Chat 'em up, and most teen pop stars come off seeming only a little bit older than their fans. They get flustered easily, reflect a wide-eyed view of the world, and humble themselves with gratitude to the fans who made it all possible.

Then there's Melissa Williams. Within seconds of getting on the phone with her, this 18-going-on-19-year-old singer makes it clear who's in charge here, who's running this show. Williams has ambitions, an agenda, and a very tight schedule. She rattles off answers with confidence and nary a teen-agey "um" or misplaced "like." And she gives great sound bites - about her new Tour, her just-out new album "All I Am" and her upcoming FOX TV Special in March.

As anyone who's seen her preform at best knows that Williams has the uncommon musical chops to back up her brazen air of confidence. This is one teen pop singer who'll never be accused of lip-synching or heavy reliance on backup singers and distracting dance moves to get her thing across. Scaling the highest sonic terrain, whipping up a maelstrom of pop and soul-flavored emotions, the diminutive Williams is the "Mini-Me" of Divas - threatening to push Madonna and Janet off the precipice.

No surprise, then, that being a concert headliner (with the sexy soul trio Blaque supporting) is now her dream gig come true. "I love headlining," she says. "I did the whole opening act thing in the Fall of 2000, opening for 2Gether. You are limited there in the amount of stage you can use, how long the set list can be. So it's cool, really cool, making all these decisions for myself. It can be a lot of pressure, but I welcome the pressure. If you're passionate about your work and want it to be right, then you want to be in control, have a vision. You want to steer it in the right direction. So I'm very excited. Everyone's so great on my tour. My team, my band and dancers are like my second family. We're all lovers of the stage, of live performing. It's my ultimate passion to get on the stage. It's an amazing opportunity."

While Britney Spears caught some negative attention playing dress-up in those sexy outrageous outfits, Melissa had to deal with a lot controversies as well. She's been linked romantically in the supermarket tabloids to 2Gether's Chad Linus, JC Chasez from Nsync and Enrique Iglesias, but denies most of it.

The singer's equally ambitious producer, Dallas Austin, adds that "Melissa's style of R&B singing is largely unexplored in Pop music." He also sees her breaking down walls because "no artist of her status has ever crossed from Pop to R&B this way." Traditionally, talents like Whitney Houston, Robyn, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey and Shanice "have started out singing Pop music then gradually explored new R&B ventures."

Melissa's whole music career has been a rollercoaster ride. To some that's just, oh, a while, perhaps. For Melissa Williams it's a big part of her life. The woman's working hard.