R&B veteran Keith Sweat returns May 6 with new album, "Just Me." His first new studio album since 2002's "Rebirth," the Keia/Atco/Rhino release features cameos by Keyshia Cole ("Love Your Better") and Athena Cage ("Butterscotch"), who was Sweat's duet partner on the 1996 No. 1 R&B/No. 3 pop hit "Nobody."
In addition to co-writing and producing most of the album, Sweat collaborated with Teddy Riley, Roy Battle and the Ambassadorz. Produced by Wirlie "Wyl-E" Morris, sexy lead single "Suga Suga Suga" featuring Paisley Bettis moves 45-39 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart this week and climbs into the top 10 on Adult R&B.
"This new album is something I've been working on for a while," Sweat tells Billboard.com. "You hear other artists out here who make the mistake of trying to be trendy. But I'm staying true to who I've always been as an artist. When radio stations think their core audience doesn't fit my core audience, that's wrong. I get just as many 18-34 listeners at my shows as 25+ listeners. Radio is missing a whole audience out there by not checking for veteran artists."
Sweat is presently on a 19-city tour to promote "Just Me." The singer/songwriter, who charted his first crossover hit in 1987 with "I Want Her," just celebrated his first anniversary as host of Premiere Radio Networks' "The Keith Sweat Hotel."
Airing Sunday through Friday from 7 p.m.-midnight, the syndicated show has welcomed such guests as Robin Thicke, Alicia Keys and John Legend since debuting in February 2007 with 12 stations. That number has more than doubled, with KMJM in St. Louis, KSSM-FM in Killeen, Texas, and WXBT-GM in Columbia, S.C., being the latest additions to the station lineup.
In addition to co-writing and producing most of the album, Sweat collaborated with Teddy Riley, Roy Battle and the Ambassadorz. Produced by Wirlie "Wyl-E" Morris, sexy lead single "Suga Suga Suga" featuring Paisley Bettis moves 45-39 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart this week and climbs into the top 10 on Adult R&B.
"This new album is something I've been working on for a while," Sweat tells Billboard.com. "You hear other artists out here who make the mistake of trying to be trendy. But I'm staying true to who I've always been as an artist. When radio stations think their core audience doesn't fit my core audience, that's wrong. I get just as many 18-34 listeners at my shows as 25+ listeners. Radio is missing a whole audience out there by not checking for veteran artists."
Sweat is presently on a 19-city tour to promote "Just Me." The singer/songwriter, who charted his first crossover hit in 1987 with "I Want Her," just celebrated his first anniversary as host of Premiere Radio Networks' "The Keith Sweat Hotel."
Airing Sunday through Friday from 7 p.m.-midnight, the syndicated show has welcomed such guests as Robin Thicke, Alicia Keys and John Legend since debuting in February 2007 with 12 stations. That number has more than doubled, with KMJM in St. Louis, KSSM-FM in Killeen, Texas, and WXBT-GM in Columbia, S.C., being the latest additions to the station lineup.
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