Jordin Sparks, whose feature film debut comes Aug. 17 with “Sparkle,” is already looking ahead to her next album.
The singer, who won “American Idol” season six when she was only 17 in 2007, has seven songs already collected for the project. She tells Billboard that she is also writing for the album. “It”s going to be different from what my fans have heard before,” she says of the project. “I”m going for more of the R&B side now.”
Among the producers she has worked with are Harmony Samuels, Da Internz, and Pop Wansel & Oak. On her wish list is Harvey Mason Jr., with whom she worked on the “Sparkle” soundtrack.
Sparks’ last album, “Battlefield,” came out in 2009, but she admits that fans may have to wait a little longer for the follow-up. She is now shooting a new film, “The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete” in New York. The film also stars fellow “AI” alum Jennifer Hudson and Anthony Mackie; Alicia Keys is an executive producer.
I interviewed Sparks along with her “Sparkle” co-stars last week and we will be posting that video closer to the movie”s release. During our chat, Sparks talked about her lasting memories of working with Whitney Houston, who would have turned 49 today.