After scoring a Top 10 hit with the urban anthem "Westside," the first single off TQ's debut record, "They Never Saw Me Comin'," the singer is now readying a new single, "Bye Bye Baby," which takes TQ into some slightly darker territory than his sunlit hit.

The song recounts a true story from TQ's Compton past, when a friend told the singer about how he and his girlfriend had been attacked during a car-jacking. During an interview with MTV News, TQ explained what motivated him to write such a darkly personal and emotional song.

"That's a story about my homeboy," TQ said,

"I wrote the song," he continued, "because of the emotion he was giving off to me when he was explaining how it happened. It just came over me and I just felt the same way somehow." [28.8 RealVideo]

Due to the violent subject matter of the song, the original video for "Bye Bye Baby" had to be re-worked because of its graphic nature, but a new version of the clip is due to start surfacing in the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, TQ will be among the performers at a Def Jam Super Bowl party being held the day before the big game in Miami that will be hosted by L.L. Cool J and Brandy, and will feature performances from Method Man, Foxy Brown and Jay-Z.

• TQ

As vocalist TQ prepares to release his solo debut album, "They Never Saw Me Comin'," he finds himself in a unique position to bridge the gaps between not only R&B and hip-hop, but also between hip-hop's distinctly regional styles.

• TQ

After scoring an R&B hit five years ago as a member of the group Coming of Age, R&B singer TQ has returned with one of the monster hip-hop singles of the year, "Westside."

The song's success was a long time in coming for TQ, whose unhappiness with Age's style of new jack swing caused him to leave the group for a solo career, and he eventually landed a deal with Atlantic Records.

TQ's album for Atlantic, which he spent some three years working on, was eventually rejected by the label. He subsequently bolted to Epic Records, where he started from scratch with producer Mike Mosley and recorded the tracks for his debut, "They Never Saw Me Coming."

On "Westside," TQ offers up props to many of his hop-hop forerunners, including Eazy-E, Tupac Shakur, Ice Cube and Ice-T, artists which TQ credits with inspiring him to believe that there was life beyond the ghetto.

"Before Eazy and before N.W.A. and all that," TQ said, "it seemed like, OK, 'superstar,' that's something you can dream about, but you can never touch it -- being a superstar. But when I could see some homies that I just saw a couple of days ago rolling by in low-riders and now I see them on a video, that shows me OK, I can actually do this."

"So I gave the props to Pac," he continued, "and the props to Eazy, because they made me feel like I could do it, so that's what I feel has me here right now." [28.8 RealVideo]

TQ was also able to get Tha Dogg Pound reunited for an appearance on "Bye Bye Baby," the second single from "They Never Saw Me Coming," which also includes guest spots from E-40, Ericka Yancey and Tray-Dee and is due in stores November 17.

• TQ

Describing his style as a mix between old soul and gangsta rap, R&B singer TQ claims to be a breed apart from most of the artists involved in the genre today.

TQ's first single, "Westside," offers up props to such West Coast pioneers such as Ice Cube, Too Short, Easy-E and Tupac Shakur, as well as a special dedication to the East Coast-based Notorious B.I.G.

"Even though Biggie wasn't from the West Coast," TQ explained in an interview with the MTV Radio Network, "he still gave off that storytelling vibe that was amazing. He could tell a story and paint a picture and make you see what exactly was goin' on."

"And people could relate to him," he continued, "regardless of any hate that was going on or anything that the magazines were saying. [People] related to Biggie, they loved him on the West Coast." [300k Audio]

TQ is scheduled to cut a re-mixed version of "Westside" with Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, while his next single, "Bye Bye Baby," features a remix that reunites Daz Dillinger and Kurupt of Tha Dogg Pound.

TQ will release his debut album, "They Never Saw Me Coming," in the fall.

• Notorious B.I.G.
• TQ