Brown Dabbling In Film, TV Prior To New Album

[Damien J.]

Chris Brown is definitely thinking about his sophomore album, but we'll be seeing the platinum-plus teen R&B singer more than we'll be hearing him in the coming months.

The 17-year-old Brown -- who topped the charts with "Run It," the first single from his nearly double-platinum self-titled 2005 debut album -- already has credits on both the big ("Step Up") and small ("One on One") screens. He'll add to that with "Stomp the Yard," a college-themed dance film due out Jan. 12, and with a guest arc on "The O.C.," playing "a band geek" in several episodes of the Fox TV drama's upcoming season.

"I'm playing a nerd, I guess," Brown tells Billboard.com with a laugh. "It's not just a one-episode thing; it's more like a cast member, more like eight [episodes]. We haven't started shooting yet, so you'll just have to watch the show."

Brown -- who also has hopes of developing a clothing line -- says that acting "shows different avenues of my skills" but is "similar" in some ways to music.

"When you're on stage or in a video, it's kind of like acting, not being yourself," he explains. "You're being an artist, not like you'd be every day at home. So there's a little bit of both in there."

Brown is "still focusing on the music aspect" of his life and has a portable studio on the road with him during his current Up Close And Personal tour. "We're working on certain stuff for the new album," Brown says, but he doesn't expect to start recording until later this year.

"Anything we record now is just for fun, really," he says. "We haven't really started working on the new album and probably won't start until December. I've got a lot of ideas coming up, but I just want to have fun with it, make sure it's just being me, and positive."

This report is provided by Billboard.com