B.o.B's new album for 2012 has hip-hop fans on the edge of their seats to see what the 'Airplanes' hitmaker has in store. The Atlanta native is preparing to drop his sophomore album 'Strange Clouds' on March 13, and B.o.B is promising listeners that they will be able to hear a new side of the rapper on his new batch of tracks.

As you can see from his previous projects, B.o.B has done a great job at walking a fine line between hard-hitting rap tracks and hip-hop tunes with pop appeal. However, the genre-crossing rapper is promising a different sound for 'Strange Clouds,' telling MTV, "I think that people will definitely be surprised at the music they hear on the second album," he added. "I don't think they would expect that coming from me." He went on to tell MLive, "I’m really excited about this one. You’re always excited about every project. But I really feel like I’m in my groove with this one. I’m more aware of myself as an instrument, as a sound. It’s more intentful [sic]."

This new sound might be explained further if you look at more 'Strange Clouds' teasers and the songs that have been released thus far off of B.o.B's new 2012 album. Rap-Up caught up with 'Strange Clouds' producer Jim Jonsin, who talked about one track that he and B.o.B cut called 'Rule the World.' "We cut four songs and there’s two that I really like," Jonsin said. "One record has like a reggae vibe to it, hip-hop with some reggae. It’s pretty big. I think that’s a possible single." The producer went on to say, "I don’t think he’s doing as many features. I think most of his singles will be him and he just wants the fans to hear a lot more of him on this album. It’s gonna be incredible."

So far, in addition to the potential 'Strange Clouds' single 'Rule the World,' we know of a few confirmed album tracks that B.o.B will include on his new 2012 album 'Strange Clouds.' Bobby Ray has already unveiled the video for the title track 'Strange Clouds,' which is a collaboration with Lil Wayne that boasts electro and dubstep elements. 'Strange Clouds' was co-produced by Dr. Luke (Kesha, Britney Spears), who also worked with Bobby Ray on 'Magic.' He has also dropped his Andre 3000-featured, uptempo song 'Play the Guitar' as a confirmed album track. 'Play the Guitar' -- which features a sample of the T.I. verse from Drake's track 'Fancy' -- is sure to slay in 2012, with an infectious, head-bopping, guitar-driven beat that makes you want to dance.

As for the other tracks, B.o.B held a private listening party for industry execs a few months back. Sound-Savvy author Mack wrote about a few of the tracks he heard, citing 'So Hard to Breathe' as the standout song of the day. "B.O.B calls this one a 'sibling or sequel to 'Don’t Let Me Fall.' He produced this one, and wrote the hook along with Sean Garrett. It opened with an solemn acoustic guitar intro and progresses into a soaring electric guitar backing. Lyrically, it has a tone that’s both introspective and retrospective of his career thus far and his life before stardom. He informed us that this song is a favorite of both he and his team. I can definitely hear why," Mack wrote.

Other tracks that Sound-Savvy wrote about include the T.I.-featured tune 'Arena,' which Mack described as a "real stadium sounding record," saying that B.o.B told the audience that he was inspired to record 'Arena' because he wanted "something for the fans to sing along to at the shows." Another 'Strange Clouds' track is 'MJ,' which found B.o.B hitting the studio with Nelly. 'So Good,' another track that Bobby Ray previewed, features OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder on the "feel-good summer single for the pop stations." Finally, the last album track that Sound-Savvy was able to preview was 'Circles,' with another rumored album track to be the Eminem collabo 'Keep on Walking.'

Are you excited for B.o.B's new album 'Strange Clouds'? From the sound of the preliminary reviews and singles B.o.B has dropped, 'Strange Clouds' will be a strong showing from the 23-year-old star.

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