[jitterbug13]

Kanye West can handle gold diggers, but he'll need the best lawyers money can buy to fend off a big-bucks court battle.

West has been hit with a $10.5 million countersuit from a Chicago deejay in their ongoing tug-o-war over some early tracks recorded by the Grammy-winning, chart-busting hip-hopster.

In August, the "Gold Digger" rapper filed a federal lawsuit seeking to bar Eric "E-Smoove" Miller from releasing a 10-song album West recorded a decade ago when he was just a teenager. West claims his signature on a contract was forged by Miller.

West wants a judge to block Miller from shopping the prefame tracks, which include such ditties as "Ho!!!" and "Stop Frontin'," to distributors. His suit seeks at least $1.3 million in damages and an injunction barring Miller from using West's name or voice in connection with the recordings.

But in his counterclaim, filed Oct. 28 in Chicago, Miller says the signature and contract are valid. Miller says he cowrote the music with West and that West was fully aware that Miller and his company, Focus Music Group, would own the master recordings.

Miller, a producer and writer who has worked with the likes of Michael Jackson and Al Jarreau, says he should be entitled to profits from the tracks.

Neither West nor Miller attorneys would comment on the dust-up.

Whoever wrests control of the tracks could be in line for a major windfall, considering West's Midas touch on the charts.

His latest release, Late Registration, has moved more than 2 million copies since its release in August.

"Gold Digger," the unstoppable single from the disc, has now topped Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart for 10 consecutive weeks. The track, which features vocals from Jamie Foxx, has been number one for nine straight weeks on the Hot Ringtones chart and eight in a row on the Pop 100.