"This is definitely not a one-shot deal," the singer, whose real name is Dana Owens, told The Denver Post . "Hopefully, with the success of it, I'll be in it till I'm dead. I've always looked at singing as something I can do forever. I don't know if I can rap forever. I don't know that I can stay as hot as the hottest girl in the game."

It was her experience in the 1998 feature film "Living Out Loud," co-starring alongside Holly Hunter and Danny DeVito, that led to her new album. She played nightclub singer Liz Bailey and sang a couple of jazz standards.

The Dana Owens Album (Interscope Records; $13.98) is out this week.

The new album, where she tackles songs by Al Green and The Mamas & the Papas, is something of a departure for an artist whose last record was Order in the Court, one of 1998's better efforts at combining R&B and hip-hop.