Lil' Kim's <i>The Naked Truth</i>
Photo: Atlantic Records

The Truth Is Out: Lil' Kim's prison sentence might be garnering the raunchy rapper the most headlines, but that's not stopping her from cussing up a storm on The Naked Truth with tracks like "Shut Up Bitch" (intro), "Shut Up Bitch" (the proper song), "We Don't Give a F---" and My N---as." Other tracks include: "W.P.I.M.P.," "Spell Check" and "All Good."

Blood Work: The track list to Bloodhound Gang's Hefty Fine says it all, really: "Strictly for the Tardcore," "Balls Out," "Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo," "I'm the Least You Could Do," "Farting With a Walkman On," "Diarrhea Runs in the Family," "Ralph Wiggum," "Something Diabolical," "Overheard in a Wawa Parking Lot," "Pennsylvania," "Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss" and "No Hard Feelings."

Paulatics: Hip-hop, dancehall and reggae come together to form Sean Paul's Trinity, the third album by the Jamaican DJ. Shifting from high-profile producers like the Neptunes and Sly & Robbie to more obscure ones like Craig Parks and Michael Jarrett, Paul runs the risk of losing a few listeners this time around. Tracks include: "We Be Burnin'," "Temperature" and "Eye Deh a Mi Knee."

Crow Deluxe: Sheryl Crow fans, keep yer eyes peeled for a deluxe edition of the Lance Armstrong lover's latest, Wildflower, which is hitched with a bonus DVD featuring seven acoustic cuts. Main-album songs include: "Chances Are," "I Don't Wanna Know" and "Always on Your Side."

Christmas In September: Start the holiday season a few months early with these toasty chestnuts: The Regis Philbin Christmas Album and reissues of Nat King Cole's The Christmas Song, Al Green's Feels Like Christmas and Frank Sinatra's A Jolly Christmas From Frank Sinatra.

Ante up with Joe McBride's Texas Hold'Em, Wolf Parade's Apologies to the Queen Mary, Ryan Adams & the Cardinals' Jacksonville City Nights, Junior Brown's The Austin Experience: Recorded Live at the Continental Club and Before the Devil, the new one from Black My Heart.

Song Titles Of The Week:

"Lighter Side of Global Terrorism" - Jello Biafra and the Melvins' Sieg Howdy

"Poppin' My Collar" - Three 6 Mafia's The Most Known Unknowns

"When Future History Became Current History" - Biology's Making Moves

New releases:

• Abandoned Pools - Armed to the Teeth (Universal)
• Ryan Adams & the Cardinals - Jacksonville City Nights (Lost Highway)
  Buy Now: Jacksonville City Nights (Lost Highway)
• Rusty Anderson - Undressing Underwater (Surfdog)
• Barlow Girl - Another Journal Entry (Word Entertainment)
• Drake Bell - Telegraph (Nine Yards)
• The Benjy Davis Project - The Angie House (Bogalusa)
• Tab Benoit - Voice of the Wetlands (Rykodisc)
• Jello Biafra and the Melvins - Sieg Howdy (Alternative Tentacles)
• Eric Bibb - A Ship Called Love (Telarc)
• Big Star - In Space (Rykodisc)
  Buy Now: In Space (Rykodisc)
• Biology - Making Moves (Vagrant)
• Bizzy Bone - Speaking Tongues (SMC)
• Blackalicious - The Craft (Anti)
  Read: "Blackalicious Fight 'Nerd Rap' Tag, Saying 'Let's Take It To The Stage' "
  Buy Now: The Craft (Anti)
• The Blackout Pact - Hello Sailor (Astro Magnetics)
• B-Legit - Block Movement (SMC)
• Black My Heart - Before the Devil (Eulogy)
• Blind Melon - Tones of Home: The Best of Blind Melon (Capitol)
• Bloodhound Gang - Hefty Fine (Geffen)
  Read: "Bloodhound Gang Pen New State Anthem For Pennsylvania"
  Buy Now: Hefty Fine (Geffen)
• Bona Fide - Soul Lounge (Heads Up)
• Toni Braxton - Libra (Blackground)
• Junior Brown - The Austin Experience: Recorded Live at the Continental Club (Telarc)
• Bruce Campbell - Make Love! The Bruce Campbell Way (six-CD box set; Rykodisc)
• Vivian Campbell - Two Sides of If (Sanctuary)
• The Casanovas - The Casanovas (IROCK)
• Ray Cash - C.O.D.: Cash on Delivery (Sony Urban)
• Tom Chapin - Some Assembly Required (Razor & Tie)
• Bill Charlap & Sandy Stewart - Love Is Here to Stay (Blue Note)
• Cherish the Ladies - Woman of the House (Rounder)
• Cherryholmes - Cherryholmes (Skaggs Family)
• Bruce Cockburn - Speechless (Rounder)
• Sheryl Crow - Wildflower (Interscope)
  Buy Now: Wildflower (Interscope)
• The Detroit Cobras - Baby (Bloodshot)
• Grandaddy - Excerpts From the Diary of Todd Zilla (EP; V2)
  Read: "Grandaddy Can't Wait To Leave Home — But They Have To Finish Telling It Off First"
• Buddy Guy - Bring 'Em In (Jive)
• The High Strung - Moxie Bravo (Future Farmer)
• Ill Niño - One Nation Underground (Roadrunner)
• Wynona Judd - Her Story: Scenes From a Lifetime (live; with DVD; Curb)
• King of France - King of France (Echo)
• King's X - Ogre Tones (Inside Out)
• Lil' Kim - The Naked Truth (Atlantic)
  Read: "Lil' Kim's Wrath For 50, Foxy Has No Bounds On Naked Truth"
  Buy Now: The Naked Truth (Atlantic)
• Curt Kirkwood - Snow (Little Dog)
• Betty LaVette- I've Got My Own Hell to Raise (Anti)
• Ramsey Lewis - With One Voice (live; Narada)
• Maceo - Straight Out Da Pot (Big Cat)
• Mack 10 - Hustla's Handbook (Capitol)
• Kathy Mattea - Right Out of Nowhere (Narada)
• Joe McBride - Texas Hold'Em (Heads Up)
• Brad Mehldau - Day Is Done (Nonesuch)
• Sergio Mendes - Timeless (Concord)
• Miguel Migs - House of OM Presents: Get Salted, Vol. 1 (OM)
• Ministry - Rantology (remix album; Sanctuary)
• Mommy and Daddy - Duel at Dawn (Kanine)
• Morcheeba - The Antidote (Echo)
• Mr. Criminal - Sounds of Crime (Thump)
• My Ruin - The Brutal Language (Rovena)
• Jon Nicholson - A Lil Sump'm Sump'm (with DVD; Warner Bros.)
• Ric Ocasek - Nexterday (Sanctuary)
• P.J. Olsson - Beautifully Insane (Brash)
• Orange Sky - Upstairs (with bonus DVD; Granite)
• Sean Paul - The Trinity (DualDisc; Atlantic)
  Buy Now: The Trinity (Atlantic)
• The Persuasions - The Persuasions Sing U2 (Chesky)
• Regis Philbin - The Regis Philbin Christmas Album (Hollywood)
• Plastic Noise Experience - Noised (Van Richter)
• Project 86 - ... And the Rest Will Follow (Tooth & Nail)
• Reatards - Not F---ed Enough (Empty)
• Dianne Reeves - "Good Night, and Good Luck" soundtrack (Concord)
• Carmen Rizzo - The Lost Art of the Idle Moment (Fuel 2000)
• Emma Roberts - "Unfabulous! And More" soundtrack (Columbia)
• Boz Skaggs - Fade Into Light (DualDisc; Virgin)
• Anoushka Shankar - Rise (Angel)
• Smile Empty Soul - Anxiety (Lava)
• Supergrass - Road to Rouen (Capitol)
  Read: "New Supergrass LP: Born In A Barn, Literally"
• T-Bone - Bone-a-Fide (Flicker)
• Three 6 Mafia - The Most Known Unknowns (Columbia)
• Versus the World - Versus the World (Kung Fu)
• Roger Waters - Ça Ira (with DVD; SACD hybrid; Sony International)
• Gretchen Wilson - All Jacked Up (Epic)
• Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary (Sub Pop)
• Neil Young - Prairie Wind (with DVD; Reprise)
  Buy Now: Prairie Wind (Reprise)
• Various artists - Taste of Chaos (Image)
• Various artists - "Grey's Anatomy" soundtrack (Hollywood)
• Various artists - "Las Vegas" soundtrack (Image)
• Various artists - "Music Inspired by the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" soundtrack (Sparrow)
• Various artists - "Radio Disney: Move It!" (Walt Disney)
• Various artists - "Rent" soundtrack (Warner Bros.)
• Various artists - "Serenity" soundtrack (Varèse)
• Various artists - "Veronica Mars" soundtrack (Nettwerk)

Notable reissues:

• Anti-M - Positively Negative (with bonus tracks; Topographic)
• The Band - A Musical History (six CDs; Capitol)
• Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection (Interscope)
• The Carpenters - Chronicles (box set; A&M)
• The Carter Family - 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection (Mercury Nashville)
• Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song (Capitol)
• Criteria - En Garde (Saddle Creek)
• Miles Davis - The Cellar Door Sessions 1970 (six-CD box set; Columbia/Legacy)
• Al Green - Feels Like Christmas and Greatest Hits: Deluxe Edition (with DVD; Capitol)
• Mean Season - The Memory and I Still Suffer in Love (Indecision)
• Natalie Merchant - Greatest Hits (limited edition; Rhino)
• Thelonius Monk Quartet With John Coltrane - At Carnegie Hall (Blue Note)
• Frank Sinatra - A Jolly Christmas From Frank Sinatra (Capitol)
• Train - Essentially (Columbia)
• Wall of Voodoo - The Index Masters (Rykodisc)

DVDs:

• Blind Melon - "Live at the Metro" (Capitol)
• Elvis Costello - "The Right Spectacle: The Very Best of Elvis Costello" (Warner Bros.)
• The Sun - "Blame It on the Youth" (Warner Bros.)
• Various artists - "Taste of Chaos" (Image)

Coming Attractions:

October 4:

• Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine (DualDisc; Epic)
  Read: "Fiona Apple's Long-Delayed LP Slotted For October 4 Release"
  Buy Now: Extraordinary Machine (Epic)
• Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better (Epic)
  Read: "Set A Man On Fire, Name Next LP — Franz Ferdinand Do Whatever They Want"
  Buy Now: You Could Have It So Much Better (Epic)
• Nickelback - All the Right Reasons (Roadrunner)
  Read: "Nickelback Go The John Mellencamp Route For New Video"
  Buy Now: All the Right Reasons (Roadrunner)

October 11:

• Ricky Martin - Life (Columbia)
• Alicia Keys - Unplugged (J)
  Read: "Alicia Keys Taps Mos Def, Common For 'Inspired' 'Unplugged' "
  Buy Now: Unplugged (J)
• Story of the Year - In the Wake of Determination (Maverick)

October 18:

• Depeche Mode - Playing the Angel (Reprise)
• Ashlee Simpson - In Another Life
  Read: "Ashlee Remembers 'SNL' Incident But Forgets Boys On New LP"
• Thrice - Vheissu (Island)
  Read: "Thrice Going Underground — In A Sense — For Enigmatic Vheissu"
  Buy Now: Vheissu (Island)

• Lil' Kim
• The Bloodhound Gang
• Sheryl Crow
• Sean Paul
• Blackalicious

Ja Rule and Charli Baltimore are setting out to be the hip-hop version of Mickey and Mallory — the clip for Ja's "Down Ass Chick," featuring Charli B-more, will be a takeoff of Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers," according to a source close to Ja. Over the course of the three-day shoot, which begins February 22 in L.A., he'll also film the remix video with Baltimore, Ashanti and Ashanti, according to Def Jam; Murder Inc. CEO Irv Gotti will direct both. ... If you're dreaming of becoming a professional DJ, it's time to take your skills out of the bedroom and into the classroom. For the next two months in New York City, celebrity DJs including Jam Master Jay, Kuttin' Kandi, Mista Sinista and Evil Dee will lead courses in disciplines such as battle, mixtape and performance (visit www.scratch.com for more information). ...

Indie music festival Noise Pop 2002 takes place next week (February 26-March 3) in San Francisco with performances by the Dismemberment Plan, New Pornographers and Big Star, among others, and to commemorate its decade-long tenure, a double-disc Ten Years of Noise Pop will be available locally and through the festival's Web site (www.noisepop.com). A portion of the proceeds from the album, which features cuts from past performers including Guided by Voices, the Flaming Lips and Creeper Lagoon, benefits the Popular Noise Foundation (www.popularnoise.org), a nonprofit charity that provides aid to the Bay Area music scene. ... Dixie Chick Natalie Maines will appear in the first celebrity edition of the TLC series "Trading Spaces," according to The Associated Press. Maines will race to redecorate a room in her mother's home (and vice versa) in 48 hours for $1,000 or less in an episode airing April 20. ...

P. Diddy, Rah Digga and female R&B quartet LovHer were among the guests who came out to support Jay-Z and the Roc-A-Fella family at a Roc-A-Wear fashion show in New York Thursday night. Jay and company partied up at the Metropolitan Pavilion while the men's and women's fall 2002 lines were introduced. ... "Rush Hour" star Chris Tucker will host the 33rd annual NAACP Image Awards on February 23 at the Universal Amphitheater. The ceremony, scheduled to air March 1 on Fox, will feature music-world appearances by Alicia Keys, India.Arie and the Isley Brothers as well as Steve Harvey, the Rock, Jamie Foxx and Angela Bassett. ...

There's nothing funny about the popular appeal of crossover heavyweight Jennifer Lopez — she'll be crowned Female Star of the Year by the film industry's power elite at the ShoWest convention in Las Vegas. She and previously announced Male Star of the Year Will Smith will be honored at a banquet next month in recognition of their drawing power at the box office. ... The soundtrack for Martin Scorsese's "The Last Waltz" — a filmed concert by the Band which featured a cavalcade of special guests including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison and Muddy Waters — will be remixed and released with bonus tracks on April 16. The movie will be released on DVD May 7. ...

Liverpool's arty synth-poppers Clinic will support their second album, Walking With Thee (due February 26), with a three-week Stateside jaunt that begins March 13 in Atlanta. The tour includes a showcase at music-biz conference South by Southwest on March 15. ... El Meswy, Spain's best-selling hip-hop artist, was in the studio recently recording Se Habla Español, his follow-up to 2000's Nadie. M-1 and Stic.man of Dead Prez were on hand to lend lyrical support to the as-yet-untitled project. ...

My Bloody Valentine founder Kevin Shields has recorded "Outro," an instrumental, for the compilation album You Don't Need Darkness to Do What You Think Is Right, which comes out April 1. Other artists who will appear on the LP include the Pastels, Future Pilot AKA and Jesus and Mary Chain partners Jim and William Reid recording as Sister Vanilla. ... Sting, Elton John, James Taylor and Ravi Shankar comprise the first wave of artists announced to perform at the Police-man's annual Rainforest Foundation Benefit Concert, which will take place at New York's Carnegie Hall on April 13. ...

02.15.02

Post-adolescent punks Sum41 are expected to begin working on the follow-up to last year's All Killer No Filler in late April, after their Tour of the Rising Sum sets in Texas on April 21, according to their publicist. The album is expected to surface late this year or early 2003. ... Eve, who's currently in Chicago filming "Barbershop" with Ice Cube, is ready to devote some time to her day job. Murder Inc. CEO Irv Gotti and his beatmaking cohort, 7, said they're gearing to go in the studio with Ruff Ryders' first lady at the end of the month. ... Nickelback, Default and Injected will head out on the spring 2002 incarnation of MTV's Campus Invasion Tour. An itinerary has yet to be announced. ...

Megaproducer Megahertz (P. Diddy, R. Kelly & Jay-Z, Nas) just completed a remix with P.O.D. of the band's "Youth of the Nation," the producer's rep said. ... FenixTX have dropped off the SnoCore Rock Tour due to scheduling conflicts, according to MCA Records. They have been replaced by Apex Theory. ... Face to Face will launch a national tour in April to support their new album How to Ruin Everything, which hits stores April 9 through Vagrant Records. The jaunt starts in Salt Lake City on April 4 and runs through May 3 in Scottsdale, Arizona. ... Industrial icons Ministry will release Sphinctour, a live album recorded during their 1996 tour, on March 19. The 11-track LP, which had been a widely circulated bootleg, includes harrowing cuts such as "Psalm 69," "Filth Pig" and "Thieves" and can be previewed at ministry.advancelisten.com. ...

Innovative prog-rocker Peter Gabriel is apparently "down wit' OPP" — he hooked up with Jersey hip-hoppers Naughty by Nature on a track called "Fight Back" for the group's guest-filled April 23 release, Iicons. ... Speaking of Naughty, the group's Treach was among the celebrities who hit New York hotspot Spa on Tuesday night to support Joi (Lucy Pearl), who performed songs off her next LP, Star Kitty's Revenge. The Goodie Mob's Cee-Lo (bandmate of Joi's husband, Big Gipp) and Kelis were also in attendance (click for photos from the performance). ...

Fuel have issued a cease and desist order to Toyota, corporate sponsors of the Fuel the Music Tour, demanding Toyota stop using that title for the rock outing. The band, who says it has fought to make a name for itself and wants it protected, was alerted after confused fans began emailing its Web site inquiring about the outing because a magazine ran an ad for the event on the same page as a picture of the group, who are not involved. ... A London High Court judge has ruled that Robbie Williams will have to pay 25 percent of the royalties from his "Jesus in a Camper Van" — around $75,000 — to Woody Guthrie's publisher, Ludlow Music. Williams, who admitted to parodying Guthrie's "I Am the Way" on the track, will also have to pick up Ludlow's legal fees, which amount to another $75,000.

• Ja Rule
• Charli Baltimore
• Ashanti
• Jam Master Jay
• The New Pornographers

The Afghan Whigs have set an October 13 release date for its new album, "1965," its first album since parting ways with Elektra Records, which handled the band's two albums.

• Afghan Whigs
• Big Star

Wilco and Sister Hazel are the latest bands to hop on-board an upcoming tribute album to power pop pioneers Big Star that already boasts the Afghan Whigs, Matthew Sweet, R.E.M.'s Mike Mills and Gin Blossoms among others.

Big Star drummer Jody Stephens has been working on the album, titled "BIG STARsmall world," for years, and since we first reported on the tribute in November of 1996, Wilco has handed over a version of "Thirteen" and Sister Hazel entered Ardent Studios in Memphis (where Stephens now works) to record "September Girls."

"It's interesting to hear how the songs hold up under different musical interpretations," Stephens told MTV News Online of the project. He said that after a year of mostly paperwork, the album may see the light of day this summer on Ignition Records, but the label says that no release date has been set yet.

Stephens also said that Big Star may get together for a few shows when the album is released.

During Big Star's brief run from 1972 to 1978, the band crafted a sound that influenced bands from the Replacements to R.E.M. Many of those who worship at the alter of Big Star will turn up on "BIG STARsmall world." Here's what you'll find:

• Afghan Whigs - "Nightime"
• The Posies - "What's Goin Ahn"
• The Gin Blossoms - "Back of a Car"
• Kelly Willis - "When My Baby's Beside Me"
• Whiskeytown - "Give Me Another Chance"
• Teenage Fanclub - "Jesus Christ"
• Juliana Hatfield - "Don't Lie To Me
• Matthew Sweet w/ R.E.M.'s Mike Mills - "Ballad of El Goodo"
• The Idle Wilds - "You Get What You Deserve"
• Wilco - "Thirteen"
• Sister Hazel - "September Girls"
• Big Star - "Hot Thing"

• Big Star
• R.E.M.
• Sister Hazel
• Matthew Sweet
• Wilco