At the age of 34, Mark Ronson already knows what his epitaph will read. It is not that he is a doleful guy; he’s just wryly aware of his musical bequest. “At the end of the day, it’ll say ‘producer’ before it is saying ‘artist, ‘” claims Ronson, who has released 2 solo albums but is best-known for his turntable and production abilities. “I used to be known as a DJ which will stick for keeps. I will be able to always play in the dance tent at a festival-it isn’t important if I start to make polka or classical music.” Ronson’s flashiest achievements-his production work with Lily Allen and Adele, his 2009 “Britain’s best dressed man” prize thanks to GQ and the reversion vibe of Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black,” which helped him earn the 2008 Grammy Award for producer of the year-have pigeonholed him as a classy DJ who makes stylish, U.K.-friendly beats.

The Brooklyn-based artist doesn’t care if that perception never changes, but 3rd album “Record Collection,” hitting the US Sept. Twenty-eight on RCA Records, is a conscious call by Ronson to leave his comfortable area. Gone are the jazzy horn sections and all-Brit cooperators, replaced by hi-tech synths, Ghostface Killah verses and Ronson’s first expedition into singing. The disk is also being promoted as “Mark Ronson and the Business Intl.,” which makes reference to a rotating cast of 5 to seven musicians on the record and tour. The shifts could at last lead to a larger presence in the US, where Ronson has still to make an impact as a solo artist. It would not be the 1st time he engineers a remarkable takeover of the U.S. Pop charts. “I was startled when [Winehouse's single] ‘Rehab ‘ changed into a hit here,” Ronson says, “because I had essentially accepted accept that I wasn’t about to make anything that was intended to be more than a niche record here. And if something on this record changes that again, great. And if it does not, I could still be excited to sell out [New York's] Webster Hall and the El Rey [in Los Angeles]“.