I think if you’ve followed Kelly Rowland’s career, you’ve always gotten the sense that she was holding something back. Like she was afraid to be as magnificent as we all know she can be. There was always the sense that we weren’t getting the full extent of her artistry. And not because it wasn’t there, but because she didn’t quite believe in it.

Every album had magnificent moments – Beyond Imagination, Haven’t Told You, Love, Like This, Motivation, Keep It Between Us - but they seemed incidental. Accidental. There didn’t seem to be much effort behind anything she was doing. The background singer destined to be a star, but never quite comfortable anywhere but in the back seat.

So when I listen to Dirty Laundry, it plays as a stunning admission of her crushing insecurity more than anything else. Sure, we learn about Kelly having suffered domestic abuse and that she has complicated feelings about Beyonce’s solo success, but that’s just not what the song is telling me emotionally.

“who wanna hear my bullshit?”

It doesn’t feel like we’re reliving something she’s moved through. We’re living something she’s still in…with her. The song doesn’t turn on an awakening. It doesn’t turn at all. We are sitting in her insecurity with her.

Those five little words are almost an aside in the structure of the song. As if she’s still not quite sure. Even now when she’s being as revealing and honest as she’s ever been, I still get the sense that she’s struggling against a profound sense that no one cares at all about Kelly Rowland. It’s riveting, but I have to wonder what is next.

I want this song to represent a turning point in her career. A point that we’ll all look back and say “that was the moment Kelly started to  become a great artist.” But I worry that this will be the only song on the album that gives us something uniquely Kelly.

I sincerlely hope she doesn’t think one song is enough.

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Posted on May 18th, 2013 - Filed under Kelly Rowland,Music
Tags :: Beyonce, Kelly Rowland

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I’m rather opinionated about music. Folks know this.

And while all that frustration criticism comes through loud and clear when I write or tweet, I’m definitely not as good at communicating that I understand and respect how profoundly difficult making music really is.

I thought about this when I came across this Tyrese quote on Singersroom.com:

“Producers these days are lazy. Making tracks. Sending emails. I’m just saying. When you make music under the same roof, with the actual artist that you’re working with, everybody is praying together, eating together, laughing together. It’s a different kind of nuance that’s created around music.”  (emphasis mine)

I do think there’s something profoundly special about the music that can come from songwriters, producers and artists spending time together crafting music that the artist feels a close connection to because that artist has had some input into making it, but with that understanding comes a deeper understanding that I think critics of black music don’t articulate nearly enough: what Tyrese longs for is the exception in the music industry, not the rule, particularly with black popular music.

In other words, a lot of people aren’t afforded the luxury of getting into a room with the best songwriters and producers and creating something that they can feel has the personal touch because that’s not the kind of artist they are intended to be, whether they know it and acknowledge it or not. We should be honest about this fact.

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Posted on February 13th, 2013 - Filed under Music,Uncategorized
Tags :: A Song For You, appropriation, black music, black pop, black popular music, Brandy, Jamey Jaz, Janet Jackson, Jazmine Sullivan, Jimmy Jam, Kelly Rowland, Lalah Hathaway, making music, music industry, music producers, producers, Rahsaan Patterson, Salaam Remi, singer-songwriter, songwriters, standards, Terry Lewis, Tyrese, Usher

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Like last year, I didn’t think 2012 was a strong year for albums. But there were a good number of individual songs that I loved this year.

Here are the first 10 after the jump.

 

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Posted on December 30th, 2012 - Filed under Best of 2012,Music
Tags :: 702, 80s synth pop, Antoine Dunn, Art Dealer Chic, Big Boi, black music, black pop, Bones, DJ, hip hop, Jay Electronica, Just Blaze, Kaleidoscope Dream, Keith Murray, Kelly Rowland, Luke James, Machine Gun, Meelah, Melanie Fiona, Miguel, Mo Better Blues, Museum, R&B, Rashad, RZA, soul music, The Black Keys, The Man With The Iron Fists

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Kelly finally gets around to releasing the best song on her album, Here I Am

 

 

And it’s just lovely. Who doesn’t love the gorgeous Lance Gross?

Of course, it’s too late for that album to do anything. This should have been the second single and it should have dropped right at the moment Motivation was peaking.

But … yea, Kelly stays losing.

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Posted on January 25th, 2012 - Filed under Hot Videos,Kelly Rowland,Music
Tags :: Here I Am, Keep It Between Us, Keep It Between Us video, Kelly Rowland, Motivation

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I'm an album guy.

I never really bought singles unless there was a B-side or a remix that was dope. And while I'm aware now that Michael Jackson's single + filler archetype is the dominant approach to album making for most black music, I still hold out hope that artists will give me 10, 12 or 14 songs that fit together in a way that makes for a complete listening experience.

In 2011, that happened far more infrequently for me than I would have liked. Last year, I did a list of 30. This year, I only got 10.  

NOTE: I should also say that I haven't really had time to digest new material by Anthony Hamilton, Common, Meshell N'degeocello, Trey Songz, and The Roots (tho my initial reaction here was that it's the best album of the year) so I just couldn't justify ranking them at all.

Before we get to the top 10 after the jump, here are albums I liked, but didn't love:

• Anwar Robinson, Everything (pleasant, but unremarkable except for "Come Over," which is sublime)
• Johnny Gill, Still Winning (pleasant but unremarkable)
• Idle Warship, Habits of the Heart (feels undercooked in places)
• Frank Ocean, nostalgia/ultra (definitely feels undercooked)
• The Paxtons, Avenue: A (a shade too in love with Kanye and Jay Electronica, but tight rhymes)
• Cali Swag District, Kickback (far too long, far too short on the verve that makes their singles so hot)

 And albums that disappointed me:

• Ledisi, Pieces of Me (too adult contemporary for my tastes. much of this material is just not worthy of Ledisi's voice)
• Jill Scott, The Light of the Sun (unfinished and undisciplined is the last thing Jill Scott needs. Tried to be like Worldwide Underground and failed miserably).
• Beyonce, 4 (didn't go far enough toward real tried-and-true R&B or soul. full of messy lead vocals)
• Kelly Rowland, Here I Am (the definition of derivative. three strikes and you're out, Kelly!)
• Kelly Price, Kelly (zzzzzz)
• Tyrese, Open Invitation ("Stay" should have been an indication of what this album would be, but unfortunately it's just a weird outlier on a standard bad male R&B album)
• Ginuwine, Elgin (why Ginuwine thinks "maturity" equals "boring" is beyond me. someone get him his groove back, please.)
• Pharoahe Monche, W.A.R. (We Are Renegades) (some mediocre production ruins this one for me)
• Talib Kweli, Gutter Rainbows (too long, too much bad production. feels like an afterthought)
• Raphael Saadiq, Stone Rollin' (i am over this retro Ray Ray. time to step into the new millennium, homie)

 

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Posted on December 30th, 2011 - Filed under Best of 2011,Music
Tags :: 4, 7..., 80s synth pop, Anthony Hamilton, Anwar Robinson, Avenue: A, b-side, Best Albums of 2011, Beyonce, Big K.R.I.T., Bleuphoria, Common, Complex Simplicity, Cookies or Comas, Dre and Vidal, Elgin, Everything, Frank Ocean, Ginuwine, Goodie Mob, Gutter Rainbows, Habits of the Heart, Here I Am, Idle Warship, Jean Grae, Jewell, Jill Scott, Johnny Gill, Kelly, Kelly Price, Kelly Rowland, Lalah Hathaway, Ledisi, Luxurious Underground, Mary J. Blige, Meshell N'degeocello, Mint Condition, My Life, My Life 2, Nicole Wray, nostalgia/ultra, Open Invitation, Organized Noize, Pharoahe Monche, Pieces of Me, Raekwon, Rahsaan Patterson, Raphael Saadiq, remix, Return of 4Eva, Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang, Still Winning, Stone Rollin', Sy Smith, Talib Kweli, Tamar Davis, Teedra Moses, The Bootleg of the Bootleg EP, The Breakthrough, The Light of the Sun, The Paxtons, The Roots, Trey Songz, Tyrese, Van Hunt, W.A.R., We Are Renegades, What Were You Hopin For? Michael Jackson, What's The 411?, Wines and Spirits

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