On first inspection, Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine may not seem the likeliest candidate to earn cachet in rap and soul circles.

But a closer listen to It Won't Be Soon Before Long, out this week, reveals a soul-inflected falsetto, old-school shadows of Prince and Michael Jackson and hip-hop grooves in Wake Up Call and A Little of Your Time.

Urban artists recognized those traits on the band's Songs About Jane and soon began tapping Levine for their own projects.

In 2005, Levine had guest spots on the Ying Yang Twins' Live Again, Kanye West's Heard 'Em Say and Alicia Keys' cover of the Rolling Stones' Wild Horses.

That year, he also performed with Mos Def at Clive Davis' celebrity-packed pre-Grammy party and sang Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours with Stevie Wonder at Live 8.

"I love R&B and hip-hop," Levine says. "That's where I come from as a musician and a songwriter. To me, rock 'n' roll is so stale. It's hit a wall.

"The innovations I've seen, the cool music I've listened to, it's not rock. More interesting things are happening in the hip-hop universe."

Mike Elizondo, who co-produced the new Maroon 5 disc, says Levine's passion and musical patchworks denote an evolutionary jump.

"Hip-hop obviously has seeped into every aspect of our culture," he says. "Maroon 5 is part of the first generation who listened to everything: pop, R&B, hip-hop, as well as rock.

"In years to come, we'll see more bands seamlessly putting those influences together. Right now, these guys are at the cutting edge of that mentality. They're open-minded about all the sounds out there, and it makes their music exciting and fresh."

Enlarge By Brad Barket, Getty Images Mixing it up: Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine is in demand with R&B and hip-hop artists, including Kanye West, left.