Who At nineteen, Houston R&B songstress Valentine has already been in the game for more than five years. In 1999, local producer Deja selected Valentine to front a Destiny's Child-style girl group. After the project imploded, Valentine continued working with Deja on solo material, logging so many hours in his studio after school that her mom kicked her out of the house. "She's like, 'When I'm not at work I'm going to be with my daughter,' " says Valentine. "But I was always writing." Her sacrifice paid off: Valentine's debut album, Chain Letter, is out March 15th.

Sound Valentine teamed with Lil Jon and Big Boi for her hit single "Girlfight" and cut the cocky kiss-off "Blah Blah Blah" with Ol' Dirty Bastard shortly before he died. But she's just as comfortable being a girly-girl. On the R&B track "Long as You Come Home," she sings with the vulnerability of her influences Anita Baker and Janet Jackson. "That's me," she says. "One day I'm with a guy and I'm like, 'Shut up!' and then the next day I'm like, 'Hug me!' "