Huffpost Black Voices

Ten years after becoming the winner of “American Idol’s” second season, Ruben Studdard has released his 6th studio album this month entitled, “Unconditional Love.”

The 11-track opus finds the Birmingham, Alabama native collaborating with the likes of Eric Benét, Lalah Hathaway, and world renown producer-musician, David Foster. And though the 35-year-old crooner is celebrating his ten year “American Idol” anniversary in May, he has no qualms about the show being referenced as his claim to fame.

“For a boy from Alabama who had no idea of how to enter the music industry after getting no responses to the demos I was sending in, it was a great blessing,” he said during a recent interview with Billboard. “It’s a six-month music industry crash course. But what you learn quickly after leaving the show is that the industry is and isn’t ‘American Idol.’ A.I. is a huge pop show, but the urban market is completely different. Still, the show was first class from the time I stepped off the plane.”