LeToya Luckett calls it like she sees it on her sophomore disc, "Lady Love." The smoldering mix of tracks features a confident, straight-talking 28-year-old who proves she's miles from her Destiny's Child persona of the past.

Luckett coos a breathy plea for the kind of man her life's been missing on the sexy "I Need A U." And on the echoing "Over," Luckett confidently warns her mate about what would happen if his fidelity ever came into question.

It's not that Luckett is simply edgy, it's that she's believable _ peppering the disc, and a song like "Regret," featuring Ludacris, with just the right amount of toughness (and a choice word or two, justifying the CD's explicit label).