For more than a decade, North Carolina crooner Anthony Hamilton has been one of the most consistent and unmistakable voices in R&B. Boasting a one-of-a-kind sound that effortlessly achieves the balance between struggle and success, the "Comin' From Where I'm From" singer has established himself as the catalyst to making a good song even better.

On his next album, which is set to come out later this year, the southern songwriter has enlisted some big names to help broaden his sound even further, he revealed to BET.com. "I got Timbaland, Salaam Remi, I'm goin' in with 9th Wonder and I'm reconnecting with Mark Sparks and bringing him back into my life musically," Hamilton said.

Sparks, a Grammy-winning producer, has been working with Hamilton since Hamilton's third album, Soulife, including on the Macy Gray-assisted "Love and War."

"It's important to keep people on their toes, keep 'em guessing and keep 'em excited, like I like the way Beyoncé will go and do one of the biggest records you ever heard and then she'll do one of the grimiest records you ever heard, so with Mark Sparks especially I want to go back to [the sound on] some of my old stuff, that raw and edgier sound," he noted.

Plus, "I'm gonna be going in with Pharrell," Hamilton said. "We haven't been able to get our timing together, but we've been going back and forth trying to connect and we definitely still got the synergy going."

Hamilton's as-yet-untitled next album will be his eighth full-length studio release.

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 (Photo: Peter Van Breukelen/Redferns via Getty Images)