Lil' Kim saw a sudden surge in popularity this year, despite the fact that she hasn't released a new album in more than five years.

The reason behind her sudden popularity? Social networking site Twitter, where she was one of the most talked about people in 2010. Kim is placed ahead of Nobel Peace Prize-nominated aid worker Zilda Arns and behind temperamental actor Mel Gibson.

The Queen Bee was ranked No. 6 in the "People" category on the 2010 Trends on Twitter list. Somewhat inexplicably, Kim saw herself as the only rapper on the list, and was only surpassed by Lady Gaga (No. 3) and teen-phenom Justin Bieber (No. 1) when it came to fellow musicians.

While Kim was one of the most popular people on Twitter this year, fellow rappers Drake, Lil Wayne, Kanye West and singer Rihanna all made the Top 10 Most Retweeted Tweets list.

Lil Wayne's first text upon his release from prison after serving an eight-month sentence, which read "Aaaaaaahhhhhhmmmmm baaaaakkkkkkkkkk," clocked in at No. 3 on the retweet list, while Drake came in at No. 2 for his thoughtful words: "We always ignore the ones who adore us, and adore the ones who ignore us."

Stephen Colbert came in at No.1 on the retweet list, with his message -- "In honor of oil-soaked birds, 'tweets' are now 'gurgles'" -- spreading like fire.
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