Joe Returns to Take On the New R&B Generation

(andPOP) - "You're hot right now," basketball legend Charles Barkley tells Dwyane Wade, the young Miami Heat star, in a recent phone commercial.

"But," Barkley adds, "I'm a legend."

Joe, the veteran crooner who goes by one name, brings up that commercial during an interview with andPOP last week as we discuss the current R&B scene.

"I look at myself in between those two kind of guys," he says, on tour in London, England. "I got the old school experience, I got that legendary experience, but I'm still competing. I'm competing with these new cats out here."

Even before we approach that subject, Joe is quick to point out that he is ready to compete with the new generation of R&B singers – Omarion, Ne-Yo and Chris Brown, he names in particular.

Joe has taken some time off from the music business – it's been more than three years since his last release – but his sixth album, "Ain't Nothing Like Me," hits stores on Tuesday. His last two albums have both achieved Gold-status, so it's not like Joe has had to fight with his record label to get another album made. He just wanted some time off, got preoccupied with other business ventures (a clothing line, a liquor brand), and before he knew it, he was thought to be M.I.A.

As I start the interview by asking him why he wanted the time off, he wastes no time before mentioning the new singers who all have hit it big in Joe's absence. Coincidence? Not in Joe's eyes.

"It cleared up some space for other artists to sort of come in and do what they had to do," he says. "It's almost like a competitive stage between all those guys."

And Joe is ready to enter himself into that competition again.

"I'm not even concerned with all those guys," he says. "Trust me, I'm going to bust their ass. They entertain and it's mostly dancing and their image and look is all the same. But they can't pick up a guitar or sit down at a piano and do it crazy. I can go from one level to the next. There are no boundaries that I have when it comes to this."

He'll try to back that up with the release of "Ain't Nothing Like Me," a more up-tempo album than his fans might be used to. While putting the album together, Joe consulted with Mark Pitts, who co-founded Bad Boy Records and worked in A&R at Jive, about how he would shape the sound.

"We decided that we were going to take R&B to a whole other level. Let's get together and bring it back to Keith Sweat 'I Wanna' and Bobby Brown 'My Prerogative,' 'Every Little Step,' so we wanted to take it back to when R&B was more up-tempo."

Joe is also embracing hip-hop more so than he ever has on an album. In the past, he's been embraced by hip-hop artists who have called upon him for cameos on their albums (G-Unit, Big Pun).

"Now I'm reaching out for the favours," he says. The album features appearances by Nas, Fabolous, Yayo, Young Buck, Dre and Papoose. "I have a lot of respect in this industry. They understand how difficult this business is, so for me to have such longevity, they really respect that. You have artists on the biggest level who want to work with me and I'm happy to oblige because I'm a fan of their music as well."

An artist can't be that self-assured without having the history to back it up. Joe, 33, released his debut album, "Everything," in 1993. The album failed to fly off the shelves, but it did churn out a couple hit singles, the most notable being "I'm in Luv." He signed with a new record label, Jive, and released "All That I Am" in 1997. The sophomore release went platinum and coupled with his appearance on Mariah Carey's No. 1 song "Thank God I Found You," Joe found himself as one of R&B's hottest new artists.

His next album, 2000's "My Name is Joe," went on to sell over 3 million copies, thanks to the smash hits "I Wanna Know" and "Stutter." His next two albums sold 500,000 copies each, but he's hoping to return to that triple-platinum status.

"I'm not going to lie, it's definitely in the back of my mind to do better than 'My Name is Joe,'" he says. "But if we only sell 500,000, that's still cool with me because at the end of the day, I see how it resonates from me writing songs to doing the shows. I've never won a major award, but when I'm on stage, it's like I've won 10 or 20 awards with the reception that I get from the audience."

In that phone commercial, as Barkley explains to Wade that he is an icon, a young waitress approaches the table.

"I am such a big fan of yours," she tells Wade, before catching a glimpse of the other man at the table. "Oh I'm sorry. Is this your dad?"

That wouldn't happen to Joe, he says. He's eager to compete, but he's not ready to retire.

"I came in at the tail end of new jack swing, continued through the reign of hip-hop for the past 18 years and I'm still here with the new generation."