He's a convicted murderer serving a life sentence, but that's not keeping C-Murder from his day job.

The hip-hopster, whose real name is Corey Miller, has drawn the ire of authorities in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, after he somehow managed to make a music video while behind bars awaiting a second trial in the shooting death of a teenage boy.

And this came after the rapper recorded a 15-track album, The Truest S--t I Ever Said, while incarcerated at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center. The CD is due out Mar. 22, along with the clandestinely-shot video for the lead single, "Y'all Heard of Me."

All of which comes as news to Sheriff Harry Lee.

"Nowhere was it ever mentioned that someone would be doing a commercial enterprise in the jail," Lee told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "I'm pissed off that that attorney would trick me."

"That attorney" being Ronald Rakosky, who is representing C-Murder in his murder case. Rakosky was allowed jailhouse visits with the rapper last fall, and the attorney brought along recording equipment to capture C-Murder's rhymes.

"I know of no law or regulation that prohibited anything that we were doing," Rakosky tells the Times-Picayune.

The music video, which was leaked online last week, cuts between Miller in orange prison garb rapping about how he and other young blacks are subjected to racial profiling and fellow rapper B.G. performing before a huge crowd at a New Orleans housing project.

Rakosky, who did not return calls seeking comment Friday, also appears in the video.

According to the rapper's label, Koch Records, the C-Murder footage was taken from two interviews that the sheriff had permitted, one with Court TV and a second with a local cable-access show called Phat Phat 'N All That.

The sheriff, however, says he never imagined the sit-downs would morph into impromptu musical performances that would allow C-Murder an opportunity to revive his once burgeoning career. And reps for both Court TV and Phat Phat said they did not give Koch or the rapper permission to use the segments.

Rakosky is quoted in the newspaper saying "I don't know how the footage was obtained. I wasn't involved in the process.

Lee, meanwhile, says he will file a lawsuit to block C-Murder from profiting off his crime and to return any royalties to the county. "They used my jail. I think I'm entitled to some money," Lee told the newspaper.

In September 2003, a Louisiana jury convicted C-Murder of second-degree murder for the Jan. 12, 2002 slaying of a 16-year-old fan outside a nightclub. Last April, however, a judge granted the hip-hop star a new trial after determining prosecutors withheld pertinent information about witnesses called to implicate C-Murder. Prosecutors have appealed that ruling and are awaiting a new decision.

The rapper was also rung up by a grand jury on second-degree attempted murder charges related to a separate case in which he allegedly pulled a semi-automatic outside a Baton Rouge nightspot and tried to shoot the club's owner and bodyguard.

The Truest features such ditties as "I Know I Live in the Ghetto" and "Locked Up REMIX" and an array of guest artists, including Capone, Fat Joe and Soulja Slim.

"This record is real street; I'm kickin' it back to the streets," Miller says in a press release. "It's about the trials and tribulations of my life. People will be able to relate to it."

Corey Miller comes from a family of rap royalty. His older brother is Master P and his nephew is Lil' Romeo. A third brother is rapper Silkk the Shocker.

After recording with his brothers in a mid-'90s outfit called Tru, C-Murder went on to record four solo albums for Master P's No Limit Records, starting with 1998's Life or Death and ending with 2002's aptly titled Trapped in Crime.