On April 14, L’il Kim (Kimberly Jones) was indicted and charged with conspiracy to commit perjury, obstructing justice and making false statements. After entering a plea of not guilty she was freed on $500,000 bond. The charges stem from a February 2001 shooting outside of the Hot 97 radio station's in New York. According to police, Kim claimed to have no knowledge of what caused shots to be fired that day because she was “not on the scene” and refused to tell police who had accompanied her to the radio station. Investigators claim that a security videotape from the outside of the station shows some of the shooters leaving the scene in the rapper's limousine. Kim's attorney, Mel Sachs, called the charges "baseless." If convicted on all counts, Kim faces thirty years in prison.

Congratulations to Usher, who has spent four weeks at #1 with his latest album Confessions. He has already sold in the ballpark of 2 million copies. He currently has three songs from this album on the charts. On the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart, “Yeah” is at #1 with “Burn” at #3 and “Confessions Pt. II” debuted as the Hot Shot of the week holding down the #48 spot.

Sean Combs, affectionately called P. Diddy, has officially crossed over onto Broadway. The official opening of “Raisin in the Sun” was a glitzy affair which found the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Spike Lee among its supporters. Following the footsteps of Mos Def as one of this generation’s few stage acting hip hop stars, P. Diddy opened to mixed reviews. The cast includes heavy hitters like Phylicia Rashad, Audra McDonald and Sanaa Lathan. While it may not get critical acclaim, this show will be credited with introducing a whole new generation to Broadway. Advanced ticket sales for the play’s run through July 11th have already topped $2.2 million. I’d say this dream is right on track.

Congratulations to Jamal “Shyne” Barrow, who recently signed a record deal with Def Jam Records. Barrow is currently serving a 10-year prison term and will not be eligible for parole until 2009. The rapper was convicted of assault after a shooting in 1999 at a Manhattan nightclub in which co-defendant and former boss Sean “Puffy” Combs was acquitted. Shyne could release a new album as early as this fall on his own Gangland Records label and sources say he could receive advances up to $3 million under the deal. Shyne already recorded approximately 10 songs before going to prison. Although he is ineligible for parole until Oct. 2009, his lawyers say they are preparing an appeal and could have him out by next spring.

Suge Knight plans to drop a hip-hop compilation album that will benefit financially troubled families of the soldiers in Iraq. In a statement Knight said, “…with so many soldiers now in Iraq for more than a year, I'm concerned about the families they've left behind. So many of them are suffering, not only emotionally but also financially. Earnings will go directly to these struggling wives and children. Knowing this fact, fans will hopefully also avoid illegally downloading or copying the disc, since those actions would essentially be stealing from the poor families that would benefit from the proceeds." Knight hopes to have the CD released in time for the upcoming Christmas season.

Compiled by Connie M. Howell