Damn! This is just brutal… (Poor Lil Mama)

Lil Mama must be smoking some of that real good good … because she claims Nicki Minaj is biting her style!

The rapper turned MTV personality said all of this and more in a recent interview with Vibe Magazine, where she also reveals that she feels like other female rappers, including Missy Elliott and Lil Kim, feel “intimidated” by her.

Check out what the “America’s Best Dance Crew” judge had to say about all of this below:

VIBE: Interesting thing is that leftfield style is actually becoming more of the norm. How do you react to folks saying your biting Nicki Minaj and Lady Gaga?
Lil Mama: Come on, let’s be real okay. You have all these people wearing different colored hair. At the end of the day I’m a bombshell, so I’m going to do me. If I want to go platinum, I’m going platinum. Let’s not forget that we have had people doing these things way before the people who are doing it now and let’s also not forget that the black community sometimes we really hang ourselves because every time another black female gets up there and does something that may be current, we criticize each other and try to put each other down, but when Katy Perry and Lady Gaga do it, they all eat. But I’m not going to be a part of that. I’m going to do me, regardless.

Very valid point… I think the biggest style criticism was thrown at you this past MTV Movie Awards. Bunch of people thought you jacked Nicki’s haircut.
But my cut is blunt and futuristic and Nicki Minaj started wearing that bob on her head after she came to my show, so at the end of the day I know what I do and I know what I possess and I know who I am. I’m a trendsetter. The biggest form of flattery is imitation so I’m flattered. I understand the universal law. I’m not confused, I don’t feel like a follower. I started so many things that new artists are doing now anyway –my style, the way I’m aggressive on a track, the way I come through, the way my beat bangs. There are so many things that were borrowed, that I influenced that’s happening in music right, so I’m far from discouraged.

Well there you go. Wait, Nicki went to one of your shows?
Yeah, she was a guest on America’s Best Dance Crew and immediately afterwards, everywhere she went, she was wearing the haircut, the same exact way. But that doesn’t make me feel like ‘Oh she’s trying to be down’ like how I said about our culture. I’m actually flattered because she imitated me and it felt like something that I was doing was cute and in time for the fashion and for the season, so it’s like let’s live, let’s do it.

When I first interviewed you back in the day, you mentioned how other female rappers didn’t embrace you much. Has that changed or stayed the same?
It hasn’t really changed. You know what, let me catch myself. MC Lyte definitely embraces me. Jada Pinkett Smith embraces me. Those are two people that I can call and get advice. Those are two people that will call me to see what I’m doing. I think that everybody else that’s still on the radar like Missy and [Lil] Kim, feel so challenged right now. The root of female rap now is all about your swag and doing things independently. Everything is just boosted up to where these females who created the platform for us feel imitated. The kind of in that position right now where they feel like ‘Don’t get it twisted because I will drag you…’

Ha! Were you and Nicki at least able to chop it up after her episode of ABDC?
We didn’t really get a chance to vibe out like that after the show. It was just business. It was a level of respect though. Despite of what anybody might hear or have to say through the web, internet, music, subliminals, or whatever, when people see me in this industry I am respected and I will be respected. Anything else goes under the rug so I don’t see it. Whoever it may be, it’s always a level of respect because I respect myself and I will be respected.

Word. I know your thing back in the day was being very mindful of your younger fans. Should we expect to hear some 21+ lyrics now?
I guess my sound has changed a little bit; I’m evolving. Lauryn Hill might have cursed a couple of times in her music and Missy Elliot definitely just doesn’t care. I’m really more inspired by their creativity more so than just the cursing. I’m really impressed by clean music. I have a thing for it, but if I have to go there, I think I’m going to go there. It has to be something that you want to do. It can’t be peer pressure. You have to be yourself… and that’s what I do best.

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In the words of Chad Ochocinco … #Chileplease!

Thanksgiving is all about giving thanks and, if you have the means to do so, giving back. And celebrities definitely have the means to do so and love giving back to the community, especially around the Holidays. Here are some snapshots of various celebs doing their part to help those in need in honor of Thanksgiving!

Rapper Lil Mama volunteered at a New York City Rescue Mission Thursday (Nov 26). The America’s Best Dance Crew judge served hot meals to hungry people off of the streets who most likely wouldn’t get a chance to really celebrate Thanksgiving otherwise.

On the other side of the country, comedian Arsenio Hall helped serve a Thanksgiving meal at the Laugh Factory’s 31st annual free Thanksgiving Feast Thursday (Nov 26) in West Hollywood.

Actress Zoe Saldana attended the Los Angeles Mission & Anne Douglas Center’s Thanksgiving Meal for the Homeless Wednesday (Nov 25).

Actor/singer Corbin Bleu also volunteered in LA at the Los Angeles Mission & Anne Douglas Center’s annual Thanksgiving Meal for the Homeless.

And Latin rapper Pitbull, pictured above with Mr. Turkey, handed out turkeys to needy families Wednesday (Nov 25) in his hometown of Miami, Florida.

We’re well aware that security was very lax at last month’s 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, but this video here is comedic gold! Remember when Lil Mama hopped her azz on stage and crashed Jay-Z and Alicia Keys‘ performance? Well a brand new video has surfaced and it features Jay’s wife Beyonce trying to stop Lil Mama from going up there on the stage. Clearly Lil Mama was in her own world and didn’t give a damn! Continue reading for the video…

The situation was already hilarious, but this video here makes it even that much more funnier! Needless to say, she and Kanye won’t be getting seats near the front at next year’s show.

It’s no secret that Jay-Z didn’t take kindly to Lil Mama crashing his performance with Alicia Keys at the VMAs, but a new report goes a bit further into detail. Apparently, he was so mad Beyonce had to eventually calm him down:

Though he tried to stay cool onstage, a backstage source tells us, “He went ballistic. He was screaming at the MTV producers about the lack of security. He apparently thought at first she was just a fan. Beyonce finally calmed him down.”

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He also chatted it up with Hot 97 today and said he’d “never have the nerve” to do anything like that, adding all of the hard work that goes on into planning and executing a stage performance. He even compared the Lil Mama incident to the Kanye West/Taylor Swift incident that happened earlier in the show.

“Me, personally, I would never do that,” Hov told radio personality Angie Martinez. “I would never have the nerve to do that. It’s just like, someone’s up there performing…we went through rehearsals, we did run throughs and we worked really hard at the performance to put on a show for people and to interrupt that moment for us, you know, I don’t think that was the right thing to do. I actually thought it was the equivalent of what Kanye did to Taylor Swift…And I’m cool with her being excited and all that but you have to understand, people put in work to make that performance happen, that took weeks…I was a little angry to be honest, but what I’ma do, fight Lil Mama? [laughs]”

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We really need something new to talk about. It’s been over a week since the VMAs first aired and people are still asking questions about this and the Kanye thing???

Rapper Lil Mama says her emotions were running last night during the VMAs as Jay-Z and Alicia Keys performed their song, “Empire State of Mind.” She sent in an apology statement to MTV earlier today apologizing for jumping on stage with the two icons, who for the most part, ignored her presence altogether.

“I did not mean any disrespect towards Jay-Z or Alicia Keys,” the statement reads. “I admire them and look up to them as role models. ‘Empire State of Mind’ had my emotions running high. In that moment I came up onstage to celebrate my two icons singing about NY.”

Jay-Z appeared to shoo her off when he noticed her up there and said, “You’re T-Paining.” But she didn’t care. She kept on bopping her head and rocking to the music before striking a pose along with Jay and Alicia at the end of the performance. We would have loved to hear the conversation that followed!

Check out the video after the break.

The 2009 Teen Choice Awards went down Sunday (Aug 9) at the Gibson Amphitheater in Los Angeles and celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Keke Palmer, Britney Spears, Marlon Wayans, Black Eyed Peas and lots more made appearances and/or performed at the show.

The most talked about happenings on the red carpet were Kim Kardashian’s new hairstyle and comedian/TV personality Kathy Griffin going to the show with Levi Johnston, Sara Palin’s daughter’s (Bristol) ex-boyfriend/baby daddy.

RED CARPET PHOTOS

Continue reading to check out lots of red carpet photos and photos from the show!

SHOW PHOTOS & AUDIENCE/BACKSTAGE CANDIDS

PHOTOS: WIRE IMAGE / GETTY IMAGES

Lil Mama chatted it up with our people over at Rap Up the day after Michael Jackson died and compared him to Jesus Christ. We couldn’t make this sh*t up if we tried…

“Jesus Christ touched so many people. The story that they gave of this man. … He healed people. Michael Jackson did the same thing, not only with his music, but with his performance and his personality.”

And the funny thing is she was DEAD serious. We love Michael Jackson too … but Jesus? Not Jesus (pronounced hay-zoose), but Jesus (pronounced gee-zus) Christ? That’s a little much…

Here’s a shot of Kanye West and his girlfriend Amber Rose on the red carpet of the 2009 BET Awards, which went down Sunday (Jun 28) in Los Angeles at the Shrine Auditorium. The show itself pretty much sucked. And that’s us being nice. But for the most part, everyone looked good on the red carpet. Continue reading for 80+ pics of celebrities like Beyonce, Ne-Yo, Tyrese, Soulja Boy, Ciara, Mario and tons more!

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES / WIRE IMAGE / FILM MAGIC

Rapper Lil Mama an philanthropist Russell Simmons posed for a photo together on the red carpet of the 6th Annual Do Something Awards at The Apollo Theater Thursday (June 4) evening in New York City. Other celebrities at the event include: Usher, Corbin Bleu, Akon and more. Continue reading for more pics from the event!

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES

Rapper Lil Mama did her debt to society as the “Voice of the Young People” by reading books to children at a block party to launch the 2009 summer reading program at the Brooklyn Public LIbrary Thursday (June 4) in New York City. Continue reading for more.

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES

Tyrese and Soulja Boy posed for a pic together as they walked the red carpet of the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, held this past Sunday (May 31) night at the Gibson Amphitheater in Universal City, California. Other celebs who hit up the annual event include: Keke Palmer, Will Ferrell, Lil Mama and more. Much more pics from the red carpet, backstage and the show can be found when you continue reading. Oh and if you missed it, get a load of Sacha Baron Cohen putting Eminem at the butt end (literally) of a hilarious (we think it was pretty funny) joke by clicking here!

PHOTOS: WIRE IMAGE // GETTY IMAGES

Nylon Magazine celebrated their 10th year in business with an anniversary celebration at Thompson LES in New York City Tuesday night. Ciara, Adrienne Bailon, Lil Mama and more all hit up the party. Continue reading for more pics.

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES

Here’s the official GOT premiere of Lil Mama‘s brand new music video for her latest single, “Truly In Love.” This song, featuring Fanny Pak, comes from her debut album, Voice of the Young People (in stores now), and sounds completely different from what we usually hear from the 19-year-old rapper. Peep the video, directed by Gobi M. Rahimi and Lil Mama herself, above!

K-Mart and Protege hosted the Basketball Block Party at the Phoenix Children’s Museum in Phoenix, AZ to celebrate NBA All-Star Weekend 2009. Who were the celebrity attendees, you ask? Well, Lil’ Mama performed (and spoke), Chamillionaire spoke, and to see who else hit up the event, you’ll just have to click that nice little link below that reads “Continue Reading.” C’mon, you know you want to!

PHOTOS: WIRE IMAGE

The highly anticipated biopic of Christopher “Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace hits theaters next Friday, January 16th 2008, and all of the celebrities came in droves to check out the premiere of Notorious at AMC Lincoln Square in New York City Wednesday night. Some of the celebs on the red carpet were Beyonce, Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, Ciara, Angela Bassett, Derek Luke and Jamal “Gravy” Woolard. Continue reading for the rest of the flix and to see who else hit up the big premiere!

CONTINUE READING TO PAGE 2 FOR MORE!

The 5th Anniversary of Fashion Rocks! went down Friday night and the stars definitely came out and shined. Many celebrities came out to prove they can dress the best and the most…risky. Either way they still rocked the latest. Stars like Chris Brown, Rihanna, Ciara, Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Brandy, Ashanti, Tyra Banks, and more all came out to show their love for fashion. Check out the best to the worst after the cut.

PHOTOS: WIRE IMAGE

Lil Papa Lil Mama is the 474 billionth (no exaggeration) person to spit some rhymes over Lil’ Wayne’s soon-to-be played out “A Milli” beat. See what you did, Weezy? Check her out above showing us how quick she can think on her toes. I can’t hate, homegirl did pretty good!

The 2008 BET Awards aired last night and yours truly is here to inform you of the hottest (and not so hot) styles worn at the award show. Some of the best dressed female celebs of the night were Rihanna, Gabrielle Union, Jennifer Hudson, and Alicia Keys. Rihanna wore a neon yellow Giambattista Valli dress from his spring/summer 2008 line, Gabrielle Union wore a gorgeous white Celine Vonn dress, Jennifer Hudson wore A brown Peter Soronen corset dress, and Alicia Keys wore a strapless pink David Meister David Meister dress with Melody Ehsani Hate/Love Rings. I also loved Alicia’s Sergio Rossi heels. Keep reading for more styles from the show.

Some more looks I thought were hot came from Ashanti, Lauren London, Cassie, and Trina. Ashanti wore a black Marchesa gown, Lauren wore Givenchy Open Toe Ankle Booties and a strapless French Connection “Wizard” dress, Cassie wore a cute pink Vivienne Westwood dress, and while I loved the yellow dress Trina wore, her Louis Vuitton Murakami Monogramouflage speedy really took away from the look.

Each of my picks for my best dressed guys had on Guccci! Chris Brown, Mario, and David Banner were all dressed to impress and weren’t the only ones rockn’ Gucci. Rick Ross, Flo-Rida, Shawty Lo, and Soulja Boy all had on the brand as well.

For worst dressed we have Soulja Boy, Keyshia Cole, Lil’ Mama, Angel Lola Luv, Keri Hilson, and Solange. I liked the yellow dress Keyshia wore and the black Betsey Johnson Dahlia Dress Angel wore but, I hated it on them. The yellow dress looks to big on Keyshia and the Betsy Johnson dress just doesn’t look right on Lola. Soulja Boy and Solonge just have too much going on in their looks, Keri Hilson’s 70′s inspired style is NOT working for her and Lil’ Mama is just … unique.

From sporting top hats to wearing four watches on one arm, T-Pain was BY FAR the worst dressed celeb at the BET Awards. I can’t knock T-Pain too much, I mean, weren’t we all expecting him to wear something foolish? T-Pain is just different and I guess he likes to incorporate that into his “style.” Hey, at least it’s not stopping him from selling records!

Here are photos of Nelly, Solange, Cassie, and Lil’ Mama arriving at the 2008 BET Awards. Who approved of the Little Miss Bo Peep look Lil’ Mama calls herself wearing? I’m starting to think she does this shit for attention, lol. And she should be severely punished for bringing an innocent child into the mix. Just wrong! More flicks after the break…

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Here a T2W video premiere of Lil’ Mama new video and single, “What It Is (Strike a Pose)” featuring T-Pain. It seems like everybody trying to bring the 80s back. It’s a great thing though cause it seems the 80s was a fresh decade for real! Check out Lil’ Mama 80s retro video above!

(Photos: Wire Image) Carol’s Daughter hosted a birthday party for teen R&B singer Chris Brown, who recently turned 19 years old. Of course his “BFF” Rihanna was there, in addition to Willie & Q (of Day 26), Teyana Taylor, Dawn Richard (of Danity Kane) and Lil’ Mama. That’s it? I guess so! Lol, peep more flicks after the cut…

(Photos: John Ricard) As you may or may not recall, we posted photos of Lil Mama and T-Pain on the set of What It Is (Strike a Pose) a few weeks back. And oddly enough, we never saw the final product of the aforementioned. Instead, last Thursday, her new video for L.I.F.E made its online debut. I suppose the label decided to switch things up a bit and hold off on releasing the T-Pain featured single, and release “L.I.F.E.” instead. But anyhow, here are the photos of Lil Mama on the set of “L.I.F.E.” Check out more after the break…

Lil Mama’s long-awaited debut album VYP: Voice of the Young People is IN STORES NOW! If you haven’t done so already, check out Terrell’s album review here.

Here is the official T2W video premiere of Lil Mama‘s latest single, L.I.F.E, from her new album VYP Voice of The Young People in stores NOW! Make sure you go out and support!

Lil Mama celebrated the release of her debut album, “VYP: Voice of the Young People,” with a party at Room Service in New York last night (Apr. 28th). DJ Khaled was a guest at the party.

Follow the break for more candids!

Anthony Anderson, Estelle and John Legend attended a private dinner celebrating the release of Estelle’s debut album, Shine, at Bette restaurant last night (Apr. 28th) in New York. Make sure you pick up Estelle’s new album, which is in stores now!

Bobby Valentino and his world-famous s-curl hit up last night’s (Apr. 28th) Celtics/Hawks game in ATL. The singer recently parted ways with his former label, the Ludacris-owned “Disturbing Tha Peace,” in an effort to release his new album on his own.

Singer Lyfe Jennings signed copies of his new album, “Lyfe Change” at J&R Music World earlier today (Apr. 29th) in New York.

Alicia Keys visited the Late Show with David Letterman earlier today (Apr. 29th) to record an episode that will air tonight.

Mario set a great example for today’s youth by registering to vote with Declare Yourself earlier today (Apr. 29th) in Beverly Hills. If I’m not mistaken, the R&B singer is still in the running to win “Dancing with the Stars.”

Actor Terrence Howard attended a screening for his new movie, “Iron Man,” last night (Apr. 28th) in NYC.

Lil’ Mama debut album, VYP: Voice Of The Young People released in stores today. Lil’ Mama performed, “Shawty Get Loose” on Regis & Kelly this afternoon to promote the new album. Click play to watch the performance.

(Photos: John Ricard) Here are some exclusive photos of artists Lil Mama and T-Pain on the set of Lil Mama’s new video for “What It Is (Strike A Pose)” off of her forthcoming album, Voice of the Young People. The video was shot in New York City by director R. Malcom Jones (pictured above). Check out more photos from the shoot after the cut, and be on the look-out for Lil Mama’s debut album, which hits stores this Tuesday (Apr. 29th)!

PHOTOS: KING-SISTERS.COM » Singing Group Cherish recently had a photo shoot to take some new promo shots for their new upcoming album “The Truth”. This is the sophomore album from the Atlanta-based R&B group. The album title and release date of April 1, 2008 was confirmed on their official website. According to their website the date has now been pushed back to April 29, 2008.

PHOTOS: MICHELLEWILLIAMSONLINE.COM » Michelle Williams has switched up style and released some pomo pics for her new album, “Unexpected” which will be dropping this summer. This look really works for Michelle!

PHOTOS: LIL-MAMAONLINE.COM » Rapper Lil Mama recently took some promo shots. Her debut album, “Voice of The Young People” is scheduled to drop on April 29th. I see she added a shirt to her new Dress + Sneaker swag

PHOTOS: MYSPACE »Tweet recently posted some promotional photos on her myspace page. Her third album, “Love Tweet” is scheduled to be released this summer.

Stars like D.Woods, Lil Mama, Lilly Allen, and Teyana Taylor have all recently rock’d a new “style.” Dresses with sneakers! Wearing sneakers with a dress has never been hot and hopefully never will! Ladies, please take a GOOD LOOK at the pics below before you plan on taking some inspiration from them. This is definitely a Fashion NO-NO!

Here is the Think2wice video premiere of Mary J. Blige’s single ‘Just Fine’ remix featuring Lil’ Mama from the album Growing Pains (Geffen) in stores now!

Here are some photos from the Pre-Grammy Cocktail Party hosted by the legendary Clive Davis. The party was held at the Beverly HIlton Hotel last night in California. The guest list included the likes of Janet Jackson, Jermaine Dupri, Alicia Keys, Chris Brown, Rihanna, Lil Mama, and more. Check out the rest of the photos after the cut.

Rapper Lil’ Mama recently premiered her new joint on 106 & Park today, “Shawty get Loose,” featuring Chris Brown and T-Pain. Once again Michael Jackson, as well as Ms. Janet Jackson, have inspired the young masses of today. Their legend will live on forever, forever … forever.

Here are some brand new photos of Lil Mama, Chris Brown, T-Pain clowning around (and working, of course) on the set of Lil Mama’s latest video for her new single, “Shawty Get Loose,” which features the aforementioned. The video was shot in Miami, FL by director R. Malcom Jones. Be on the lookout for Lil Mama’s debut album, “Voice of the Young People,” when it hits stores Spring ’08. Check out more exclusive photos from the set after the cut!

I might be a tad late on this, but I had no idea. Lil Mama, whose real name is Niatia Jessica Kirkland, recently lost her mother after a 4-year battle with cancer. She was diagnosed with the disease in 2003. Lil Mama received the news of her mother’s passing while at an Atlanta concert; and she immediately returned to New York City. My condolences go out to her at this time.

Check out these flicks of all of the celebrities who attended the big “This Christmas” movie premiere in Hollywood a few days ago. Chris Brown, Sharon Leal, Lauren London, and more stars from the movie, including other celebrities, were in attendance. Make sure you hit up the movie theaters on next Wednesday, November 21st! Peep the rest of the flicks after the cut.