LOS ANGELES — Fantasia made a lot friends recording her debut album, but only one was ... so addictive.

"Working with Missy Elliott was like chilling with somebody from back home," the High Point, North Carolina, singer said. "She was really chill, we cracked jokes, she called me country. We just had a blast. I'll work with her any day. She knew what I went through, she knew my struggle [of being a single mom]. All the songs that [she wrote], I relate to."

In the end, Miss E and Fantasia collaborated on three tracks for Free Yourself, including the title track.

"I always tell people, I freed myself from a lot of situations," Fantasia said. "And there's a lot of people out there who are going through some situations who wanna know how to come out."

Although Fantasia performed "Free Yourself" at last week's American Music Awards, the album's first single is actually "Truth Is," produced by Soulshock & Karlin (Tupac, Usher).

"It's a song that a lot of young women can relate to," Fantasia said. "We have our crushes and we tend to leave them behind for a while and run back into 'em, and you say to yourself, 'Oh God, I still have feelings for him.' "

Fantasia shot a video for the track last week with Diane Martel, who has made videos for Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake and Snoop Dogg. The clip will combine performance footage with a storyline following Fantasia as she sees an old boyfriend at a restaurant and then struggles to get him out of her head. "A lot of people are gonna be like ... [gasp]," Fantasia said of the video.

Free Yourself, due Tuesday (November 23), also features tracks produced by Jermaine Dupri, Rodney Jerkins and the Underdogs (see "Missy Elliott, R. Kelly Helping Fantasia With Her Debut LP").

Fantasia is also releasing her own lip gloss line this week with M-A-C Cosmetics that includes the copper-colored Fantabulous 1 and the reddened bronze Fantabulous 2.