NEW YORK — A few hours from now, Times Square club Saci will be filled to capacity with a crowd that ranges from infamous partygoers (Sean "P. Diddy" Combs) to notorious event skippers (DMX). No movement will be drama-free. You'll have to hold your stomach in to pass by your fellow attendees. Your Timberland boots and Air Force One Nikes are guaranteed to get scuffed, and the chances of you having multiple partners on the dance floor are slim because there is simply not enough room to mingle.

It's the eve of November 6, and everybody wants to see the new Faith Evans, as previewed in her video for "You Gets No Love." The Faith who shed the white fur coats for colorful b-girl garb and a red ponytail. The Faith who rolls up on you in a low rider, hops out to dance in the streets of Compton and defies anyone to tell her she's "too ghetto."

Not that she was an brooding old maid before. After all, we did get a glimpse of the Newark, New Jersey, native's penchant for roller skating in the 1999 video for her club anthem "All Night Long." Now 28, Faith admits this is one of the most joyous times in her life, and it's reflecting in her image.

"It's not like I always got to choose my clothes," the Atlanta transplant observes at a soundcheck before the party to celebrate the release of her third album, Faithfully. "It's not like I've always taken the initiative to get involved in every single side. After seeing things that you don't like, you realize, 'You know what? I gotta get more involved in that, because I know what I wanna look like.' I know what I want people to perceive me as."

And that, Faith says, is "happier."