Monica went into the lab Friday night and got us more than excited about “New Life”. Not only did she send a few tweets out, but the producers of the song did as well. Check out some of the inside info below!

“In the studio working on an incredible song with Oak (@Oakwud) & @popwansel nothing like a solid mid tempo record. Can’t wait until you guys hear New Life.. This album speaks volumes about my WHOLE life. Hurt, happiness, pain, love, joy, my kids & redemption. The pain I’ve experienced makes me appreciate the love I have, so 2nite we taking it back. I’m singing about heartbreak on a mid tempo. Luv it.” (Monica)

Oak tweeted “@Monicamylife is making me wish life was always as easy as recording her!”. The studio session lasted well into the early morning hours of Saturday. From what we hear she wrapped around 4am. For those who are not familiar with Oak’s productions, we have included just a few songs below. Notice… these are “vocal” records! We’re excited!

Oak’s Production credits
Mario – “Kryptonite” and “Why”
Chris Brown – Superhuman (feat. Keri Hilson)
Lloyd – I Can Change Your Life
Ginuwine – Open the Door, Show Off and Orchestra
LeToya – Matter and Tears

R&B singer Monica has revealed details around her forthcoming 7th solo studio album which will be entitled “New Life.” Executive produced by Polow Da Don, the “Everything to Me” singer sheds light on the workings of the project and her excitement.

“Can’t wait until you guys hear New Life,” she writes on Twitter. “This album speaks volumes about my WHOLE life. Hurt, happiness, pain, love, joy, my kids & redemption.”

“The pain I’ve experienced makes me appreciate the love I have” she continued “So 2nite we taking it back. I’m singing about heartbreak on a mid tempo. Luv it.”

‘New Life’ will be the follow-up to Monica’s gold selling 2010 album, ‘Still Standing. ‘

In related news, Monica confirmed her marriage to NBA star Shannon Brown earlier this week.

“This is a very special time in my life,” Monica states. “I am blessed to have married the man that God sent me; he’s loving, compassionate, strong and supportive of my children, family and career. I look forward to our lives together.”

I think we can all agree that Monica has had a great year and it’s not nearly over! Monica has the 10th best selling urban album of the year so far and is only the 10th album to sell 500,000 or more copies. Check out the list below!

Year To Date Sales (Rnb/Hip-Hop):

1 RECOVERY EMINEM 2,501,384
2 SOLDIER OF LOVE SADE 1,251,906
3 RAYMOND V RAYMOND USHER 1,062,503
4 THANK ME LATER DRAKE 1,051,200
5 THE E.N.D. (THE ENERGY NEVER DOES) BLACK EYED PEAS 988,581
6 THANK ME LATER DRAKE 880,478
7 REBIRTH LIL WAYNE 663,642
8 THE ELEMENT OF FREEDOM ALICIA KEYS 646,662
9 BATTLE OF THE SEXES LUDACRIS 531,889
10 STILL STANDING MONICA 501,491
11 RATED R RIHANNA 483,269
12 STRONGER WITH EACH TEAR MARY J BLIGE 414,575
13 B.O.B. PRESNTS: THE ADVENTURES OF BOBBY RAY B.O.B. 394,092
14 TEFLON DON RICK ROSS 381,902
15 READY TREY SONGZ 368,627
16 ANOTHER ROUND JAHEIM 343,076
17 WE ARE YOUNG MONEY YOUNG MONEY 324,772
18 RELAPSE EMINEM 313,791
19 HERE I AM MARVIN SAAP 296,266
20 THE BLUEPRINT 3 Jay-Z 295,292

I had the opportunity to sit down and talk to Monica on the last night of the Passion Pain Pleasure tour at the Beacon in New York. During our conversation she opened up about meeting Shannon Brown and how her ex-boyfriend and father of her children, Rocko, handled Monica’s return to dating. The following is Monica’s complete uncut statement on dating Shannon Brown.

Monica on how she started dating Shannon Brown: “it really happened by chance. For a lot of people it’s hard for them to believe that Rock and I are so close just because we are not in a relationship anymore. What confuses me about that is how do you go from a decade of love and being in love to pure hate? People say it’s a thin line, but not for us. We are real big on keeping our boys, grounded making sure they understand that we love each other and even though the relationship didn’t work, the partnership to parent them has to stay intact.

In order for that to happen we stay close, so I discussed everything with Rocko first. I discussed the whole dating idea; I told him who, I told him how we meet, I kept things open and honest. We just don’t believe in secrets because secrets are probably what brought the relationship to a demise.

Other people coming into our business, so we just got on one accord. We agreed the children wouldn’t meet anybody unless we decided that we were going to really get married and go to the next step with other people. So once I shot my video in June, Shannon and I met and I was very reluctant but I realized that he wants some of the same things that I did. He wanted a family, he wanted to settle down, he likes to be in one place…he is not clubbing until two or three in the morning. He’s in the house by 8 o’clock, after camp. His focus is similar and once discussing, I felt like it was the right thing.” (SOURCE)