Ruben Studdard is ecstatic that December's finally here. Not just because his debut album, Soulful, is due Tuesday (December 9), but because the college football regular season is over.

"Every time I go to a game, I miss football," admitted the Birmingham, Alabama, singer, who gave up a football scholarship at Alabama A&M to focus on music. "But I'm doing this, and this is why I left school."

By "this," Studdard means recording a highly anticipated soul album (see [article id="1480423"]"Missy Bails But Ja Rule Prevails On Ruben Studdard's Debut LP"[/article]). For the "Velvet Teddy Bear" (as Gladys Knight dubbed him), Soulful is also a dream chance to honor heroes like Donny Hathaway and Luther Vandross while working with some of R&B's top hitmakers.

Along the way, he's also gotten to collaborate with his favorite rapper, Fat Joe, and favorite gospel singer, Fred Hammond, and make a couple of videos, including one for his Underdogs-produced latest single, "Sorry 2004," with Bryan Barber (Outkast, Jagged Edge) directing.

Hard to believe he almost missed his shot.

"I didn't want to go, man. I thought it was cheesy, I did," Studdard said, recalling his first "American Idol" audition. "My band was really doing well, so, like, you can get caught up in being a local superstar. ... We thought 700 people was big. So I was like, 'I'm not going up there, man. We're making $500 a week to play at this club; who needs 'American Idol?' "

Studdard never did audition in nearby Atlanta, but when his friend asked him to drive along to the Nashville tryouts, he went. Six months or so later, enough Americans voted for him to edge out Clay Aiken for the title.

Needless to say, he no longer considers "American Idol" cheesy.

"I'm never gonna be that person that's like, 'I'm sick of "American Idol," ' " Studdard said. "I wear it [on a pendant] on my neck every day, AI2, 'cause it means a lot. It was a momentous occasion, not only for me but the African-American community and for America. It was just a blessing that me, a big Southern black guy, won a pop show."

Studdard admits to being a bit stubborn, so it was imperative he respect the brains behind "American Idol," his new management and record label, going into his album. Still, like his physique suggests, he's no pushover.

"I do my thing, man, and if I don't want to do something, I ain't gonna do it," he said. "It's been kinda 50/50 -- I think we've all brought ideas about the record to the table and it's worked out. I have a musical genius like Clive Davis working on my side, and he's produced Whitney Houston and all those other people. And then I went to school for music, so I have a lot to bring to the table as well. So we both came together and I think we made a brilliant product."

Two of Studdard's proudest moments on Soulful are "What Is Sexy," which was once a Ja Rule collaboration but now features Fat Joe, and "Can I Get Your Attention," which was originally the Fat Joe track but now features Pretty Tony.

"Hip-hop is hip-hop, and R&B is R&B but sometimes they make a wonderful mixture together," he said of the tunes. "Hip-hop is like a virus, it takes over. I can remember when I was young and my momma used to tell me to turn Run-DMC records down. Now my momma's rapping. I can remember going to LL Cool J concerts and my momma says, 'This is the last rap concert I'm ever going to!' And now she's like, 'Hey, I hear 50 Cent's coming to Birmingham, how 'bout you find me some tickets?' It's infectious."

Once Soulful is in stores, Studdard plans to devote his time to touring, getting his band, Just a Few Cats, in front of crowds a little larger than 700 people.

"That's my thing," he said. Well, at least until college football gets going again.

—Corey Moss, with additional reporting by [article id="1453175"]John Norris[/article]