Since Janet Jackson became pop's heavyweight champion in the nasty-girl division, contenders have been coming out to take a few feeble jabs and retire to their corners in disgrace. An exception to this rule is Jody Watley, a former Shalamar vocalist whose debut solo album opens with the most audacious challenge so far to Jackson's cool rule. "Looking for a New Love," Watley's first single, is patterned so closely after "What Have You Done for Me Lately" – its attitude, phrasing, spoken asides, sly syncopation – that it sounds like a solid follow-up, not a shrewd knockoff. Producers André Cymone and David Z. (who are, like Jackson's producers, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, disaffected former members of the Prince posse) serve up a juicy slice of neo-funk, alternately raw and refined, and Watley bites in with reckless, ruthless zest. The result, no matter how reheated, is already one of the year's sharpest crossover hits and the ideal intro to an album that will probably be spinning off hit singles for some time to come.

If Watley can't match Jackson's compelling message of sassy self-determination or the coherence a single production team brought to her album (Cymone and David Z. share Watley with Bernard Edwards and Madonna man Patrick Leonard), she makes up for it with a richer and more supple range and an effortless adaptability. Watley plays a haughty femme fatale, an infatuated babe, an eager sex kitten ("You showed me things I never thought I'd do," she purrs), but her vocals establish her as a serious pro; she gets to the song's emotional point. Cymone and David Z. are right there with her, providing a Princely support of gritty groove lines and insinuating synth squiggles. Edwards and Leonard are less impressive, but the only real flop is the album-closing "Learn to Say No," a dismal, sticky-sweet duet with George Michael, which Edwards produced. If Jody isn't this year's Janet, it's not for lack of trying; given this much stylish substance, Watley could easily be the one in control. (RS 500)

VINCE ALETTI