Lil' Kim Sued and Silenced

Upstart record label accuses the rapper of leaving them high and dry after spending nearly $500,000 on her; judge temporarily bars her from recording for others

Lil' Kim has a big problem on her hands.

A New York judge has temporarily barred the Hardcore rapper from recording any new material in light of a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed by her latest label, Brookland Media.

The upstart company accused Kim (real name: Kimberly Jones) of making diva-esque demands and then backing out of a deal, after Brookland had paid Atlantic Records $200,000 to get her out of her previous contract, spent $240,000 to produce eight songs and shelled out $12,000 per month in rent for a pad near Kim's Alpine, N.J., home.

Per the lawsuit, Brookland had planned to spotlight Kim as its debut artist.

Which, if you ask Kim, could still happen—although, if it doesn't, it's no fault of hers.

"We think they're wonderful people and we expect to do business with them," Kim's attorney Londell McMillan told the New York Daily News. "But they did not honor the terms of the agreement."