Aaliyah Finishes New Album During Break From Movies

LOS ANGELES — The jet-setting pace of her film career didn't stop Aaliyah from wrapping up work on her third album.

The as-yet-untitled LP features a guest spot from DMX and production work from Timbaland, with the first single, "Loose Rap," due in early April. The disc itself has not yet been scheduled for release.

"Loose Rap" is "an amazing song," Aaliyah said. "All the music on the album is very different, very edgy. I'm just waiting to see what the fans think — I hope they love it."

The singer, who finished recording the last song for the album Friday night, said she will shoot a dance-oriented video for "Loose Rap."

Aaliyah headed straight for the studio to record the follow-up to 1996's One in a Million after she finished filming "Queen of the Damned" in Australia. She plays the title role in the film, which is based on the third novel in Anne Rice's "Vampire Chronicles."

"It's a really cool film — it's fun, it's scary," Aaliyah said. "I'm the queen mother of all the vampires, the original bad girl. It was a fun part to play."

Aaliyah said she may appear on the soundtrack to the film and welcomes the possibility of collaborating with Korn frontman Jonathan Davis, who is scoring the movie with composer Richard Gibbs.

"I'm a big Korn fan, so it would be cool," she said.

Aaliyah will return to Australia to play the character Zee in sequels to "The Matrix" sometime this month, though she is not scheduled to film her scenes until mid-April. She'll likely be on the set until early summer.

"Queen of the Damned" should be out by October, while "The Matrix 2" is due in the summer of 2002.