A jury was chosen Monday to hear conspiracy and perjury charges facing rapper Lil' Kim, whose lawyer said the case against her was not an indictment of the rap or hip-hop music industries.

U.S. District Judge Gerard Lynch told lawyers opening statements would begin Tuesday.

The charges were brought against the entertainer, whose real name is Kimberly Jones, by prosecutors who accused her of lying to a grand jury investigating a 2001 shooting involving members of her entourage.

Last August, Lil' Kim told a news conference that the case was part of the government's continued indictment against the hip-hop industry and that her innocence would be proved.

On Monday, defense lawyer Mel Sachs said: "The rap and hip-hop music industry are not on trial here. The musical artist known as Lil' Kim is on trial here."

He added, "Applying the law to the facts will mandate that she is not guilty."

Prosecutors declined to comment.

In September, one of Lil' Kim's former bodyguards, Suif Jackson, 34, was sentenced to a dozen years in prison after he admitted firing a gun at least 20 times in the shootout as the rapper left a Manhattan hip-hop radio station.

Authorities said the shooting occurred as Lil' Kim's entourage was leaving the station, WQHT, or Hot 97, and the entourage of rival rap group Capone-N-Noreaga was arriving. One man in the group's entourage was wounded.

The shootout occurred the same year Lil' Kim, known for her revealing outfits and risque lyrics, won a Grammy Award for her part in the hit remake of "Lady Marmalade."