Robi Rosa’s putting himself back in front

Robi “Draco” Rosa has had a lot of guises in an already extensive music career.

He started out as a member of the Latin-pop teen group Menudo, then fronted rock band Maggie’s Dream, released several Portuguese and Spanish solo albums and, perhaps most famously, co-wrote and co-produced fellow former Menudo-ite Ricky Martin’s biggest hits, including “Livin’ La Vida Loca” and “She Bangs.”

Now Rosa is hoping to establish another identity: Robi Rosa.

Rosa is finishing “Mad Love,” his first English-language solo album (not counting a version of one of his earlier albums redone with English vocals), due in August from Columbia Records.

This has been such a priority that for two years he has turned down lucrative writing and production offers, and says he’ll continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

“Here we are after producing a few records and writing several songs that have been hits, and I’m hoping not to go that way again,” says Rosa, 29. “I’m not going to say never, but to be honest, it’s not something I want to do. It’s getting easier to say no as the days go by.”

The New York-born musician says that for “Mad Love” he resisted the temptation to tap Martin or other famous friends to guest on the recordings.

“Those are different projects,” he says. “I wouldn’t think of a Ricky or J.Lo or anyone else on ‘Mad Love.’ ”

Columbia executives are showing support for Rosa’s voyage of self-discovery , even as it’s been a struggle at times for the artist. Rosa says he became lost in the creative project last year, though was recharged by a car trip along Pacific Coast Highway with a copy of Miles Davis’ “Bitches Brew” in the stereo.

He’s also traveled extensively in search of inspiration, working with musicians in Brazil, Puerto Rico and Spain, as well as New York, Miami and, primarily, at a new recording studio complex he has built in Los Angeles, where he now lives. Rusty Anderson, who has been playing guitar in Paul McCartney’s band, is Rosa’s main musical partner, while Van Dyke Parks added some string arrangements. There are clear Latin components in much of the music, but the overall tone is romantic pop reminiscent of Sting.

The studio is headquarters for his company, Phantom Vox, which is overseeing a variety of recording, management and media projects. He has signed several Puerto Rican acts, produces a radio show aired on the island and is exploring the idea of a Phantom Vox newspaper also for Puerto Rico. But the focus is on Rosa’s own musical identity.

“My goal is to put this album out, support it and get back in and do the next one,” he says. “It’s all about having a body of work.”

Small faces

* A Bjork bonanza is coming, with eight DVDs and a four-CD/one-DVD box due to be released this summer. The DVD series will include sets compiling her groundbreaking videos, films of her 2001 concert at London’s Royal Opera House and of her first solo tour of 1994 and three documentaries about the Icelandic singer. Each CD of the box will be a live companion to one of her four albums, with performances selected by her from various concert recordings.

* Capitol Records has signed Jane’s Addiction and will release the re-formed band’s “Hypersonic” album this summer. The band will be headlining the revived Lollapalooza tour -- which is expected to include an Aug. 16 date at Hyundai Pavilion of Glen Helen. . The band, which had in the past been on Warner Bros. Records, recorded the album while a free agent with producer Bob Ezrin, whose credits include Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” and various Alice Cooper and KISS albums.

* “Mayor of the Sunset Strip,” the documentary about Hollywood rock scenester and KROQ-FM (106.7) personality Rodney Bingenheimer, will premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 17 at the ArcLight Cinerama Dome. Director George Hickenlooper (“The Man From Elysian Fields”) and producer Chris Carter (host of “Breakfast With the Beatles” on KLSX-FM [97.1]) have been working on the film for more than five years, gathering interviews with dozens of rockers and celebrities from Mick Jagger, Johnny Rotten and David Bowie to Keanu Reeves, Cher and Sarah Michelle Gellar.