Bark + Bite

Wyclef fires shots at former Fugee Pras and Sean Penn in concert

It's a good thing Wyclef didn't get that bid for the Haitian presidency like he wanted. Although it might've been fun having the offbeat musician in the Palais National, it's clear he doesn't have the temperament or tact for the job. In a performance at Hot 97's Labor Day Weekend “On Da Reggae Tip Live” concert, Wyclef hit back at two of his more famous critics, Sean Penn and former Fugee Pras.

“If I was president….I got a message for Sean Penn, maybe he ain’t see me in Haiti because he was too busy sniffing cocaine. I got a message for Praswell, even though you don’t want to support me, I got love for you, even though you only kicked 8 bars for the Fugees…” (Source: Miss Info)

The Sean Penn comment was a low blow and really, does Wyclef wanna go there with drug use? He hardly seems like he's been the clean-living type his whole life. And while it's true that Pras is the obvious weak link of the Fugees, it's kind of cruddy to dump on dude just cause he didn't throw his weight behind you in politics.

Sour grapes don't make for great tasting wine, Wyclef. Go ahead and shrink that ego and keep doing positive work for Haiti. And if you're really serious about running for any political office in Haiti or the U.S., this kind of behavior is a roadblock to that path.

Kanye West apologizes to Taylor Swift on Twitter

Something apologetic got into Kanye West this weekend. After dropping his new G.O.O.D. Friday track "Devil In A New Dress," Ye took to Twitter to finally and officially air out his thoughts on that night at the VMAs when he snatched the mic from the virginal Taylor Swift, making him Public Enemy #1.

In in a long series of tweets, Kanye explored the motivations of his outburst, bemoaned his portrayal in the media, vented about the painful death threats he received, extended an invitation to collaborate with Taylor and questioned who really benefitted from the Mic Snatch Heard Round the World firestorm. Here's a hint: Twitter, PhotoShop and MTV.

Kanye wrapped up his Twitter essay with a simple, stripped-down mea culpa to Taylor: "I'm sorry Taylor." Afterward, Kanye followed the country star, bringing his follower count to a whopping two people, with the other person he's following being Justin Bieber. Is this enough? Will the people who turned their backs on Kanye finally melt their hearts and let him back in?

Read Kanye's long VMAs apology on Twitter below

Foxy Brown jumps in the mix: Praises Nicki's branding, calls Lil' Kim old

The Ill Na Na has been sitting on the sidelines quietly while big mama cat Lil' Kim has been scrapping with new kitty Nicki Minaj. But now, Fox Boogie is throwing in her 2 cents and like a double-edged sword, she's cutting on both sides.

In her interview Sway of MTV News, Foxy wisely avoids the bitter-older-woman label by praising Nicki's branding. Not her skills on the mic, her lyrics or her style. But her branding. "If you're winning, you're winning," Foxy said. So Foxy, unlike Kim, is uninterested in fighting the inevitable. Whether Fox, or Kim, like it or not, Nicki is what's hot in the streets. All the salty side swipes and concert outbursts in the world aren't gonna change that. But that doesn't mean Foxy isn't pricking Nicki a lil' bit while she takes her seat. Foxy blasted Nicki for "biting" her West Indian style on the remix to Gyptian's "Hold You." SOURCE: MTV.com

"'Cause everyone thought it was me on that dancehall record," Foxy explained. "It's something I created. That's something that had never been done before — hip-hop and dancehall together — until I did it. I didn't do it just to sell records. I didn't do it as a ploy or gimmick. My parents are from Trinidad. I'm Trinidadian. I'm West Indian. That is the music I grew up on. To incorporate that with hip-hop was the biggest thing ever."

The Black Eyed Peas are friends forever, says Will.i.am

Somebody planted some seeds of discord on the internet about pop music's favorite culturally diverse super group, the Black Eyed Peas. The rumor running around was that Fergie, having grown weary of the boys and Will.i.am in particular, was planning an exit from the group in the near future. RadarOnline.com dug up the dirt with a "source" who said that the situation was a done deal and that Fergie would not commit to the 2nd half of their world tour. SOURCE: RadarOnline.com

“Fergie is saying she wants out of the band and the second half of the tour isn’t confirmed for early next year,” the source said.

“Things have gotten really bad with Will.i.Am. And it’s not just Fergie who is clashing with him. So is the rest of the band. His ego is out of control.

Say it isn't so. What about all the lady lump-filled joy that the Black Eyed Peas have delivered to the world? Can they really just throw away all of that magic? Will.i.am says it's all rubbish, calling it gossip and lies.

Which of course doesn't necessarily mean Fergie isn't planning to leave. She could be holding her cards close until she's ready to make her move. And perhaps it is time to the call it quits and go out while the Black Eyed Peas are still ahead. Do they have another "Boom Boom Pow" or "I Gotta Feeling" left in them? Maybe not.

Will.i.am however has good reason for not wanting BEP to ever break up. Remember that solo album he did? Exactly. He needs Fergie Ferg and her sexual white chocolate. And it sounds like Will has dreams of turning BEP into the next Rolling Stones, touring around the world until they're 80. Can't you see it now? A silver-haired Fergie and a janky-kneed Will.i.am breaking it down to "My Humps" and "Imma Be" in all their senior citizen glory. They just better make sure to pack the prunes and Metamucil for the road.

If Fergie left the Black Eyed Peas would you miss her or diss her?

The Lil' Kim and Nicki Minaj beef is looking real Mean Girls

The beef Lil' Kim has between herself and Nicki Minaj is still cooking. Kim sat down for an extended interview with Mr. Ed Lover on his morning show and Kim touched on the usual: Her hate for the "Notorious" movie, her perception that Nicki Minaj was throwing shots at her and her disappointment in Puffy. If you were expecting any kind of clarity or illuminating exchanges to emerge from this, you'll be sorely disappointed. The Queen Bee is still stewing over leftovers.

Among the list of slights Kim feels Nicki Minaj committed: Nicki rolled her eyes at her, Nicki didn't say hi to her, Nicki hasn't paid her proper homage and Cash Money pulled the song that would've put both of them on because, in her mind, they didn't like that fans said her verse was hotter than Nicki's. Check out some highlights from the interview below.

Lil' Kim continues to wage war, lashes out at Biggie's Mom and Diddy

Lil' Kim's fireballs in the press may have started off being about newcomer Nicki Minaj, but Kim has 99 problems and Nicki is just one of them. Over the weekend, more and more Kim soundbites made their way onto the web and her tirades turned from Nicki Minaj to her Bad Boy "brother" Diddy and Biggie's mother, Voletta Wallace. If you weren't convinced Lil' Kim was bitter before, take a bite of the sour grapefruit that she's serving below.

Lil' Kim vs. Nicki Minaj: Who's the baddest Barbie of them all?

To quote Lil' Kim herself, "Hot damn ho, here we go again." The comparisons between Nicki Minaj and Lil' Kim have been made since early on in Nicki's career, especially given the "Hardcore"-like images that circulated a few years ago. But the fact is, even if Nicki hadn't "paid homage" to Kim's iconic image, she still would've gotten the comparisons to Kim just by virtue of being a female MC. Lil' Kim was one of the best, and most successful, female rappers to dominate the music industry and for some, she's the standard against which other female MCs are measured. Her legacy is a testament to what she, Puffy and B.I.G. built and she deserves to be respected for that.

But there's always something to be said about something new. Nicki Minaj's appearance on the music scene has sparked a frenzy. People are buzzing about her putting female MCs back on the map. She's now the go-to rapper to make a hot single for everyone from Usher to Christina Aguilera. Her fanbase grows by the week and her dedicated fans, who she refers to as Barbies, are already dressing up like her. Like Lil' Kim before her, Nicki's intrigue lies in her ability to play on the exaggerated and outrageous. Her wigs are colors and cuts that no sensible person would wear. And her rhymes come in multiple accents and voices. But Kim is laying claim to Nicki's style and branding her an ungrateful biter, despite the fact that Nicki has already cited Kim as an influence and trendsetter. As blogger Kid Fury points out, Lil' Kim certainly did not invent colorful wigs, so exactly what she is laying claim to is unclear.

Kim, however, won't hear any of it. She has lashed out in interviews saying that Nicki hasn't paid "homage" to her properly and slammed her as a mimic. She even went so far as to bring out the thirsty, scrappy YouTube rapper Keys, who's been riding a wave of buzz off of a diss freestyle against Nicki Minaj. That Lil' Kim would reach out to a bit player like Keys just to get under Nicki's skin shows that she is clearly thirsty. Like Jay-Z said, "You need more people."

LL Cool J vows never to overpay hot producers for hits again

Some people may have forgotten this, since he has been far busier as of late as an actor, but LL Cool J is still a rapper. Right now though, he's getting his Billy Blanks on, hawking another fitness and dieting book for all the beer-bellied fellas who want to get his washboard abs and hard body. (Guess he'll never sign on as a cast member of "Celebrity Fit Club.")

In the midst of his book promo tour in the UK, some crafty reporter asked LL if he planned on releasing another album anytime soon. After all, the man does have 13 of them under his belt, a remarkable feat in hip hop, considering many rappers don't make it past album number 1. LL said he would entertain it, but launched into an attack on overpaying hot producers for hits. So if you were holding your breath for a David Guetta-produced LL Cool J and Flo Rida collabo, you can inhale now. Not happening.

"When I do do some music, what it won't be is me trying to fit in and overpaying the hot producer of the moment to make me a song that sounds like what's out. I will never do that again in my life. That will not happen," LL Cool J said.

Watch the video of LL Cool J talking about avoiding superproducers below

Ciara won't single out Keri Hilson on her diss track

This is why R&B beef doesn't work. Nobody wants to take the gloves off and get really down and dirty. When 50 Cent beefs, he calls out names, puts his team to work on PhotoShop and even reaches out to his enemy's loved ones. It's personal and the whole world knows who, what and why the battle lines have been drawn. But R&B divas like to throw pointed daggers at each other and coyly pretend as though they never said anything subliminally about any of their peers. Keri Hilson launched the first missive with her sassy verse on the "Turnin' Me On" remix in which she said she was "shooting these bitches down" and a pointed line about "you can dance, she can sing but need to move it to the..." which many took to be a shot at Beyonce and Ciara.

Ciara recently released her video and song "Basic Instinct (U Got Me)," in which she fired back at her rivals for getting the best of her. Again, most presumed this was return fire (albeit quite delayed) at Miss Keri Baby. But when Ciara was directly asked about it, she backed away from singling anyone out specifically, claiming instead that it was about the anonymous "haters." What's the point of a public cat fight if there's no hair pulling and bitch slapping by name?

Watch Ciara respond to questions about her song being directed at Keri Hilson

Christina Aguilera takes light dig at "newcomer" Lady Gaga

This is the kind of stuff that stan wars are made of. The slightest hints of condescension and snarkiness from one pop star to another will launch a full scale war on message boards, blogs and Twitter. Especially when the star being jabbed is the most in-demand female pop star at the moment: Lady Gaga. In an interview for "Out" magazine, Christina Aguilera took a light jab at Lady Gaga, dismissively calling her a newcomer and saying, "she's fun to look at," as if she herself isn't known for her wacky, wild and out-there costumes. SOURCE: ONTD

Rivalry's nothing new to Aguilera, who spent her childhood dominating talent shows in the metropolitan Pittsburgh area and her early adolescence jockeying for position on "The Mickey Mouse Club" against littermates Britney Spears Justin Timberlake. Her late teens and 20s passed locked in a dead heat with her former BFF, Britney. But, as it relates to Lady Gaga, one might think comparisons to be especially odious. "Oh, the newcomer?" Aguilera chuckles. "I think she's really fun to look at."

So Xtina's not even bothering to address Gaga by name at this point, huh? While it's difficult to dismiss the condescension in the remark, Christina has tried to otherwise avoid putting Gaga down in the media. But still, this isn't going to do anything to help relations between IraGa and IraXtina. War has already been declared and gifs, PhotoShop creations and videos have already been fired up.

UPDATE: Christina is addressing the drama head on. She posted a note lauding Lady Gaga for her achievements and bashing the media for "pitting" her against Lady Gaga. SOURCE: ChristinaAguilera.com