Ethiopian-born artist Kenna's full-length debut, "New Sacred Cow," is set for a June 10 release from Columbia Records. The album was originally scheduled to be released in 2001 on Fred Durst's Flawless imprint although it is unclear why it never previously saw the light of day.

Chad Hugo of N.E.R.D. and the Neptunes, who went to high school with Kenna in Virginia Beach, Va., produced "New Sacred Cow." The pair began working on the album four years ago at Teddy Riley's studio, as Kenna told Billboard in 2001.

"Hip-hop and R&B can be a weird mentality to step in and out of, and I couldn't handle it," Kenna says. "I turned to Chad and said, 'I have to come up with a record that is me -- the kid who can get into a Stevie Wonder and Donna Hathaway record just as fast as Daft Punk, Radiohead, the Cars, and U2. Can you help me?' That day we wrote [New Sacred Cow's] 'Red Man.'"

The overall result spans a wide variety of genres. "Chad and I wrote this record so people would think outside the box," Kenna said, adding that it might prove troublesome to radio programmers trying to peg the artist to a genre -- a "formatting nightmare."

The debut single from "New Sacred Cow" is "Hell Bent," which Kenna says is about the changes in his surroundings as he grew up. You can hear clips from each of the album's 13 tracks at Kenna's official Web site.