Lil’ Kim Banned from Releasing Music?

This past weekend, Lil’ Kim sat down with DJ Envy for MTV’s “Sucker Free” and revealed that legally, she is banned from releasing music due to several lawsuits from her previous record labels.

“When I came home from prison in 2006, I was really unhappy with my label so I wanted to get off, and I didn’t get released. I wasn’t dropped. I had to pay them. So, at the end of the day, it’s like that takes time. For two years, I fought and fought and fought and finally there was a break. During those two years, I did my Hollywood thing, I mean doing reality shows, ‘Dancing With The Stars’ and all that good stuff. But in between me doing ‘Dancing With The Stars’, I struck up another deal. I did deal with Track Masters, and it didn’t work out, but that took another year or two.”

Unfortunately, the Track Masters deal did not go well, and Kim ended up backing out of the deal after they had shelled out $200,000 to get her out of her previous contract with Atlantic Records, spent $240,000 to produce eight songs for her unfinished LP, and shelled out over $12,000 in rent for a home near her crib.

So, apparently, Kim is currently being sued by them for $2.5 million and also barred from recording any new material.

“Contractually, by the courts, I could not record any music. I wasn’t supposed to put any music out. Technically, Black Friday was a mixtape, so I was able to get away with that. But technically, they could have come after me if I were to put out an album. I couldn’t do it. So, this is something that my fans don’t know, but now you know. Legally, I wasn’t allowed or able to do music. And ’til this day I’m not going to say I’m glad that the lawsuit happened with Trackmasters, but it made me more of a businesswoman.”

Kim never said if she settled the lawsuit, but she is back to releasing music and recently put out the track “Keys To The City” featuring Young Jeezy.