Scott Storch
Photo: Courtesy of Scott Storch

MIAMI — It almost seems impossible, but it's tragically true. Scott Storch squandered $30 million. Not only that, he did it in less than six months.

"[It was] unlike anything I've ever seen in my entire life," the producer's manager, Derek Jackson, told MTV News of his friend of almost two decade's monumental fall. "Historical! It was historical without question."

Storch's decline started in 2006, which was arguably his most successful year creatively and definitely his most fruitful year financially. He was one of the top producers in the business, having worked on hits by Beyoncé, 50 Cent, the Game, T.I., Chris Brown, Christina Aguilera, Dr. Dre, Nas, Snoop Dogg, Pink and many others. He had a long way to fall.

"Honestly, about three years ago, he got really shady," said Jackson, sitting just a few feet away from Storch at Miami's Hit Factory studios. "And that's the best term I could use. He went from what his normal vices were to suddenly becoming a person who was infatuated with the drug, and I saw it constantly."

Storch's drug was cocaine. The abuse of the narcotic almost cost him his career — and his life. Earlier this year, he was arrested for grand theft auto for allegedly failing to return a Bentley he'd leased in 2006. And last year, Storch hit legal trouble after reportedly falling behind on both his child-support payments and his property taxes.

"A lot of the work that we would do and how much we would do of it, that started to scale back. I have to say the magic month was August of 2006," Jackson continued. "I will never forget it. It will be something that will stay with me for the rest of my life. You know, '06 for us was the magic year; we hit Lotto. Everything worked. I mean, there was nothing that we did that did not work. I gotta honestly say, outside of my kids, it was the greatest year of my life. It was so many [hit records] I can't even tell you. That was the year he won [ASCAP's] Songwriter of the Year [award]. We broke records — lots of [chart] records we broke and he did them quick. It was just a wonderful year, but I think it was defined by that magic month of August. He ran into the Hollywood class — and when he went to Hollywood, all things changed."

Most notably, Storch went on vacation.

"It was the first time he took off in, I would say, the duration of his career. I've been with him since he was 17 years old. I found Scott [playing keyboards with] the Roots in 1992, so for the duration of that, he's always been a worker bee, that's just his spirit. But in August of 06', we took a month off. It was over. Never came back."

Literally. Storch got addicted to drugs and just stopped caring about his career.

"Scott, I have to be real because, once again, it's about a story that has to be told," Jackson said. "We made a lot of money — I mean a lot of money that year [2006]. And Scott — in all honesty — he was broke by January. It was the quickest [loss] of money that I've ever seen in my entire life."

"The cost of the drug didn't effect my life," Storch weighed in. "It was the poor decisions I made, that were so poor financially, that caused me to go into this situation where I was forced to change my lifestyle ... forced to change a lot of things.

"[I had] 15 to 20 cars at all times," he continued." That's not smart. I would take one of 15 half-million-dollar cars I owned and go to the mall and spend that much money. Stupid, stupid stuff. It's like it didn't make a difference. They were ego investments. I would have been great with three or four cars! I didn't need a 117-foot boat."

"Cars!," Jackson explained of how Storch lost his fortune so quickly. "Private jets are expensive — please leave them alone if you can't afford them. Trips to the Riviera on a private jet is $250,000 one way. I'm talking about, it was a routine [with Scott]. Spending on others — if you can't take care of yourself, how you gonna take care of everybody else? And it got out of control."

Storch weighed in, "I watched my own father, he went bankrupt and had problems with the IRS. He was living beyond his means, and I guess I was doing the same thing and not even realizing it."

As much as he was making, Storch was spending double on drugs and overly luxurious living. He was out of control, and Jackson takes some of the blame for not intervening sooner.

"I was an enabler, I was an enabler," Jackson admits. "And it wasn't until I got a phone call — rest in peace [former Def Jam Records President Shakir Stewart, who died of an apparent suicide last year]. My man, one of my closest and dearest friends in the music business, said, 'D, what are you doing? Scott has Janet Jackson sitting in his studio and it's going on five hours. Where is he at? What are you doing, D? What are you doing?' And I knew the routine started to become like that. We did it to a lot of people in '07. It's when it all went bad. We had people sit in the studio for upwards of 10 hours at a time. And I would never be real to [Scotty]. I guess I got to a point where I stopped caring. We made money, I watched him blow it, I didn't care anymore. But then I watched that phone call come from Shakir."

Eventually Jackson would exhaust himself trying to get his friend to clean up, so he resigned as Storch's manager. Scott still didn't get point: His addiction had tapped his inspiration to make music.

"It started affecting me where my own son would be like, 'Dad, what's up? When's the next hit record coming up?' " Storch recalled. "I didn't have a answer for him."

It wasn't until 18 months later that Storch and Jackson would see each other again. Storch had decided he needed help.

"[It was] probably in the worst state I've seen [anyone] in my life," Jackson said of Storch. "Somebody that you knew when they were young and full of zest and fire and excitable — the spirit that the kid had was incredible. But to come back to black eyes, bloodied and bowed and unlike the person you knew. To be quite frank, he was a junkie. He was a junkie. And it was unlike anything I had seen in him, ever. Ever."

Jackson checked Storch into a rehab facility called Recovery First. Thomas Trevino, a mental health tech and a three-quarter-way manager at Recovery First has been working with Storch for the past few months.

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"I can clearly remember the first day he came in," Trevino recalled. "The guy just looked like many others clients we've got: emotionally, physically and spiritually broken. Throughout the time, he resided in our in-patient program and he eventually graduated into an out-patient program; he was then taken into our three-quarter way house.

"I have seen him change," Trevino continued. "I've seen his mind is totally opposite from day one. The guy couldn't even carry on a clear conversation when he first came in. And now I have been having the honor and privilege to come with him to the studio a couple times and check him out, see what he's doing. And it seems like he's back on track, man. He's a great inspiration for many out there who are trying to do this line of work — and at the same time he's a great inspiration for many drug addicts out there who want to stay clean and live this way of life."

"It's just that type of deal," Storch — who is still under treatment — said of his fall and his climb back to the top. "I've lived it, done it. I've been around a lot of greats I seen in this industry that have problems, but the comeback can be that much greater. It's a well of creativity in my mind right now; it's not being hindered and being in love with the music again — seeing the day and taking advantage of the opportunities I've been afforded."

Storch is back at work, and says he's better than ever. He's in the studio with the Game for three days, and next week goes to Orlando to work with Chris Brown. There's also a track in the works involving him, Quincy Jones and Jennifer Hudson, as well as Kat DeLuna's potential first single. Outside of music, he's been shooting a reality show and has guest appearances from the Kardashians.

"This is God's work," Jackson opined. "So he has to respect that. I just hope that the people out there that watch this take the time to understand that even in the lowest of moments — because it was low for me, it took a year out of my life, it destroyed my life because I was so in tune to him — to always remember you can come back, you can clean your life up. You can be the same again. It's never too late. Never too late — never! So hopefully from this, people will understand that there's always a tomorrow."

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• Scott Storch

Scott Storch
Photo: MTV News

Scott Storch isn't dead. He's not in jail. The famed producer isn't even on the run from the police, as you may have heard through the grapevine over the past year. Storch has been focusing on rebuilding his life, because he did, in fact, hit rock bottom.

Lost in a three-year cocaine-abusing haze, he lost more money than most people reading this story will see in five lifetimes: $30 million. Yes, he blew almost his entire fortune on coke, cars, houses, lavish trips, partying and a series of what he calls "poor judgment decisions." Earlier this month, Storch was arrested for grand theft auto for allegedly failing to return a Bentley he'd leased in 2006. And last year, Storch hit legal trouble after reportedly falling behind on both his child-support payments and his property taxes.

But he has come out of his white-powder fog. The producer says he is in recovery, and, as people who love his music will be elated to hear, he's back making music. On Wednesday night, MTV News caught up with the Grammy winner, who at one time could do no wrong in the studio as he supplied classic beats, not mere hits, for people like Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Fat Joe and Beyoncé.

"I'm taking it back to square one," he said, sitting in a Miami studio. The boards in the factory displayed his name and his publishing company, Tuff Jew.

"I found myself slipping a little bit," he said with a very anxious look on his face. "I got involved in doing drugs. I had to get myself into recovery. Being in the life that I was living — very fast-moving, option to do anything you want, go anywhere you wanna go — it definitely takes its toll on you, and you lose your concept of reality. I had to get it under control. I had to take it back to the beginning and back to the Hit Factory, where I made a lot of my hits."

Storch is currently living in a three-quarter house, where he is supervised by a live-in counselor but allowed to go to work in the studio as long as he's back by curfew.

"Just taking it day by day," the producer said of his life now. "I haven't won the war. It's not like something you can just fix and it's just gone. Addiction is a disease, and I have to constantly battle it. I feel so much better and have more clarity, especially in the studio. It's cool. It's been a really productive period. ... With the help of my publisher TVT, I've had the chance to woodshed and come up with a whole new vibe. I'm very happy right now."

MTV News will have a lot more of our exclusive interview with Scott Storch in the coming days and weeks.

• Scott Storch: 'I'm Taking It Back To Square One

• Scott Storch

Scott Storch in his McClaren SLR in Miami, 2005
Photo: MTV News

Formerly red-hot producer Scott Storch, known for his signature aviator shades, high living and banging beats, is facing some hard financial times.

According to the Miami Herald, after the beatmaster failed to show up for a child-support hearing regarding his 2-year-old son Jalen last week, a judge issued a pickup order that authorized cops to jail Storch, 34, until he appears in court. On top of those troubles, the flashy producer — behind hits by Paris Hilton, Dr. Dre, Eminem and Lil Wayne — is reportedly behind on property-tax payments on his $10 million Miami mansion and has not made support payments on one of his other kids in five months.

Storch's lawyer, Guy Spiegelman, said the financial snafus will be rectified soon and are the result of misconduct by the producer's former managers. Spiegelman told MTV News that he didn't know why Storch didn't make it to the court date — speculating that "he must have been out of town on work" — but said the support issue will be resolved shortly. "He doesn't deny paternity, but it's an issue of collection of money," the attorney said.

The missed child-support hearing was intended to explain why Storch is behind on at least $46,000 in child support, which includes $16,000 toward Jalen's Florida Prepaid College Plan. Dalene Jennifer Daniel, Jalen's mother, sued Storch for paternity in 2006 and has claimed that he has not lived up to the settlement agreement. And she's not the only one after the "Lean Back" producer for child support. Vanessa Bellido, 33, mother of 16-year-old Steven Bellido, has filed a paternity suit against the producer, who has acknowledged that Steven is his son.

The Herald reported that Storch had acknowledged previously that he is the boy's father and had been sending support payments until January but has since ceased. Bellido said without the money, she and her son are having a hard time.

"While [Storch] drives around in his Ferrari and Cadillac, [Steven] is sleeping on a couch in the same room with his mother," Bellido claimed, according to her emergency petition for child support. "The situation is dire." A car that Storch provided for the teen has reportedly been repossessed, and court documents show that Bellido claims Storch is $5,000 behind in promised tuition payments, which has put the boy's junior year of school "in jeopardy."

"It's coincidental," Spiegelman said of the dual support claims. "He stopped paying in the early portion of this year because he had mismanagement of his funds and had a big shortfall, which will be corrected soon." Spiegelman did not say who was handling Storch's affairs before, but he said the producer has been "more than generous" with both women, paying each around $7,500 a month.

Spiegelman said Storch has put together a new management team and that the financial issues will be resolved soon.

The money troubles don't stop there, though. The paper also reported that Storch is way behind on property taxes on his $10 million mansion. According to records, Storch owes more than a half-million dollars in property taxes from the past two years, a deficit Spiegelman said would also be settled soon. "The numbers are staggering because the taxes are awfully high on the property," he said, adding that he also expects to have the arrest warrant quashed within the week.

In February, LA Confidential Records owner David Menefield won a $500,000 judgment against Storch over claims that he loaned the producer $100,000 in 2003 to save the house from foreclosure and never received the four music tracks Storch had promised to Menefield's artists.

The financial crunch is especially surprising given that in 2006, Rolling Stone estimated Storch's fortune at around $70 million, but Spiegelman said "the numbers out there are not always accurate." He said the producer has a high income and the amounts he owes are above average, "but when you make that kind of money, when things go bad, they're not minor, they're catastrophic."

• Scott Storch
• Lil Wayne
• Paris Hilton

Scott Storch
Photo: Brad Barket/ Getty Images

Scott Storch doesn't mind being called a piano man — playing the keys is what he does.

However, the multiplatinum producer — who has composed tracks for 50 Cent ("Candy Shop"), Fat Joe's Terror Squad ("Lean Back") and Beyoncé ("Naughty Girl") — does have a problem being called just a piano man, particularly by Timbaland.

So Storch lashed out against his onetime ally with "Built Like That," a dis track in response to what he felt were unwarranted barbs from Timbaland on the single "Give It to Me," featuring Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado. In the lyrics, Storch raps (referring to Timbaland protégé Nate "Danja" Hills):

"Your boy Danja got to hate you with a passion, man/ He makes the hits while you taking all the credit, damn!/ I know the feeling, I'm with ya/ Won't you tell them how I made that sh--, 'Cry Me A River' ..."

(Watch Timbaland explain his issue with Storch in "MTV News Raw: Timbaland" and read about what made Tim talk trash in the new single.)

On "Give It to Me," Timbaland spits: "I'm a real producer/ You just a piano man." The jab was allegedly in reference to a past dispute the two producers had over credits on the Timberlake hit "Cry Me a River." Representatives for Timbaland had not responded to MTV News' requests for comment at press time.

"I just felt like enough was enough," Storch told MTV News regarding the dispute. "I heard the song playing, and I knew it was about me. People were calling me saying, 'This dude is taking shots at you,' then interviews popped up. So enough was enough. I needed to defend myself like a man is supposed to do. I'm not gonna take it to the streets or hurt somebody or do any bullsh-- like that. But I just had to speak up. I'm not a rapper, but I wasn't about to have somebody else fight my battle for me. So I said, 'Lemme put this down.' I been making rap records long enough. I just got in the booth and spit what was on my mind."

And Storch had plenty to say. Storch alleges on "Built Like That" that Timbaland has been taking credit for Danja's work and that Storch was the true producer of "Cry Me a River."

"It's just not fair," Storch said. "I guess people don't know what's going on behind the scenes."

Storch said he thinks Timbaland composed his dis because he heard that Storch had made disparaging comments about the fellow producer in the studio one night. "That's not a good enough reason to put somebody's name out there on wax," Storch said.

But the two producers have been at odds in the past over a few incidents Storch revealed.

First there was "Cry Me a River," which won a Grammy in 2004. Storch claims Timbaland approached him to collaborate "50/50" on two tracks for Timberlake's debut album. Storch said he composed the bridge and melody and Timbaland programmed the kick and snares for "Cry Me a River." But once the project was released commercially, Storch was surprised to learn Timbaland was listed as producer while Storch was credited with playing the keys.

Had the song credited both of them with producing the track, Storch said it would have been more "respectable and real. That's how it was supposed to go down."

Storch also said he produced the track for an And1 commercial starring Kevin Garnett and Styles P, which Storch claims Timbaland once again took credit for. "Nobody even told me [they were using my track]. I heard the sh-- on TV for the first time," Storch said.

"I've done nothing but good things for this dude," he continued. "You never hear me talking sh-- about him. Matter of fact, I did an interview before all this went down just recently — I think the interview is yet to come out — where I was biggin' him up, giving him props.

"I'm not taking away the fact that Timbaland has had a lot of hits and done some fly sh-- in his career," said Storch, who's set to work soon with Mariah Carey, T.I., Yung Joc, Chris Brown and Kelly Rowland. "Just keep my name out your mouth, and I'll do the same."

• MTV News RAW: Timbaland

• Timbaland
• Scott Storch

Mario Vazquez
Photo: Evan Agostini/ Getty Images

Who needs Randy, Paula and Simon when you have Fat Joe, Ne-Yo and Scott Storch in your corner?

Mario Vazquez, the only "American Idol" finalist ever to drop out of the show (back in season four), has added more big names for his self-titled debut, due September 26.

As the follow-up to his Ne-Yo-penned first single, "Gallery" (see "Ne-Yo, Baby Bash Join 'Idol' Dropout Mario Vazquez On Debut"), Vazquez will release "Cohiba," produced by Scott Storch, written by Sean "The Pen" Garrett and featuring Fat Joe and Knox.

"It's the club jam," Vazquez said of the tune, named after a brand of Cuban cigars. "It's much grittier. There's some innuendo and there's a side of me I don't think 'Idol' fans have known before. It's definitely much more rhythmic."

Vazquez also collaborated on the album with veteran producers Johnta Austin, the Underdogs, Lester Mendez, Steve Morales and Soulshock & Karlin.

"It's basically everything that I love, all different genres of music such as R&B, hip-hop, reggaetón, pop, some Motown," Vazquez said. "It's a mix of everything, and I think coming from New York, we need that. New York being the melting pot, the album is a melting pot of different sounds.

"I'm proud of the project," he added. "My sound came through."

Vazquez just finished the Rock 'N Shop Mall Tour with Ashley Parker Angel and is eyeing a big fall outing.

"We're in talks of maybe being the second act to open for Christina Aguilera when she goes overseas," Vazquez said. "My fingers are crossed for that."

Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.

• Mario Vazquez
• Scott Storch
• Christina Aguilera

Method Man
Photo: Frank Micelotta/Getty Images

NEW YORK — Method Man says he's seen way better days.

In the few years since his last LP, Tical 0: The Prequel, dropped, he's read unfairly disparaging appraisals of his skills in magazines, had his pride tested, gotten his car and most of his jewelry stolen and seen his wife battle a severe illness.

"There were a lot of things that needed to be changed in my life and career," Meth said Tuesday at New York's Electric Lady Studios. "Everything! I needed that moment of clarity."

The title of Meth's new album focuses on that clear-headedness: 4:21 ... The Day After.

"Four-twenty [April 20] is the national weed-smoking day, according to those who chief," he explained, sitting on a piano bench. "I basically said '4:21' because I'm the day-after dude. Plus, four [and] two [and] zero only adds up to six. '4:21' gives you that perfect seven. So this is sort of the day after, a moment of clarity, so to speak. When you're waking up from that night of partying and sh-- like that, what goes down."

4:21's street record, "Yah Mean," features Fat Joe and Styles P. and is the kind of pavement-embedded record one would expect from Meth. The album's first single, "Say," includes a sample of Lauryn Hill's vocals from her 2001 performance of the Bob Marley classic "So Much Things to Say" on MTV's "Unplugged." The track finds Meth at perhaps his most pensive, talking about people who say he may not have it on the mic anymore, among other things.

"See, it was 'Clan in the Front,' " he raps over an acoustic guitar. "Now they just gon' front/ Like my joints is on Proactiv and they just don't bump/ Then n---as gonna say I lost my skill/ When in fact they all been programmed and lost they feel."

"I hate the way mutha-----s was talking, like I was the worst thing to happen to MCing," he said of the inspiration for the song. "And there's n---as out there doing way worst sh-- than I ever did in my life.

"It's like finally getting the joke and figuring out everybody is laughing at you — 'All this time, I ain't know' — but still having that power to strike back at 'em," he added. "Like 'I'm gonna reverse the joke. The joke is on y'all, 'cause I get it now.' "

Another moment of clarity arrived while Meth was figuring out who he was going to work with on 4:21, his fourth solo album. Kwame and Scott Storch both supplied beats, and RZA is back on board as well (see "RZA Happy To Once Again Be The Peanut Butter To Method Man's Jelly").

"On the third LP, it was suggested to bring in Harve Pierre and P. Diddy," he began to explain about exactly where The Prequel went wrong. "Who am I to argue? Puff knows how to sell some records. But that wasn't the direction to go in, and I know that now.

"I didn't know that when people look at me, they didn't just look at me as a performer who goes around and has fun all day," he continued. "They want me to say something. I got [so] caught up in the other hoopla that I stopped saying anything. I just got wrapped up in trying to make hit records and SoundScan. ... I just wanted to get my album out. Def Jam was going through their transition, and I felt that if I didn't get my album out, I wasn't gonna be at the label."

Now, looking back, Meth says he sees that he needed to look inward to find the right direction.

"I wasn't true to myself [on The Prequel] for the simple fact that, look at who I was working with," he said. "I'm not trying to take nothing way from Puff, he's the biggest artist on Bad Boy. But Puff with Meth don't mesh. We don't party the same way."

4:21 ... The Day After is due July 18.

• Diddy
• RZA
• Scott Storch

JoJo at the premiere of "Aquamarine"
Photo: Vince Bucci/ Getty Images

HOLLYWOOD — While typical 15-year-olds spend their afternoons working for minimum wage, teen-pop phenom JoJo is spending hers holed up in a recording studio, laying down tracks with top hip-hop talent.

The singer — who has been busy with her big-screen debut in the coming-of-age flick "Aquamarine" — has also been burning daylight with her yet-untitled sophomore LP, due in the late summer. She's been recording material for the disc since November but still has a ways until it is complete — probably since she has some very important people she's been penciling in.

"This is my second album, and we're doing it big," JoJo said about the follow-up to her 2004 self-titled platinum debut. "I'm going to Miami [soon] to record with Scott Storch and Timbaland."

The singer is also working with songwriter extraordinaire Diane Warren, who has penned tunes for Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Celine Dion. But there's no word yet on whether the teen landed her dream collabo with Dr. Dre (see "JoJo Says She's 'Not That Kind Of Girl,' Wants Dr. Dre For Next Album").

More than anything, though, JoJo says she's looking forward to putting out more grown-up material, since she wrote her first album when she was only 12.

	JoJo, Emma and Sara At The Premiere Of "Aquamarine"  "Aquamarine" Photos "Aquamarine" Trailer   Check out everyting we have on "Aquamarine."

"The natural growth period from 12 to 15 is big," the singer said. "[This new album] shows me growing up vocally, but also professionally and personally. I've been through a lot in these last three years. I've written about it [all] and it's definitely coming across in the music."

Although JoJo predicted in November that her first single would be "Too Little, Too Late" (see "JoJo Pulls A Britney Spears In 'R.V.' "), that has yet to be made official.

JoJo also has two films slated to drop in the next two months. The first, "Aquamarine," out Friday, stars JoJo and fellow newcomer Emma Roberts as childhood friends who try to return a stranded mermaid they find in their hotel swimming pool back to the ocean.

	Peep the "Aquamarine" star's life and career, in photos.

After that is the quirky family comedy "R.V.," which pits the acting novice opposite acclaimed comedian and actor Robin Williams (see " JoJo Gushes About 'R.V.' Adventure With Robin Williams"). JoJo says Williams came to be like a second father to her during the filming. "[The difference between 'Aquamarine' and 'R.V.'] is that these are veteran actors. Robin was great, and I'm very excited about it," she said of the movie, out April 28.

While the newly minted actress may have chosen some light, kid-friendly fare for her first feature-film endeavors, that doesn't mean she'll stay in that demographic for long.

" 'Aquamarine' prepared me for my second film," JoJo said, "but I definitely want to try more dramatic, character-driven roles [in the future]."

• JoJo
• Timbaland
• Scott Storch

Paris Hilton
Photo: MTV News

Could a Paris Hilton album actually be on the horizon?

At last year's VMAs, Paris said she'd be working with the Black Eyed Peas and Lil Jon, and within a few months she was projecting her album would be out by February. But February came and went without an album from the hotel heiress, and none of her proposed collaborations happened — the Black Eyed Peas turned her down, and she couldn't get her schedule to match with Lil Jon's, since she got caught up filming her movie "Pledge This!" (see "Paris Hilton Hooks Up With Lil Jon, Shares Her Horsemeat Gross-Out").

But at this year's VMAs, Hilton brought along her best accessory yet — proof she'd made progress. Producer Scott Storch accompanied her and vouched for the budding singer's "work ethic," saying that the still-untitled album is about halfway done. "She's doing her thing, and I mean, the stuff is surprising," he said. "Every song we do now is, like, totally amazing. We've got different-style records — from serious, heartfelt rock songs to club-oriented, sing-along, hot records. It's balanced."

Storch is the latest in a long line of producers who've worked with Hilton. She started with Romeo Antonio, promptly moved to Robb Boldt (who first recorded her leaked song "Screwed" with her; see "Leak Complicates Paris/ Haylie Fight Over Who Gets 'Screwed' "), then finished a retooled, rockier version of "Screwed" with Rob Cavallo, and has finally landed on her feet with Storch, the man responsible for songs as diverse as Beyoncé's "Baby Boy," Terror Squad's "Lean Back" and Christina Aguilera's "Can't Hold Us Down." He's also the man feuding with her would-be producer, Lil Jon, who was going to work with her on a song called "That's Hot" (see "Lil Jon Slams Scott Storch For 'Biting' His Style — 'Nonsense,' Storch Replies").

"Every one of [Storch's] songs, I listen to all the time," Hilton enthused. "I had no idea it was just one person who did all those songs. It's crazy."

Hilton and Storch met through a mutual friend, businessman Fereidoun "Fred" Khalilian, the singer's partner in her Club Paris ventures. And since hooking up in the studio, they've also become fast friends. "We immediately hit it off," she said. "We're so much alike, and we have the best time together. It's fun."

They're also hanging out "every night" with songwriter Kara DioGuardi, who has contributed "a lot" of tunes for the album (see "Ashlee And Hilary's Hitmaker Is Eager To Work With Paris Hilton"). "She's the best, she's cool, she's one of my favorites," Hilton raved. "We love her."

While "Screwed," "That's Hot" and "Turn It Up" were all in contention to be the first single, that decision hasn't been made yet, according to Hilton's label rep. "There's a couple choices we got," Storch said. "Closer to Christmastime, you guys will hear something hot. We have some cool stuff planned."

"It's really exciting," Hilton said. "I've been wanting to do this forever, and now it's finally coming together. I'm so happy."

• Scott Storch

Scott Storch
Photo: MTV News

At one point, Lil Jon and Scott Storch were so tight they worked on some (still-unreleased) beats together. Who knows if they'll ever see the light of day: Both producers are telling the other to step his game up. Jon has even accused Storch of pilfering from his production playbook.

"Scott Storch is biting my style now," Jon said with a smile a couple of weeks back. "I'm putting it out there on MTV News: Scott Storch is a biter. A lot of them records sound like Lil Jon, but they [are produced by] Scott Storch. Have you heard that? All the singles started sounding like me."

"It's sort of nonsense," Storch responded on Saturday in Miami. "There's a message I have for that: just get on my level. I'm a musician, so I don't know anything about [biting]. I've been doing this for 15 years and I've been innovating and always have been someone who's been a pioneer in creating the new sound.

"I don't see any [similarity] in our music, other than we both like to use low-end and bass," he continued. "I think it's just sad in this industry that sometimes the pressures of being successful make you say things that are untrue. This year has been a great year for me: I've had 18 singles that have had nothing to do with each other sound-wise. Each have their own look."

Regardless of Storch's opinion, Jon said he's planning to combat the similarities he's hearing by altering his style.

"If you listen to the new Styles record I produced, 'Can You Believe It,' it don't sound like a regular Lil Jon record," he said. "That's the dope thing about Timbaland, I think: They started biting his style, so he switched his whole thing up and came from another angle and is still doing it. I just go off my vibe and my energy — my vibe has changed a little bit, and it's still Lil Jon."

In recent weeks, Jon has been working hard with two of his heroes: Ice Cube and Too Short (see "Lil Jon Jamming On LPs From Trillville, Scrappy -- And Jessica And Hilary"). Jon says he's recorded seven new songs with Cube and is helping him to land a home for the project.

• Lil Jon
• Scott Storch

Jessica Simpson (file)
Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

"The Dukes of Hazzard" has done more than launch Jessica Simpson's movie career — it's also given her a sense of direction for her upcoming album, which she promises will have a country-fried flavor.

"Living in the South for three months again felt really good," Simpson said of shooting the film in Louisiana. "It brought a lot of my personality back that I was missing. I retreated back to Patsy Cline, and tried to go back there a little bit."

Simpson had threatened to go country as early as this past December, when she also contemplated adding some jazz overtones to the album (see "Jessica Simpson Planning Workout Video, Listening To Bjork For Inspiration"). But Simpson's redirection mostly comes thanks to her collaboration with Willie Nelson on the "Dukes" soundtrack single "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'," which she said was so much fun that she hopes to work with Willie again (see "Jessica Simpson To Record Duet With Willie Nelson"). "We've been talking about it, Willie and I," Simpson said. "We have some songs put away for each other, but I don't know what we're going to end up doing. We'll see."

What she does know is that her LP, titled And the Band Played On, is due out in November. "I have two more songs to record," she revealed, adding that the album marks her first as executive producer. She compares the LP's sound with "Billie Holiday, Patsy Cline, Stevie Nicks — it's all over the place. But then there's songs for us girls to dance to in the club," she explained. Simpson has worked with knob-twiddlers Corey Rooney, Scott Storch and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on the disc, with the latter pair of producers collaborating on "about six songs" total.

	Photos: Jessica, Johnny, Ashlee, Wilmer, And The General Lee At "Hazzard" Premiere
	Simpson, Knoxville, Seann William Scott On "The Dukes Of Hazzard" Set

One of Storch's tracks, the dance-club burner "Fired Up" — he calls it Jessica's "Dirtty" — is a contender to be the LP's first single. Simpson also recorded another club track, "Mr. Operator," with Storch during their session together three weeks ago.

"You'll hear [the country], but you'll also hear the fun club songs. Club songs and country songs; it's all of it, mixed into one," Simpson said. "Just really good music."

• Jessica Simpson
• Scott Storch
• Jimmy Jam
• Terry Lewis

On The Set Of "Make It Rain" With Fat Joe And Lil Wayne

• Fat Joe
• Lil Wayne
• Scott Storch