Keith Sweat performing at NJPAC

Keith Sweat could be taking it relatively easy. The soulful singer could rest on his laurels as one of the innovators of New Jack Swing. Sweat, who will perform Saturday at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, could just deliver the hits, such as “Twisted” and “Nobody.”

“But I don’t work that way,” Sweat said while calling from Atlanta. “I have to work hard. I’m all about challenging myself.”

Sweat, 54, is putting the finishing touches on his forthcoming album, “Dressed to Impress,” which will drop in November.

“It’s a Keith Sweat album,” Sweat said. “I try not to go too far from what I’ve done when I make new music. When you buy a Keith Sweat album, you know what you’re going to get. The fans will understand it.”

Don’t expect much new material when Sweat hits Newark. “I’m going to be doing the favorite songs,” Sweat said. “I’m going to play the songs people know. What people will experience is my whole catalog for an hour and a half when I come to town.”

It’s an enviable canon, which is full of slow jams and anthemic R&B favorites. Sweat sold millions of copies courtesy of such hook-laden love songs, such as “Make It Last Forever,” “Something Just Ain’t Right” and “Don’t Stop Your Love.”

“Not enough people are writing and recording songs about relationships these days,” Sweat said. “There’s a lot of people out there that love romantic songs. That’s what it’s about, at least for me.”

When Sweat visits Newark, he can’t help but look across the river to Manhattan, where it all came together for him a generation ago. Before he became an R&B sensation, Sweat worked as a night stock boy at Macy’s and then a mailroom clerk at Paine Webber before becoming a brokerage assistant on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

“New York is where I paid my dues,” Sweat said. “I did what I had to do and the great thing is that’s where I learned what good, hard work can do for you. I laid the groundwork in New York and applied what I learned when I started in the music business. That work ethic never left me and that’s why I’m busting my butt on this latest project. I could just relax and look back fondly on what I’ve done but there’s no way that I’m doing that. It’s time to work.”

Does Sweat ever relax? “Oh yeah,” Sweat said while chuckling. “When I have the chance, I like to lay in bed, watch television with a glass of wine. That’s what I enjoy. I can do that after I do one of my shows but it’s short-lived. I have to get back out to make the best music I can and put on the best show that I can.”

Nobody sounds like Sweat, which is significant in this era in which unique artists are in short supply.

“That’s something that has always been evident to me,” Sweat said. “You know when you hear one of my songs and that’s something that I’ve always been proud of. People know what Keith Sweat sounds like and that’s why they buy Keith Sweat. It’s like how it was when Luther Vandross was around. Nobody sounded like Luther. He had one of those great voices that was so unique. I think the same can be said for me.”

KEITH SWEAT

WITH: Brian McKnight

WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: New Jersey Performing Arts Center,

1 Center St., Newark

TICKETS: $55.95 to $229

INFO: 973-642-8989, www.njpac.org