Lil’ Kim released after serving 10 months in prison

Lil’ Kim celebrated Independence Day one day early with her release today from a US federal detention centre.

The rapper, who served nearly 10 months in Philadelphia for lying about a shootout outside a New York radio station, walked out of the jail looking glamorous in sunglasses and an all-white outfit.

Carrying a balloon and a bouquet of white roses, she waved to dozens of cheering onlookers – some carrying signs that said, “Welcome Home, Queen Bee” - before getting into a silver Rolls Royce.

The car pulled into a nearby parking area where she re-emerged to greet the throng.

“I love you,” she said, blowing kisses.

Some fans stayed up all night to ensure they made it downtown in time for her 6am release.

“It was worth it,” said Shakiyla Williams (aged 16). “She was the same Queen Bee - fabulous.”

The 4-foot-11-inch entertainer, whose real name is Kimberly Jones, began serving her time in the detention centre on September 19 last year. She was sentenced to a year and a day in prison, but was released early for good behaviour.

“She has accepted responsibility and handled herself in an exemplary manner,” her lawyer, Londell McMillan, said in a statement released by Lil’ Kim’s publicist.

Though several high-profile rappers – including Beanie Sigel and Tupac Shakur - have done time in jail, Lil’ Kim is the first prominent female artist to serve a prison sentence.

Lil’ Kim will remain under house arrest for 30 days and be under supervised release for three years.

Her conviction of lying to a federal grand jury and in the subsequent trial stemmed from a gun battle in 2001 that erupted outside WQHT-FM, known as Hot 97.

Lil’ Kim’s entourage crossed paths with a rival rap group, Capone-N-Noreaga, whose song Bang, Bang contains an insult to her from rival Foxy Brown. One man was hurt in the shootout that followed.

Lil’ Kim, who won a Grammy in 2001 for her part in the hit remake of Lady Marmalade, maintained she hadn’t noticed two of her close friends – who later pleaded guilty to gun charges – at the scene of the shoot-out.

But jurors at her trial saw radio station security photos that depicted one of them opening a door for her, and witnesses said they saw her at the station with both of them.