile, the first single, "Still D.R.E." has been released, and the video, directed by Hype Williams, takes it back to '92
with Dre, Snoop and The D.O.C. back together again and rollin' in their '64. 
Master P, known in the NBA as Percy Miller, employee No. 17 of the Toronto Raptors, saw his first
action of the preseason in a 112-102 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night. P played in
the last two minutes of the game, going 0-for-2 from the field, grabbing one rebound and picking up
two fouls. In the Raptors' first exhibition game, the No Limit CEO stayed on the bench as Toronto
lost 103-98 to the Milwaukee Bucks. 
ODB showed up in an L.A. courtroom last week in an effort to dismiss one of his many cases. ODB and his lawyer, Robert Shapiro,
asked the judge to throw out his body-armor case, claiming that the police had no right
to charge Ol Dirty with that crime. ODB was arrested for wearing a bulletproof vest because it is
illegal for convicted felons to wear them in Los Angeles. The judge denied the request
and set a court-date for Nov. 19. 
In an interview with the MTV Radio Network on Thursday, Ice Cube revived talk of an
N.W.A reunion, saying that he, MC Ren, DJ Yella and Dr. Dre might make it
happen after all. Previously, Cube had said everyone but Dre was up for it, but
recent conversations might have swayed the group's legendary producer.
The last member, Eazy-E, died in 1995 of complications from AIDS.
"Me and Dre and Snoop and Ren have been talking about an N.W.A
album, so it's just talk now, but hopefully we'll find time to put it
together," Cube said. "I'm looking forward to it if we
can do it. We're supposed to meet when I get back home in L.A."
Cube said if the project does happen, it will probably come together
next year.
Hip-hop's East Coast-West Coast rivalry might be revived over a woman.
It seems that Kurupt is none too pleased that DMX
was putting the moves on his ex-fiance, Foxy Brown (left), and has initiated a
dogfight with a track called "Calling Out Names" on his second solo disc, Streetz.
Kurupt explained to MTV News why he chose to rip in to DMX, who is married.
"My specialty is battle rap," Kurupt said. "My specialty is raw on the mic. I eat, live, sh-- chewing up MCs. I'm a real MC. And I'm a real man. Respect me, man. Respect the dogg."
Publicists for DMX and for Foxy Brown had no response to "Calling Out Names." The album will be released on November 16. 
Chicago became the city that never sleeps thanks to Public Enemy. The group
didn't take the stage at the House of Blues until well after midnight
Thursday, but there were more than enough night owls to pack the place.
Chuck D, probably the hardest working man in hip-hop, led Flavor Flav,
Professor Griff, the S1Ws and DJ Lord (filling in for Terminator X, who's
cleaning up after Hurricane Floyd) through a two-hour set that could have
doubled as a hip-hop history lesson. Chuck always has recognized the
importance of a strong performance, and he proved that he still knows
how to move the crowd without a lot of props or gimmicks.
Don't believe the hype. David Mays, publisher of The Source, has damaged
his magazine's credibility once again by
attempting to promote the long-lost cause of the Almighty RSO. The Boston group has
had full-page ads running for more than a year touting
the release of its first album under its new name, Made Men, but now it seems Mays
altered the album's mic rating in the October 1999 issue from 3.5 ("dope") to 4.5 ("superior").
The move prompted editor in chief Selwyn Hinds to resign.
The October issue also gave Made Men Hip-Hop Quotable of The Month, a spot in the
Singles File column and a position in the Heavy Rotation
charts. The September 1999 issue featured a five-page article on Made Men
while the group's video "Is It You? (Deja Vu)" was nominated
for video of the year at The 1999 Source Awards, even though no one on
our staff seems to recall ever seeing it. 
There was a noticeable absence on the Family Values tour's first stop
in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. DMX decided to pass on the Limp Bizkit-headlined show
just days before the event kicked off. Ja Rule and Mobb Deep took the
stage in his place, and Run DMC is booked through Oct. 3 to fill in as well, but is also committed to the
20th Anniversary Fresh Fest tour. Of course, Method Man and Redman still are scheduled to appear on select dates.
Def Jam has not yet released an official statement regarding DMX's departure. 
If you don't count Lauryn Hill and her tendencies to sing, then Eve
has set a record for the highest-selling debut ever for a female rapper.
Ruff Ryders' First Lady sold 212,000 in its first week to
take the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart. 
The West Coast rises again? Warren G has dethroned Jay-Z at the top of Billboard's
Hot Rap Singles chart. "I Want It All" featuring Mack 10 is also No. 8 on the pop chart.
The single is the title track from his upcoming album, scheduled to be released Oct. 12. 
Two hip-hop veterans and their respective record companies have decided to
part ways, but at least both seem to have left on good terms.
After 13 years at Universal -- including a stint as president of the Uptown label --
Heavy D is moving on, possibly due to the fact that his latest album,
Heavy, has sold only 104,000 copies since its release on June 15.
Meanwhile, King Tee seems to be the latest victim of Dr. Dre's notoriously slow
rate of production. Ads for Tee's long-delayed Aftermath debut,
Thy Kingdom Come, originally had it slated for a summer '98 release, but the album never came.
Eve, RBX and former En Vogue singer Dawn Robinson have all moved on to other labels or projects after
sitting around for too long on Aftermath. Dre reportedly allowed King Tee to
keep his masters for release on another label.