Erykah Badu isn't the only soul diva putting Dallas on the map. Locally raised singer N'Dambi, who's collaborated with Badu in the past, garnered acclaim for three of her own albums in the past decade. The fourth, Pink Elephant, will be released Tuesday, and is her first on the historic Memphis R&B label Stax Records.

She joins legendary names such as Otis Redding and Sam and Dave on the label's roster, as well as contemporary singers Nikka Costa and Lalah Hathaway. Pink Elephant's leadoff single, "Can't Hardly Wait," features an unforgettable kiss-off chorus: "Can't hardly wait to be through with you/Can't hardly wait/But still I'm [expletive]in' witchoo."

"It's about that bad habit or relationship you have that you want to shake," N'Dambi said during a recent phone chat from New York. "And the word choice in the chorus – there's no other word to say it as well as that one."

Relationship problems fuel some of the tunes on the new record, while other songs show off her knack for creating stories and characters.

"A lot of times, songs come out of nowhere," she says. "I feel like it's some sort of divine intervention, the thing I'm supposed to write."

Here's more from the chat with N'Dambi, who now calls both Dallas and Los Angeles home.

Q: You're releasing your first album on Stax Records, which would impress any fan of soul music. How did that deal come about?

N'Dambi: That's an exciting opportunity I'm glad to take advantage of. A while back, the A&R person for the label contacted me because he thought I'd be a good fit for Stax. He'd heard the music I'd done prior to that. At the same time, my manager was looking at Stax as a possible home for me.

It just seemed like everything worked out.

Q: When you set out to record the album, in what ways did you want to carry on the Stax legacy?

N'Dambi: I had a conversation with the VP of A&R. He asked, "What kind of record do you want to make?" It was good having that idea of what I wanted and being able to tell them the concept. I said that I wanted to bring a record that borrowed elements from the past but in a new way. He knew where I was coming from. And Stax is a Southern-based label, and I could connect to that because I'm from the South. And I wanted to understand the history, so I tried to find out everything I could about Stax's legacy and music. One thing I felt like I had in common with the artists was the true heart and spirit of the music. It was produced, but it wasn't as polished as the Motown sound. It came from an organic place. It spoke to my heart, and I kept that organic element attached to what I did. It felt like a good marriage.

Q: For those who don't know much about the producer you worked with on the record, Leon Sylvers III, talk about what drew you to him.

N'Dambi: Thinking about how music is made, I thought about how Michael Jackson worked with Quincy Jones, Quincy already being established and having done a lot of work. By the time Michael wanted to make a record, that seemed to be what he needed. So I thought about what I love. ... When I think about production, [Sylvers' records] Misdemeanor and The Only One registered with me. There's the bassline and there's movement happening, even though you may not know what all the mechanics are. And you go back and look at other things Leon has done, from Klymaxx to the Whispers and Shalamar. They all had these funky sounds and were really cool. And eventually I had the opportunity to get together with Leon, and it worked out. We got together and every time I had an idea, he helped me articulate that in the music. ... He really made a deliberate effort to work with my lyrics and make sure there was a beginning, middle and end, like a story.

Q: Do you start with lyrics when writing, or do you need a groove first?

N'Dambi: I've done every approach to writing. I will start with a bassline and try to work a melody around it. Sometimes a trick is, how do you get a melody to move when a bassline is prominent? I'm driven by basslines and drums first. But there's also the approach of writing lyrics first. I'll have a story but no melody, and I have to figure out how to make that work. Then I'll sometimes have the melody first and try to think of what goes with it.

Q: "L.I.E." and "Nobody Jones" stand out as strong story songs on the record. How did you come up with those?

N'Dambi: When you spell out Long Island Expressway, it's L.I.E. I knew there was something I could do with that. So it became a story about a man who works in Manhattan and is a salesman. And he's selling these lies every day, and people buy them. Then he goes home to this perfect lifestyle, but it's not really perfect, because he's living this other life. He's got money in a Swiss account and a lover in France. ... But it's, like, such a grand story ­ how do you fit all that into a song? So that was a challenge that I enjoyed. "Nobody Jones" was one of those things – I passed a boutique with that name. And I thought, what if that was a girl's name, and she was named that on purpose because she didn't have a good environment to grow up in, and her light was taken from her from the start?

So how does she exceed those expectations and prove that she's above her name? So I got all that from just a boutique name. I like coming up with concepts like that.

Q: The images and videos that accompany your albums are so striking. Is that part of the business fun for you or no?

N'Dambi: It's funny, because I think I have an alter-ego. Her name is Maxine. [Laughs] Sometimes she takes over. But other times I come into that shy girl part of me, and it becomes harder to do the photography stuff. But it's a love-hate relationship with it. I love what the end results are, but sometimes I have a hard time articulating what I want on the front end. You are just very vulnerable in a photo shoot, because it shows who you are. It's like looking into the window of your eyes. You see details that you don't usually see. Once it's on photograph, that's it.

Q: You call Dallas and LA your hometowns – how are the two different for you?

N'Dambi: One of the differences with LA is that when you're in LA you can be on, 24-7, go-go-go, but you also have the advantage of slowing it down. In Dallas, when I'm at home, I'm not working in the same capacity. I do some work just by watching people. But really, I'm wriggling my toes on the porch swing and watching the world go by.

Q: You've worked with a few Dallas artists, including Keite Young and Erykah Badu. Who else impresses you?

N'Dambi: I have worked with Geno Young and am still working on stuff with him. I'm still open to working with Dallas people, because I like to see Dallas win. I want us to get as many opportunities to shine as possible. It's important for people all over the world to know the art that exists in Dallas.

Q: What do you think about all the dance-oriented rap songs that are breaking big from here?

N'Dambi: It's something you can get into. Every element of music allows for expression. It's important to explore all avenues when you're being creative.

Q: We've lost two of the greats in the past couple of years – Isaac Hayes and Michael Jackson. How did each influence you?

N'Dambi: I am definitely influenced by both, especially on this album. Isaac, because he was good at arranging a musical landscape that felt like a storyboard. My new song "The One" is influenced by an interpolation of the song he did, "Walk on By." I love his arrangement for that -- it's like a great movie. I love the way he took his voice and used it as an instrument. Michael -- I love the way he would incorporate a lot of different elements in his songs. He used his mouth to make sounds like instruments. Beyond his dancing, which was amazing, he had so many ideas. If you listen to some of his demos ... wow. It's sad that we don't have people like that anymore. It's hard to have the words or even the experience to match what they do.

Details: Pink Elephant hits stores Tuesday. N'Dambi will perform a free in-store set Tuesday at 9 p.m. at Good Records, 1808 Greenville Ave. She'll be back in town Oct. 30 and 31 at Muse Café Theater for two shows presented by the Black Academy of Arts and Letters. 9 p.m. both nights at 650 S. Griffin St. $20. 1-800-345-7000 or ticketmaster.com. myspace.com/ndambi.