Click through the gallery for a look at the expert herself. And for more fashion wonderment check out our coverage at Fashion FAILs & FTWs.

The 25-year-old rapper has released a couple of promo pictures for her upcoming album, which still has no set release date after months and months of teasing. Nicki recently pulled out of Rihanna‘s “Last Girl on Earth” tour because she reportedly wanted to work on her debut album. Hopefully these pictures will whet the appetite of Nicki-starved fans.

The pictures keep with Nicki’s highly-stylized and over-the-top sexy image. One photo shoes her donning a blonde wig, dramatic purple eyeshadow, and a revealing kimono while displaying a hot pink samurai sword.

Another photo shows Nicki in an orange wig and see-through black dress that almost borders on the obscene. In the photo, Nicki brandishes some brass knuckles.

Nicki has been under a lot of scrutiny recently over her beef with Lil’ Kim. The two female rappers have been slamming each other in the press, accusing each other of stealing the other’s style and other super important things. Can’t we all get along, girls?

The rapper/ex-con/former Dancing With the Stars contestant took to the waves with her gal-pals on Tuesday in Miami, zipping around on a jet-ski while struggling to keep her goods tucked into her bathing suit.

Click through our gallery to see the multitalented Lil’ Kim having fun while maintaining her modesty. It’s fun—and educational!

Attendees included Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Chris Brown, Russell Brand, Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon, Khloe Kardashian and Lil’ Kim.

But the star-studded bash was more than a celebration of America’s birth. The party raised awareness for Malaria No More, a cause that Kutcher and Combs have championed in the past. 

Check out the photos and tell us in the comments section: How did Diddy’s part compare to your 4th of July celebration?

Former DWTS contestant Kim Kardashian dropped in to catch a taping of the show, and offers her thoughts about the current crop of hoofers on her official Web site.

“Melissa [Rycroft] and Tony [Dovolani] were so beautiful together but so much fun to watch, and Cheryl [Burke] and Gilles [Marini]—I really couldn’t tell the difference between who was the professional,” Kardashian writes. “They are so hot together!”

Kim was particularly fond of contestant Lil Kim, and not just because the two share a first name.

“Lil Kim was mesmerizing to watch and after the show I had to grab her booty!” Kardashian writes. “She is so curvy.”

And as the above photo attests, Lil Kim returned the favor.

Nice to see a couple of dancers give each other a helping hand.

The French hunk, who made a memorable nude appearance in the Sex and the City movie, scored the first perfect 30 of the season with partner Cheryl Burke on Dancing with the Stars on Monday night.

Marini and Burke made the Argentine tango their own, causing judge Carrie Ann Inaba to exclaim “I could not tell who was the professional and who was the celebrity.”

Other highlights included Lil’ Kim scoring the first 10 of the season, as judge Bruno Tonioli gushed that her tango was “a tale of a fatal beauty, enticing strangers with the promise of forbidden pleasure!” Now that’s a compliment. Kim and partner Derek Hough scored a high 27.

And as for the walking wounded?

A rib-injured Holly Madison doesn’t seem long for the game. She scored an overall 16, almost fell off her stool during her routine, and was urged by Bruno to “drop the Barbie and bring out the vixen.”

And as for the other injured fan favorite Steve “The Woz” Wozniak? A mere 12. Hey, he got a 10 last week. That’s improvement!

Who do you think is the next to go home? Let us know in our poll!

Computer Bear delighted the audience by giving it his all. Too bad the judges didn’t agree. He and partner Karina Smirnoff only scored a 10 out of 30 for their samba. Evil!

“At some point, the novelty wears off,” Carrie Ann Inaba sniffed, as reported by A+E.

Judge Bruno Tonielli did Inaba won better and referred to it as “the worst samba ever.” Ever?

The judges received boos from the audience.

There were actually some dancers that the judges  felt made the grade. Lil’ Kim was told that she was “a pocket-size Venus with a super-size sex appeal!” by Bruno and scored a 25.

And Sex and the City movie heartthrob Gilles Marini was told that he “made a hard dance look easy,” by Len and awarded a 27.

The results show will air Tuesday night on ABC. Pray for Woz!

Kim squeezed into what looked like a combination of capri pants and bodysuit accented with a shrug, looks suspiciously like a certain Sasha Fierce did on a Today show appearance in November of last year.

Did the “Lady Marmalade” rapper get some fashion cues from Beyonce while relaxing at home post-prison stay for perjury?

E! reports that Kim’s first dance on the eighth season of the Dancing with the Stars premiere last night was looked upon favorably by the notoriously stringent judges.

Her technically sound cha-cha with partner Derek Hough was prounounced “first class” by judge Len Goodman.

Obviously watching the show in prison paid off.

And her premiere dance also caused Bruno to announce “you can work wonders with that tushy!”

Especially when you’re wearing Beyonce’s spandex cast-offs.

“When I was in prison, me and my girls used to watch [Dancing with the Stars],” Kim tells the Insider. “My girls were like, ‘Kim, you need to be on that show.’ In prison you have to all agree what shows you watch. If we can’t agree, it doesn’t get watched. Everyone watched it faithfully. It’s like the No. 1 show in prison!”

Kim did time in a Philadelphia prison after being found guilty of perjury in 2005.

The rapper (and former protege/alleged lover of slain rapper Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace) was also eager to be partnered with dance pro Derek Hough on the show.

“I was hoping and praying that I got Derek for my partner,” Kim admitted.

Hough, apparently thinking that perjury is the same thing as assault, says that he was initially apprehensive about dancing with Kim.

“I was nervous [to meet Kim], but she’s so soft-spoken and nice. We gelled immediately,” Hough said.

The most interesting duo to watch perform will definitely be Apple co-founder and Kathy Griffin ex Steve Wozniak with professional dancer and Mario Lopez ex Karina Smirnoff.

“Woz” (as he was affectionately called by Griffin when he appeared on several episodes of My Life On The D-List) is, to put it mildly, a big guy. One stumble during a fox trot and Smirnoff could be done for.

Other interest pairs include rapper and ex-convict Lil’ Kim with Derek Hough, Jackass regular and professional eff-up Steve-O with Lacey Schwimmer, and amateur legal eagle Denise Richards with heartthrob Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

The Cloris Leachman troublemaking wackjob role this go-round should be a tie between Steve-O and comedian David Alan Grier with entertainment reporter Nancy O’Dell‘s hairspray addiction as a dark horse in the running in that category.

The season eight premiere is schedule for March 9.

This season will feature singer Jewel, crazy person Steve-O, actress Denise Richards, rapper Lil’ Kim, entertainment news anchor Nancy O’Dell, the NFL’s Lawrence Taylor, Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson, country singer Chuck Wicks, Sex and the City movie actor Gilles Marini, computer genius Steve Wozniak, Go-Gos lead singer Belinda Carlisle, comedian David Alan Grier, and bull rider (and Jewel’s husband) Ty Murray.

In a surprise absence, Vegas performer Donny Osmond was NOT one of the names announced.

Osmond recently inferred that he was joining the cast during an appearance with his sister Marie on the Bonnie Hunt show.

ABC doled out the names during their Sunday night programming in an attempt to combat CBS’s broadcast of the Grammy Awards.

They might have been worried that Donny would eventually pull a fainting spell like his sister.

Kim, 35, was a protege of Biggie’s (real name Christopher Wallace).  She feels that Notorious, the film okayed by Christopher’s mother Violetta Wallace and widow Faith Evans, is inaccurate.

Biggie was married to R&B singer Evans but allegedly carrying on an affair with Kim before his still unsolved murder in March of 1997.

He was shot to death at a traffic light after a Vibe magazine party in Los Angeles. He was 24.

Kim (no stranger to tragedy and crime) told Hip-Hop Weekly (as reported by MTV) that she hasn’t seen the film yet, but feels there are mistakes in the script.

One of the screenplay’s writers reportedly contacted her during the filming process. That’s when she says she realized there were problems.

“I knew something was fishy about them having the writer call me. When I spoke to the writer I felt like he was trying to play me, so I wouldn’t give up anything,” Kim said. “I knew I wouldn’t have control of how I was depicted. I did correct the writer about Biggie’s nickname for me. He had written that Biggie called me Big Momma. Biggie never called me Big Momma. As a matter of fact, he didn’t even like that name for me. He used to call me Mookie.”

Kim is played by actress Naturi Naughton in the film.

Faith Evans has responded to Kim’s complaints about her portrayal in the film, which was adapted from Unbelievable: The Life, Death, and Afterlife of the Notorious B.I.G. by Cheo Hodari Coker.

“I don’t know what to say,” Evans said. “I think that beyond myself, Ms. Wallace or whoever else she wants to blame, everyone who was around Big at that time has had some things to say about [her relationship with Biggie] in order for Cheo to even write the book. He interviewed pretty much all of us. She’s sadly mistaken. I’m aware of what she has to say, and that’s fine. I don’t know what to say. God bless her.”

And God bless anyone getting in Kimmy’s way. She’s even working on a new album despite a recent legal ruling. Watch out, she looks ready to rumble.

But how will she afford more plastic surgery?

Kim has been silenced due to an ongoing breach-of-contract lawsuit brought against her by a company called Brookland.

Brookland claims that they paid Atlantic Records $200,000 to get Kim out of her previous contract, and spent $240,000 to produce eight songs.

Lil’ Kim (aka Kimberly Jones) apparently backed out of the deal after money changed hands.

“We think they’re wonderful people and we expect to do business with them,” Kim’s attorney says. “But they did not honor the terms of the agreement.”

Kim can always do a reality show to make ends meet. Isn’t Diddy hiring?

Syed Rahman, a 24-year-old employee of New York nightclub Spotlight Live—where the birthday party was held—has admitted to fatally bludgeoning Rivera in the back of the head with a lead pipe.

According to TMZ, Rivera and a female friend engaged Rahman in conversation during the party. After an apparently inebriated Rivera was bounced from the club for accidentally entering the men’s room, Rahman lured Rivera’s friend onto the club’s roof by telling her Rivera was up there.

Rivera’s friend claims that Rahman then came on to her. When she rebuffed him, Rahman located Rivera outside the club and “told her he could get her back in.”

Rahman—who had worked at the club for four years and had no criminal record—then led Rivera up to the roof of the club in a service elevator. He allegedly has admitted hitting her with a lead pipe inside a utility shed, killing her instantly.

When people point out a guy and say, “He’s a real lady-killer,” that’s totally not what they’re talking about.

The Notorious B.I.G. protege and “Lady Marmalade” chanteuse (real name: Kimberly Jones), who spent a year in prison for perjury and conspiracy charges relating to a shooting her friends were involved in, threw herself a birthday party Sunday night.

But for one party-goer, the morning after was a real come-down.

TMZ reports that party guest Ingrid Rivera, who hadn’t been seen since the soiree, was found dead yesterday on the roof of Times Square nightclub Spotlight Live, where the party was held. Rivera had suffered a head wound and other injuries.

Whoa; serious party foul, Kim! What did the bitch do, show up wearing the same dress as you?

Kim could stand to find a new set of friends. The girl does serious time covering for them, and they can’t even stick around to help her clean up after her birthday party? Lamest. Posse. Ever.