Jamie Foxx

Fresh off an Oscar® win for his pitch-perfect portrayal of Ray Charles, Jamie Foxx was ready to rule the charts the minute 2005's Unpredictable — his first album in more than a decade — dropped. And what do you know? The platter went platinum, elbowing one of its guest stars — Mary J. Blige, the queen bee atop the carbonated groove of "Love Changes" — out of Billboard's top position and earning Foxx some serious street cred as a silky R&B singer. That's why his third full-length, Intuition, features such heavy-hitters as T.I., Lil Wayne, and an Auto-Tuned T-Pain, a favor Foxx returns on such standout guest spots as the piano-led slow-burner "Live In the Sky" and the Ray-referencing Kanye West cut, "Gold Digger."

As for what Foxx's first album sounded like, we showcase its best songs in our Next Steps.

Back when Jamie Foxx was one of the breakout stars on In Living Color, few viewers knew about his other talent — a knees-weakening, silky-smooth voice. To hear what we mean, you might want to start with Foxx's 1994 debut, Peep This, from the sneaky synths and card deck-like shuffle of "Experiment" to the high-note-nailing "Light a Candle." Once you've taken those in over a glass of wine, may we recommend exploring Foxx's club-conquering side? While the slinky samples of 50 Cent's single "Build You Up" are paired up perfectly with Foxx's honey-dipped hooks, "Psst!" is a syrupy Snoop Dogg song with speaker-flexing basslines and girl-chasing catcalls.

It'd be enough if Jamie Foxx's solo albums simply proved that the guy could sing. The fact that he's turned buttery ballads and R. Kelly-caliber R&B hooks into a second career — right alongside award-winning movie roles — is nothing short of stunning. That is, until you hear that voice of his, a sturdy but sleek presence in such major pop crossover cuts as "Blame It," "Unpredictable," "Slow Jamz," and his Dreamgirls duet with Beyoncé, "When I First Saw You." About "Slow Jamz": while Foxx's other Kanye West collaboration, "Gold Digger," is fresher in the minds of most listeners, the pair's first single was easily the turning point in Foxx's career — the moment when we all stared thinking, Is that really the guy from Ray and Collateral? Oh, yes it is.