Thug Life Army

Flavor Flav

The VH1 reality show "The Surreal Life, thrust this hip hop icon back into the limelight; thanks to his scene-stealing appearances " Public Enemy rapper Flavor Flav is working on a new album with PE colleague Chuck D as well as a solo disc. A new single, "Flavor Man," will be out early next year.

Of the as-yet-untitled solo effort, the Viking helmet-clad Flav tells Billboard.com, "The only people I really feature on it are the Beatnuts. I ran into the great, great, great Ce Ce Peniston, and we''re talking about doing a song together. I''m not going to remake one of her songs -- I''m going to remake a song and have Ce Ce on it. I want to help bring my girl back to the surface."

After years of turbulent relationships with record labels, Flav insists, "I''m going independent right now. Right now, I''m going to release it. I will spend my own money to press it up until someone picks it up. I don''t want to sign with another record company. All companies I sign to make money off of me. Now it's my turn to make some money off of me!"

Public Enemy's label status is also up in the air. The group's most recent album, "Revolverlution," was released in 2002 by Koch. "Me and Chuck have an album brewing up right now," Flav says. "It's really almost done. Honestly, this album is way better than our most recent albums. But I''m not sure exactly what label it will come out on -- to be determined."

For the time being, fans can absorb a dose of Flav on the track "Come on Down," from De La Soul's new Sanctuary album, "The Grind Date."

Thanks to the romance Flav began on "The Surreal Life" with co-star Brigitte Nielsen, the pair will soon be seen in their own reality show, "Strange Love," which premieres early next year on VH1.

"The only love life I really have is with me and my kids," the rapper says. "''The Surreal Life'' was a good thing, but it was just a vehicle. My main purpose moving to Los Angeles from New York in the first place was to switch over into television. I''m happy to have been part of the biggest and highest rated show VH1 has ever had. I have goals I want to reach, so hopefully TV can help me reach them."