Beyoncé performs in New York on Monday night
Photo: Walik Goshorn

NEW YORK — If Muhammad Ali had been at Madison Square Garden Monday night, no doubt he would've found something to pound like a drum as he yelled, "The champ is here! The champ is here!"

That's exactly the aura Beyoncé gave off as she began her closing set of the Verizon Ladies First Tour, which also features Alicia Keys, Missy Elliott and Tamia.

B, seated in a carriage, took the stage to the accompaniment of tribal drums, waving to the crowd like a queen as loyal servants carried her to the front of the Garden. Finally at her destination, she stood on a platform at the front of the stage and began her first number, "Baby Boy."

That performance, along with most of her show, looked like a 3-D music video: Dancers joined in on smaller, circular platforms while fire shot from the floor and a long, rectangular screen merged video of flames with images of the performers, seemingly setting them on fire.

	Photos of the ladies in New York

"Do I have any naughty girls in the house tonight?," B asked, setting up her next record and current single. "Do the A-Town stomp!" her DJ yelled as the singer worked the stage with her dancers.

Beyoncé then took it back to the days when Vanity was the hottest chick in the game, briefly singing snippets of Vanity 6's classic "Nasty Girl." But the platinum princess quickly changed her tune — literally and figuratively — as she stopped to tell the audience a relationship horror story. She pulled a pair of red panties out of her purse, saying that the drawers were not hers but those of her cheating boyfriend's mistress, before the music segued into "Me, Myself and I."

"Me, myself and I," she sang before holding out the mic for a response, which was soon answered with "is all I got in the end" by the 20,000-plus onlooking.

"I wanna hear everybody from front to back!" she commanded. "I wrote this song for each and every one of y'all!"

After snippets of some of her greatest hits — including "Jumpin' Jumpin'," "Independent Women" and " '03 Bonnie and Clyde" — Beyoncé unleashed a song she wrote just for certain people: The haters.

"Now that you are out of my life, I'm so much better," she began to boast against the violins that provide the soundscape for "Survivor." "You thought that I'd be weak without ya/ But I'm stronger/ You thought that I'd be broke without ya/ But I'm richer."

She was soon joined by her fellow Destiny's Children, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, who loaned their voices to the mix.

Now, just in case you're not sure how this movie will end, we'll go ahead and put you at ease now: Beyoncé continued to pull out the stops for her Big Apple throwdown. She stepped in the name of love during the breakdown of "Summertime." She had New Yorkers cheering like the Yankees had just won the World Series when she perfectly hit the high note toward the end of "Dangerously in Love." And the dimepiece continued to show that she has more juice than the inside of a coconut when Outkast's Big Boi sashayed down her onstage staircase for his verse on "Hip Hop Star."

And although the crowd roared when Jay-Z came out for "Crazy in Love," we can't really say it was a surprise. Jigga miss a chance to rep for his girl in his hometown? Not very likely. After the song ended, Beyoncé exited by sitting on a swing and soaring to the roof while the curtain closed.

Alicia Keys, who took the stage before Beyoncé, made a memorable entrance as well. Rather than sitting at the piano as you might expect, she was standing center-stage, ready to dance. Fittingly, she started with "Heartburn," shaking her body like Ike-era Tina Turner, causing a sudden rise in blood pressure among the men in the audience. The sex appeal was being poured all over Madison Square like milk on Cheerios.

"Since I am home, let me see you get your asses out your seats!" yelled the Manhattan native as she kept dancing.

Keys' accompanying band played as though it were possessed by James Brown's band, delivering rich, crisp sounds, and coming across even better than on wax. Alicia wasn't too shabby herself. This was no one-faceted pop tart getting onstage and lip-synching. It was soul music so powerful you could feel a tingle in your neck; a voice so heartfelt you wanna slap your momma; the closest this generation will ever get to seeing Aretha Franklin in her prime.

"Tell me something: How many real women are in the building tonight?" she asked before the opening chords of "A Woman's Worth." Keys, now seated at the piano, sped up the tempo of the song up musically and vocally, giving it a Latin tinge. Two dancers appeared and Alicia later joined in.

Later, she stood center-stage again, moving her body like a snake (R. Kelly would have been proud), then climbing atop the piano. A red light shined on her as she lay across the instrument and alluringly sang, "Slow down ... I'll be yours if you'd be mine/ We don't have to rush tonight."

She then leaned over and started playing the chords from "Diary." As Alicia sang, the video screen showed a piece of paper with words being written as soon as they came from her mouth.

The finale from the multitalented singer came via "You Don't Know My Name." Like she does every time she performs the record, Alicia broke out a cell phone and acted out the skit where she lays her mack down on the well-dressed man who frequents her place of business.

As always, Missy Elliott's set was a bundle of charisma and sound-bombing. Accompanied by dancers, a DJ and a hype man, she unleashed an arsenal of favorites like "Get Ur Freak On," "Pass That Dutch" and "Work It." Her stage show was more like a hip-hop sideshow as she wheeled out an assortment of stage antics, like running into the audience, having glow-in-the dark dancers crawl out of the wall and TV screens that look like a fish tank.

Meanwhile, if you blinked, you missed Tamia. Grant Hill's freckled bride hit the stage a little before the concert's 7 p.m. start time but managed to end her brief group of ditties on a high note by bringing out Fabolous for "So Into You."

The Ladies First Tour has just six more dates, ending in California on April 21. Missy, for one, is sorry to see it end. "It's sad," she said the day after the Garden show. "It's like a TV show that's been going on for years. You know, we've been having a lot of fun, and it seems we just started to get into it, and now it's about to end."

For more sights and stories from concerts around the country, check out MTV News Tour Reports.

• Beyoncé
• Alicia Keys
• Missy Elliott
• Tamia (R&B)

William Hung's <I>Inspiration</I> CD.
Photo: Koch

Believe it or not, "American Idol" reject William Hung tops the new releases this week. If you've seen the show, you know that Hung's musical Inspiration comes from Ricky Martin's "She Bangs." And that is seemingly all one needs these days to get a record deal. While the "Idol" finalists are busy slaving away in front of Simon, Paula and Randy, Hung is living it up as an ersatz pop star on his debut record, which includes cover songs of material by Ricky Martin (of course) as well as Elton John, R. Kelly and the Village People.

The "Johnson Family Vacation" soundtrack features songs by Ashanti, Ghostface, Musiq, Joe Budden and one of the film's stars, Bow Wow. Last week's "SNL" musical guests Toots and the Maytals offer True Love, an album of collaborations on favorite Maytals tracks that includes contributions by No Doubt, Ryan Adams, the Roots, Eric Clapton, Bootsy Collins, Keith Richards, Ben Harper and Jeff Beck.

Blondie come back again with The Curse of Blondie, while Calexico's Convict Pool, a collection of cover songs and some original material, shares shelf space with They Might Be Giants' five-track EP Indestructible Object, Paul Oakenfold's Perfect Remixes Vol. 1, and Ben Kweller's On My Way.

R&B songstress Tamia releases More alongside Dilated Peoples' Neighborhood Watch, Todd Rundgren's Liarsand Henry Rollins' Nights Behind the Tree Line.

Finally, what would a new releases roundup be without a mention of Barry Manilow? Don't answer that. But Manilow releases 2 Nights Live! this week, a two-disc set that includes all his hits, including "Mandy," "Copacabana (At the Copa)" and "I Write the Songs."

Out Tuesday, April 6:

• The Advantage - The Advantage (5 Rue Christine)
• Trey Anastasio - Seis de Mayo (Elektra)
• And One - Aggressor (Metropolis)
• Architecture in Helsinki - Fingers Crossed (Bar/None)
• Atom and His Package - Hair: Debatable (Hopeless)
• Audio Learning Center - Cope Park (Vagrant)
• The Beautiful Mistake - This Is Who You Are (Militia Group)
• Jack Blades - Jack Blades (Sanctuary)
• Blondie - The Curse of Blondie (Sanctuary)
• Blue County - Blue County (Curb)
• The Butchies - Make Yr Life (Yep Roc)
• Calexico - Convict Pool (Quarterstick)
• James Carter - Live at Baker's Keyboard Lounge (Warner Bros.)
• The Damnwells - The Bastards of the Beat (Red Ink/Epic)
• Dark Lotus - Black Rain (Psychopathic)
• Decree - Moment of Silence (Metropolis)
• Dilated Peoples - Neighborhood Watch (Capitol)
  Buy Now: Neighborhood Watch (Capitol)
  
• Disillusion - Back to Times of Splendor (Metal Blade)
• The DT's – Hard Fixed (Estrus)
• Dujeous? - City Limits (Third Earth Music)
• Edguy - Hellfire Club (Nuclear Blast)
• Elf Power - Walking With the Beggar Boys (Orange Twin)
• End - The Sounds of Disaster (Ipecac)
• Fear - Before the March of Flames Odd How People Shake (Rise)
• Haymarket Riot - Mog (Thick)
• William Hung - Inspiration (Koch)
  Read:
• In Flames - Soundtrack to Your Escape (Nuclear Blast)
• Kate Jacobs - You Call That Dark (Bar/None)
• John Wilkes Booze - 5 Pillars of Soul (Kill Rock Stars)
• Ben Kweller - On My Way (ATO/RCA)
• Lansing-Dreiden - The Incomplete Triangle (Kemado)
• Local H - Whatever Happened to P.J. Soles? (Studio E)
• Russell Malone - Playground (MAXJAZZ)
• Barry Manilow - 2 Nights Live! (Arista/BMG Heritage)
• Matt Marque - Nothing Personal (Atavistic)
• Mocean Worker - Enter the MoWo! (MoWo! Inc.)
• Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News (Epic)
  Buy Now: Good News For People Who Love Bad News (Epic)
  
• Mozaik - Live From the Powerhouse (Compass)
• Charlie Musselwhite - Sanctuary (Real World)
• Paul Oakenfold - Perfect Remixes Vol. 1 (Topaz)
• Of Montreal - Satanic Panic in the Attic (Polyvinyl)
• Old Time Relijun - Lost Light (K)
• On Air Library - On Air Library (Arena Rock)
• Pit Er Pat - Emergency (Overcoat)
• Pre Thing - 22nd Century Lifestyle (V2)
• Pulley - Matters (Epitaph)
• Henry Rollins - Nights Behind the Tree Line (2.13.61)
  Buy Now: Nights Behind The Tree Line (2 13 61 Records)
  
• Todd Rundgren - Liars (Sanctuary)
• Ron Sexsmith - Retriever (Nettwerk)
• Slow Train Soul - Illegal Cargo (Tommy Boy)
• Spinning Images - DNA (Starpolish)
• Split Shift - Tension (Elektra)
• Spymob - Sitting Around Keeping Score (Ruthless/Epic)
• Joan Stiles - Love Call (Zoho)
• Tahiti 80 - A Piece of Sunshine (Minty Fresh)
• Tamia - More (Elektra)
• Teada - Give Us a Penny and We'll Be Gone (Green Linnet)
• They Might Be Giants - Indestructible Object (Barsuk)
  Buy Now: Indestructible Object (Barsuk)
  
• Throbbing Gristle - Mutant TG (Novamute)
• Tight Phantomz - Nightfool (Southern)
• Toots and the Maytals - True Love (V2)
• Truman - Payne Avenue (Geffen)
• Vehemence - Helping the World to See (Metal Blade)
• The Warren Brothers - Well Deserved Obscurity (Savoy Jazz/429)
• Winnerys - And ... the Winnerys (Rainbow Quartz)
• Shannon Wright - Over the Sun (Quarterstick)
• Mary Youngblood - Feed the Fire (Silver Wave)
• Zeke - 'Til the Livin' End (Relapse)
• Various artists - The '90s (TVT)
• Various artists – "The Alamo" soundtrack (Hollywood)
• Various artists - Buzzin' Fly Vol. 1 (Astralwerks)
• Various artists - Electric Gypsyland (Six Degrees)
• Various artists – "Ella Enchanted" soundtrack (Hollywood)
• Various artists – "Johnson Family Vacation" soundtrack (Def Jam)
• Various artists – "The Passion of the Christ": Songs Inspired By (Universal South)
• Various artists - Pink Panther's Penthouse Party (Virgin)
• Various artists - Tracks and Fields (Kill Rock Stars)
• Various artists - Urban Themes (TVT)
• DVD: Kenny Chesney - "Road Case: The Movie" (BNA)
• DVD: "Reggae Nation: The Real Spring Break" (Image Entertainment)

• Ben Jelen - Give It All Away (Maverick)
• Sugarcult - Palm Trees and Power Lines (Artemis)
• Various artists - "Kill Bill 2" soundtrack (Maverick)

• Drowning Pool - Desensitized (Wind-Up)
  Read: "New Drowning Pool Singer Says He Had A Vision Before Tryout"
  Buy Now: Desensitized (Wind-Up)
  
• Hanson - Underneath (3CG)
• Prince - Musicology (Sony)

• Diana Krall - The Girl in the Other Room (Verve)
• Joey McIntyre - 8:09 (Artemis)
• Patti Smith - Trampin' (Sony)
• Various artists - "American Idol" Season 3: Greatest Soul Classics (RCA)

• Buckethead - Population Override (Ion)
• Kimberley Locke - One Love (Curb)
  Read:
• Petey Pablo - Still Writing in My Diary: 2nd Entry (Jive)
• Various artists – "The L Word" soundtrack (Tommy Boy)

• Alanis Morissette - So Called Chaos (Maverick)
• Morrissey - You Are the Quarry (Sanctuary)

• Avril Lavigne - Under My Skin (Arista)
  Read:
  Buy Now: Under My Skin (Arista)
  

• Tamia (R&B)
• Dilated Peoples
• Henry Rollins
• Blondie
• Modest Mouse

Fabolous
Photo: Elektra

NEW YORK — Fabolous is getting ready to travel to Los Angeles on Thursday and Friday to shoot the video for "Into You." As you may have guessed from hearing a new version of the track on radio, the clip is going to feature Tamia and not Ashanti, who appears on the album cut.

"Ashanti, she's doing a lot of stuff on her own," Fab explained about the singer switch on Wednesday at Right Track Studio, shortly after a performance for AOL. "At the time it was just a conflict of schedules. I'm running this way, she's running that way, the single is ready now. We couldn't wait anymore.

"I had the pleasure of working with Ashanti, I love her new song, I wish her well. I thank her for being on the [version that appears on my album]," he added. "We went with Tamia because if we couldn't get Ashanti, we had to get Tamia. She blew it away on the original."

"Into You" is a remake of sorts of Tamia's 1998 hit "So Into You." Fab also tinkered with another one of his songs — a few weeks ago he banged out a remix for "Can't Let You Go."

"With the remix we tried to give it a party feel," he said. "We wasn't just trying to do another version of 'Can't Let You Go.' We flipped it and made it a party song. It's something somebody can relate to: You meet a girl, you don't know her, she don't know you, but the way she's looking, you can't let her go. We're about to shoot a mini-video for the record. It's gonna be a party video."

Fab will get the chance to perform songs like "This Is My Party," "Can't Let You Go" and "Into You" this summer when he heads out with Jay-Z and 50 Cent on the Roc the Mic Tour. He's been given the nod to appear as an opener (see "50 Cent And Jay-Z Announce Roc The Mic Tour Dates").

"With my performance and everything I'm still learning," he said about his stage presence. "This is my second tour, so if anything, I'm watching tapes, I'm watching the people's performances. I just wanna get my performance at a level where it's entertaining a crowd. The best experience is performing in front of a crowd."

While on tour, Fab would like to try to start recording another LP, but he says he has to iron out some business issues with his label, Elektra, before he can go into any vocal booth.

"With that situation, it's a ball-and-chain effect. Elektra has something to do with that. I'm ready to work, but business first. You have to get the business straight before you get in there recording. I have a lot of ideas and producers coming to me with beats. So I'm trying to come back [out] at the end of December or end of January."

• Ashanti
• Tamia (R&B)

Farrah Franklin
Photo: Sony

QUEENS, New York — Mr. Cheeks was so excited to be shooting a music video in his old Southside Jamaica neighborhood with director Zodiac Fishgrease that he mimicked the trademark yell of wrestling legend "Nature Boy" Ric Flair.

"Woooooo!" Cheeks exclaimed Wednesday in his trailer, in between explaining the concept of the song and video for "Crush on You" and deciding which shoes to wear in the next scene.

"This is like taking it back to my sensitivity," Cheeks said, standing up and barely able to move in the overloaded space, which was filled with his crew, including the song's producer and guest star, Mario Winans. "That's how we do. All of us got a little shorty we see in the 'hood. Maybe you don't think you are her type, but you holla at her and let her know you got a crush on her."

"We got together in Miami, I worked on the beat, by the time I was finished with the beat, he was finished with the rhyme," Winans added about the collaboration. "He kicked it to me and really inspired me and I came up with the hook. It's a real passionate joint for the ladies."

Earlier in the day, Cheeks and the Yellowman shot performance scenes in front of an 8-foot sculpture that spelled out the word "Crush," and at night it was time to begin filming the more dramatic scenes with the video's leading lady, former Destiny's Child member Farrah Franklin (see "Destiny's Child Talks Split With Farrah").

"Basically I'm playing the chick he has a crush on," Franklin said while sitting in a trailer next to Cheeks'. "I just got called for it two days ago. I helped [Cheeks] pick out this song for his single, so that's why he called me. Him and my manager are good friends. I loved the song when I heard it and was like, 'That would be a hot video to do.' Cheeks is crazy and I'm feeding off his energy.

"He's gonna be in the car with his boys, I'm gonna be walking and his boys are gonna be like, 'Yo, that's the shorty with the fatty that you like,' " she continued. "Then it's a grocery store scene, so I guess he's gonna be trying to get at me when I'm shopping. I'm dressed like I'm going to a club and I'm shopping. I'm kinda fabulous in this video."

From being fab, to hanging out with Fab — Franklin also disclosed that she'll finally be ready to release her debut solo LP this year, which will come out on Street Family Entertainment, a label started by slick-mouthed MC Fabolous and his managers.

"I'll probably be on some other projects before my album comes out," Franklin explained. "We're talking about [putting out] a single now with me and Fab. It's not named yet. We just did it a week ago. It's a club joint.

"Basically [it's about] a girl going to the club and she sees somebody and so I say, 'So it looks like I'm going to be leaving with you tonight/ It feels so right/ I'm thinking me and you could fall in love,' " she continued. "He's telling me 'Yo ma, I didn't come to the club for that, I'm chilling.' So I'm saying, 'What you come to the club for? You didn't come to dance, you're standing on the wall, so you came to look at the scenery.' "

Franklin, who also has a TV pilot in the works with Miguel A. Nunez called "America's Most Talented," and who is being wooed by DMX to star in his film "Never Die Alone," isn't Cheeks' only co-star keeping busy with a gaggle of projects.

Winans, who just came back from Miami, said P. Diddy had him and the Bad Boy family locked down there in the studio for two months. 

"We was down there making nothing but hits," Winans said. "We was real focused, finishing the Mary [J. Blige] album. You know how it is when Puff and Mary get together, he makes that magic for her. We was working on New Edition, Loon, then I was working on Ginuwine, 702, Tamia. I was doing Queen Latifah stuff, Brian McKnight, Method Man, we got a lot of stuff coming."

One thing Mr. Cheeks does not have coming to him is a lawsuit courtesy of Fox Sports. Cheeks originally wanted to name his April release The Best Damn Rap Album Period, which was derived from the network's "Best Damn Sports Show Period," but decided the wiser (see "Mr. Cheeks Promises The Best Damn Rap Album Period").

"Fox called me and said, 'Chill, we're gonna have some beef if you do that, Cheeks," the Lost Boyz frontman laughed. "I said all right. I don't need no beef with Fox Sports, so I named it Back Again.

M.O.P., Alexander O'Neal, Glenn Lewis, Floetry, Joe, Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth all appear on the LP, as does Tweet, who sings on the title track.

"We used the original [beat from] 'Car Wash,' " Cheeks said of the song. "She's doing her flow, but we took it back to the '70s for them. I'm a '70s child, so it's only right to get that involved. I always loved the movie 'Car Wash.' I'm back again, woooo!"

• Mr. Cheeks
• Destiny's Child
• Mary J. Blige
• Diddy
• Ginuwine

Michael Jackson
Photo: Epic

Michael Jackson will perform past hits with new-school pop stars Britney Spears and 'NSYNC at his upcoming 30th-anniversary gala.

Jackson and pop princess Spears will duet on "The Way You Make Me Feel," Jackson's #1 single from 1987's Bad, at the first of two shows dubbed "Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration, The Solo Years," the event's publicist said Monday (August 13). The new information sheds light on a pair of concerts whose content has remained obscure to date.

The Jackson 5, performing together for the first time in 11 years (see "Jermaine Jackson To Reunite With His Brothers Onstage After All"), and 'NSYNC will team up for "Dancing Machine" during the same September 7 show at Madison Square Garden.

Jackson's September 10 "Celebration" will include other superstar performances. Latin singer Ricky Martin will perform "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," Jackson's first post-Jackson 5 solo track to reach #1 (in 1979), Martin's spokesperson said.

On September 10, Missy Elliott and Nelly Furtado are expected to perform their remix of Elliott's "Get Ur Freak On" (see "Missy Elliott, Nelly Furtado Get Freaky").

Another Latin heartthrob, Marc Anthony, will tackle Jackson's 1980 ballad "She's Out of My Life" during the first show, Anthony's spokesperson said. Although he has been announced for September 10 as well, his spokesperson said Anthony is still negotiating the later appearance. If he performs both nights, he may sing his upcoming Rob Thomas-penned single, "Tragedy."

Lil' Kim, Deborah Cox, Mya and Tamia will collaborate on "Heal the World" during at least one of the shows, according to a source close to the production. Organizers have advertised Cox and Mya as performing both nights.

Although Jackson friend and seasoned entertainer Liza Minelli's September 7 selection remains unannounced, she will sing the 1995 Jackson single "You Are Not Alone" with a 300-member gospel choir on September 10.

Whitney Houston will sing a ballad, and teen country star Billy Gilman will cover 1972's "Ben" (Jackson's first #1 solo single) on the celebration's first night, according to the event's publicist.

Several other artists — including Shaggy, Jill Scott, Monica and Luther Vandross — have yet to decide what they will perform, according to their respective publicists.

Diana Ross, who was at one time announced as a performer, is off the schedule, according to the celebration's organizers.

Jackson and his brothers convened in Los Angeles on Friday to rehearse for the shows.

• Michael Jackson
• Britney Spears
• *NSYNC
• Marc Anthony
• Ricky Martin

Michael Jackson
Photo: Sony

Long-quiet pop superstar Michael Jackson will return to the spotlight in September with a massive concert tribute to his own career that will include a reunion with the Jackson 5 and collaborations with 'NSYNC, Britney Spears and Whitney Houston.

The September 7 event at New York's Madison Square Garden will reunite Jackson and his brothers for the first time since the '80s, with the Jacksons teaming with 'NSYNC on at least one song, according to Jackson's publicists.

Jackson will duet with both Spears and Houston, as well as debut a new single from his upcoming album during the show, billed as Michael Jackson: The Solo Years 30th Anniversary Celebration.

The show will also include performances from Marc Anthony, Shaggy, Jill Scott, Mya, Tamia and Deborah Cox.

"I am very excited to celebrate my 30th anniversary as a solo artist with such a distinguished array of talent, friends and fans," Jackson said in a statement. "I look forward to performing live and reuniting with my brothers on this special night." According to a press release from Jackson's publicists, the show's lavish production will include a 300-member gospel choir, a 200-member children's choir, a 48-piece orchestra, 40 dancers and 12 background singers. The show will climax with "40 pop, R&B and country legends singing together" in tribute to Jackson, the press release said.

The show will be taped for a two-hour television special.

Jackson, who was inducted last month into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (see "Aerosmith Thrilled, Steely Dan Unimpressed At Rock Hall Ceremony"), has not released a full-length album of new music since 1991's Dangerous, and has not toured the United States since the '80s.

• Michael Jackson
• *NSYNC
• Britney Spears
• Whitney Houston
• Marc Anthony

Tamia
Photo: Elektra Records

It took Tamia three years to finish her sophomore album, A Nu Day, but now that the disc and the single "Stranger in My House" are making waves on the charts and radio, she says it was worth the wait.

"I had gone through like five different presidents at the record company, and they each came in and had a different idea of who they thought I was," said Tamia, who left Quincy Jones' Qwest label and moved to Elektra. "[I was] constantly scrapping music and they were trying to figure out who they wanted me to be." With A Nu Day, which came out in October, "I knew what I wanted to talk about, what I wanted to sing about, and I got to directly work with the producers and vibe with them," she said, adding that she had more creative control on this album than on her self-titled 1998 debut.

"Stranger in My House," penned by producer Shep Crawford and #9 on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles & Tracks chart, is one of several cuts on the album that delve into heartbreak, even though Tamia's now happily married to NBA star Grant Hill.

"We all have to kiss a few frogs before we find that prince," she said. "I think we get into relationships and we see things, whether it's because of lust or love or whatever, we see things ... and sometimes they aren't really how they are, but we see them for what we want them to be." On the other hand, she included "Can't No Man" and a cover of DeBarge's 1983 hit "Love Me in a Special Way" on the album at the request of Hill, who worried that the album would be too "issue-heavy," she said. Tamia added that people sometimes assume the heartbreak or the romantic difficulties she sings about reflect her real life.

"We'd be in church, and everyone's staring at us," she said, laughing. "[Grant's] like, 'It's just a song, it's just a song.' So I put a couple love songs on there so that he'd feel comfortable, he didn't get evil stares." Tamia said that, while she will always be grateful to Jones for helping launch her career — she sang "You Put a Move on My Heart" on Jones' 1994 Q's Jook Joint — she's thankful to be out from under his shadow. "I love Quincy ... [but] people never really got to know who I was." While she was recording A Nu Day, Tamia guested on Eric Benét's "Spend My Life," a song that's become a fan favorite. During a Valentine's Day show in New York City, a fan proposed to his girlfriend while Tamia was singing it.

"That's an honor for me," she said. "I know how nervous he was and how special that day will be for both of them, so I felt blessed that I could be a part of that.

"It's nice to really connect with [fans] and not just be the girl that's on the videos," she added.

Tamia said she plans to release the "Stranger in My House" single on CD, with remixes by Thunderpuss and Jermaine Dupri.

• Tamia (R&B)

As a protégé of legendary producer Quincy Jones, Tamia thought she knew what kind of rigorous work ethic it would take to record her debut album. But the R&B singer found out that a little procrastination can sometimes fuel the creative process, a practice which arose during the recording of "Imagination," Tamia's first single.

"['Imagination'] was almost like one of the last songs I recorded for the album," Tamia said in an interview with the MTV Radio Network, "and for that song, you know, the producer was Jermaine Dupri. And when you work with Jermaine, you party on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Then you have like six hours left and then you have to go in the studio and work."

When asked how she survived such an un-timely production schedule, Tamia replied, "It's all about No-Doze and Coca-Cola."

Tamia, who made her recording debut back in 1995 with an appearance on Jones' "Q's Jook Joint," just released her self-titled new album on his Qwest Records label.

• Jermaine Dupri
• Tamia (R&B)

After making a name for herself via a string of highly successful collaborations with Quincy Jones, Brandy and Chaka Khan, twenty-one-year-old vocalist Tamia is now emerging in her own right, courtesy of her new self-titled debut album which arrived in stores last week.

Tamia's recording debut came back in 1995 when she sang on "You Put a Move on My Heart" for Quincy Jones' "Q's Jook Joint" after meeting the producer at a party for Luther Vandross. Tamia then recorded "Slow Jams" with Babyface, then joined Brandy, Gladys Knight and Chaka Khan on "Missing You" from the "Set It Off" soundtrack.

Now Tamia wants to stand on her own, and the highly stylized video for "Imagination," the first single from the new record, is helping the singer accomplish that goal.

For the video, director Paul Hunter referenced Jean Cocteau's classic film version of "Beauty and the Beast," and Tamia told the MTV Radio Network that the contrast in styles between the video and the song actually helps the clip stand out from the more typical hip-hop fair.

"I think the video really caught a lot of people's attention," Tamia said, describing the video for "Imagination," "Because it wasn't the same fish lens with a shiny gloss and glitter falling from the sky and I think people were like, 'OK, it sounds like a hip-hop song to me, but she has a Nine Inch Nails video, so what's up with that?'" [850k QuickTime]

"And I think it's catchy," Tamia added, before noting that the song had been approved by her toughest critic -- Tamia's little brother. "My seven-year-old brother heard it once or twice and he was like, 'What makes us do,' so when kids learn it, you know you have something there."

• Tamia (R&B)