British soul star Joss Stone is racing to explain a saucy photo in the booklet accompanying her new album because fans think it confirms a romance with producer Raphael Saadiq. The sexy singer and Saadiq appear naked, in an embrace, with their bodies painted for the eye-catching shot – but Stone insists it’s supposed to be an artistic statement, and nothing sexual.

Stone says, “It’s a picture that everybody kind of looks at it sexually, but it isn’t… He (Saadiq) is from Oakland, I’m from Devon, England; he is 40, I am 19; he is American, I’m English. It’s, like, two completely different people. It says something and I wanted to say something, otherwise there’s no point in doing it.”

Okay, Joss, we believe you =) You’re sitting butt ass nekkid on top of Raphaeel Saadiq, but there’s nothing sexual about that. It’s art I tell you, ART! Click the pic on the left to see what I’m talking about…