Jaheim Hoagland's smooth, soulful vocals have been likened to those of music legends Marvin Gaye and Luther Vandross - but he's not too happy about the constant comparisons. "Yeah, great - they're all good singers, it's good to be compared to legends and all that. But there is only one Jaheim."

I met the modest 21-year-old crooner in his Kensington hotel suite, where he greets me with a huge hug - before warning me not to ask him too many questions about his criminal past. The name Jaheim means "God's Wisdom" but the singer didn't display much wisdom as a teenager. He spent sizeable stretches in correctional facilities in his native New Jersey. "I was going in no direction," he says. "I grew up in the projects and both my parents died when I was young. I was a street punk.

"But the past is the past. Singing was my way out. I taught myself by listening to Luther Vandross all day every day. Now, I drive a Bentley, y'know? That's how I roll."

Jaheim's career began when, at 18, he sang a Luther Vandross song into a tape recorder and took the tape to a local clothes shop run by the rap group Naughty By Nature. Upon hearing it, producer Kay-Gee told Jaheim he was determined to get him a record deal. "It was surprising to hear that style of singing coming from a young man," says Kay-Gee. Three years later, Jaheim has been signed to Warner Music for a reputed £2 million - and his debut album, Ghetto Love, is one of the best-selling albums in America. Jaheim's first single, Could It Be , released this week, has been the most requested song at Choice FM for several months.

"All of the songs on my album have the potential to be huge hits," says Jaheim. "If I can get people to sit down, be quiet and listen, I'll touch them. I listen to my album night and day. I'm a critic, I listen to it and think, this is so hot. It's a real classic album. It's like I'm listening to Luther or someone."

The first track, Could It Be, is dedicated to "all the insincere women ... The ones who are feelin' all over your chest just because they've seen you on TV," says Jaheim. "I call 'em bad girls."A Jennifer Lopez MTV video is playing on the TV. Jaheim glances up: "She tried to talk to me one time. She liked me, y'know. But I didn't want to upset Puffy."

I ask whether he gets mobbed by women often. "Of course," he smirks. "I'm recognised and I have to deal with that."

It would be difficult to miss the 6ft 2in singer. Today he is wearing dark blue baggy jeans, enormous white Reebok trainers and a red head-scarf. A huge diamond-encrusted platinum pendant bearing the name Jaheim hangs around his neck. The diamonds, he explains, were a gift from his record company. "You can't be singing about ice [diamonds] if you ain't wearing any."

Jaheim's love of ostentatious status symbols and his quest for true love make up the subject matter of the album. "All I want is happiness. I've been looking for love for a while, you know," he says. To illustrate his point he bursts into his track Looking For Love: "I've been looking for love in all the wrong places/Been around seen a lot of faces/Cause I know I'm the one for you/The only lying I would do is in the bed with you."

With that, Jaheim invites me into his bedroom, to "take notes and whatever" while watching the singer being massaged by his masseuse. "Or you can lie in bed with me and get a massage if you want," he adds, stripping off his vest and throwing himself onto the bed. "Write down in your article how I've got a six-pack stomach."

As the masseuse gets to work, Jaheim signs copies of his CD with a silver pen. "I love being in London," he says contentedly. "Y'all are so different from us. Like that Royal Family thing you got goin' on here. I'd like to meet your royalty people, maybe pose for some pictures with Princess Diana's husband - what's his name again? - and the kids. I'd like that."

Ghetto Love is released by WEA on 26 March.