This Is My Time is sweet-faced teen queen Raven-Symone"s first big-statement album: She"s retiring the little girl fluff stuff, these songs seem to say, and trying on material mature enough to push her past CosmoGirl and Teen People"s readerships into the grownup racks. If there"s anything surprising to this, it"s how well it works. First track "Mystify" is a shimmering Indian-influenced number that sidles up to the underexplored place where hip-hop meets smooth R&B; "Overloved" engages with yearn-and-burn vocals set to the wordplay of legendary songwriter Diane Warren; and "Grazing in the Grass," the CD"s only cover, is playful enough to recall the old Raven but fits in here for its flirtatiousness--it intentionally invites Janet Jackson comparisons. In addition to proving it"s her time to take on adult themes, Raven makes the case that stylistic zigs and zags don"t throw her. If pop, dance, and R&B are her jumping-off points, she uses them to expert effect for an easy landing into rock ("This Is My Time") and the irresistible club jam that is "Bump." "I don"t wanna be just typical," Raven sings on "Typical," a rock-influenced closing track. If there wasn"t much of a chance of that happening prior to My Time, it"s all but impossible now. --Tammy La Gorce