Ciara

R&B singer Ciara is hard at work on her sophomore project ?The Evolution.? The singer, who has been crowned the "First Lady of Crunk & B," says she did not want to be boxed in to just one type of sound for this album.

She tells MTV.com, "I'm giving you music you can yeek to," referring to an ATL dance embraced by Outkast in "The Way You Move" video, among others. "We used to yeek in Atlanta ? it's an energy that's crazy," she explained. "It's cool, heavy [on] 808 [drums]. Unfortunately, back then it was never given the opportunity to be exposed worldwide. So I feel like, as I'm given the chance to do it, I'm gonna embrace it."

For this project, she's working with a host of new names with contributions from regulars like Jazze Pha. Now, I?m excited about all the new producers I'm working with. They're actually new; they've never been on any artist's album, period. And that?s special to me because that's what their dream is and I'm giving them the chance to do it. To me it's all about that new person and that new energy," she tells MTV.

The singer also revealed she'll be writing and producing tracks for this album. "Oh my goodness," she exclaimed. "Everything is so exciting, honestly. There's so many things going on right now and to just be able to grow [artistically] and have this, I'm appreciating everything, every moment of it. I think everyone will like it when they hear it. The energy ? I'm taking it to another level."