Jamie Foxx restarts the party with new album

Entertainer Jamie Foxx performs at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Trumpet Competition and Herbie Hancock Tribute in Hollywood October 28, 2007.
REUTERS/Max Morse

By Gary Graff

DETROIT (Billboard) - Jamie Foxx says he wanted his new album, "Intuition," to bang a little harder than his chart-topping, double-platinum 2005 release "Unpredictable."

"'Unpredictable" was more, like, slow, bedroom things, which was great but when I went on the road we had all these ballads, so sometimes I had to work a little harder to keep people's attention," the singer and actor tells Billboard.com.

"With ('Intuition'), we've got all these legitimate club, international hits and the tempo is up. People hear this record and go absolutely nuts for it."

Foxx spent the better part of the past two years working on "Intuition," which comes out December 16 via J. He's assembled a Grammy-pedigreed cast of guests and producers, including T.I. (on the first single, "Just Like Me"), Kanye West, the-Dream and Tricky Stewart, Ne-Yo, Fabolous, Timbaland and Floetry's Marsha Ambrosius. "Number One," with Lil Wayne, is currently being "floated" into the clubs, while "Blame It," with T-Pain, is slated to be worked in mid-January.

"I think people are slowly wanting to work with me more as far as music is concerned," notes Foxx, who studied piano on a scholarship to United States International University. "I do run into a lot of roadblocks. I've been trying to break down those sort of preconceived thoughts that this is just a hobby to me or ... 'He's already got enough.' People want to work with you, but sometimes they don't take it seriously until they hear the records and see the direction I'm going with. I think it'll be even easier to get people to feature with me for the next record."

Foxx says that could come as early as a year from now as he seeks to "get my content up." He plans to tour for "Intuition" in the spring, after he finishes a 10-week shoot for "Law Abiding Citizen," a drama with Jerry Butler. His next film, "The Soloist" -- the true-life story of homeless cello virtuoso Nathaniel Ayers -- is due in theaters this March.

"I just see something really high-energy," Foxx says of the shows. "I see myself probably with Ne-Yo, out on the road, a little different demographic than what 'Unpredictable' was. A high-energy, great show -- just hit 'em and quit 'em."

Reuters/Billboard