Ms. Kelly - Kelly Rowland

∆Who is Kelly Rowland∆

Kelly Rowland began fame as the 2nd singer of Destiny’s Child alongside Beyonce Knowles and Michelle Williams. In 2002, Kelly Rowland released her first solo single Dilemma with rapper Nelly, which sat at number 1 in the UK for more than 12 weeks. Her second solo single was ‘Stole’. I loved this song but it only made it as far as number 2 in the charts. Just after releasing ‘Stole’ Kelly released ...
...1 in the UK. She then released 2 other tracks from the album, ‘Can’t Nobody’, reaching number 5 and ‘Train On A Track’ which just about made it into the top 20. Kelly then returned to Destiny’s Child for their comeback in 2004 up until the end of 2005. Kelly concentrated on her acting career before making her comeback as a solo singer with her single ‘Like This’ in March 2007, before releasing her second solo album, ‘Ms. Kelly’ in June.

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∆Who is Kelly Rowland∆

Kelly Rowland began fame as the 2nd singer of Destiny’s Child alongside Beyonce Knowles and Michelle Williams. In 2002, Kelly Rowland released her first solo single Dilemma with rapper Nelly, which sat at number 1 in the UK for more than 12 weeks. Her second solo single was ‘Stole’. I loved this song but it only made it as far as number 2 in the charts. Just after releasing ‘Stole’ Kelly released her debut solo album, ‘Simply Deep’, which went to number 1 in the UK. She then released 2 other tracks from the album, ‘Can’t Nobody’, reaching number 5 and ‘Train On A Track’ which just about made it into the top 20. Kelly then returned to Destiny’s Child for their comeback in 2004 up until the end of 2005. Kelly concentrated on her acting career before making her comeback as a solo singer with her single ‘Like This’ in March 2007, before releasing her second solo album, ‘Ms. Kelly’ in June.

∆Why Did I Buy The Album∆

I bought this album because, even though never a big fan of Destiny’s Child, or Beyonce Knowles as a solo artist, I did really like Kelly Rowland’s first album ‘Simply Deep’. When I heard Kelly’s new single ‘Like This’, I liked it straight away. The single was exactly the kind of music that I enjoy listening to, and I was glad that her ‘new’ style is quite different to her original Destiny’s Child and solo style.

∆The Songs∆

Like This – The first single from the alum featuring rapper Eve. The first time i heard the song I instantly liked it. The tune was very catchy, the lyrics, especially the chorus were catchy and easy to sing along to. A lot of reviews I read in magazines and online didn’t all rate the song highly, and one said that it was a bad attempt at a Bhangra song, which I disagree with completely as this song doesn’t sound like Bhangra, to me it is a very up-beat R’n’B song that just makes you want to get up and dance to. I think it’s one of the best R’n’B hits released so far his year. 5/5

Comeback – Another of my favourite songs on the album. Again, it’s a very up-beat R’n’B song that makes you want to get up and dance. The song is all about Kelly keeping her man. The song has some very catchy lyrics that I knew straight away and easy to sing along to. 5/5

Ghetto – This is the second single off the album, featuring rapper Snoop Dogg. This is actually one of my least favourite songs on the album as I find the tune annoying. It’s slower than the 2 previous songs, and the chorus is quite good, but I find Kelly’s voice quite annoying in the song as she sings high most of the way through. For a song featuring Snoop Dogg, and produced and written by Tank, a very talented Hip-Hop producer and writer, who writes for artists such as Aalyah, Omarion and Jamie Foxx, I expected it to be better than it is. 2/5

Work – Another of my favourite songs on the album, this is the third single off the album. It is another up-beat song, but with more of a Hip-Hop style. The beat is very catchy, and yet again makes you want to get out of your seat as soon as out hear it. The chorus is quite repetitive, it goes “check it baby, get it baby, check it baby, get it, work, do it baby, do do it, do do it baby, get it” 3 times, but instead of being annoying as you would probably think it would be, it is actually very catchy and is one of the best parts of the song. 5/5
Flashback – This song is slower than the rest. The tune is okay, but is quite annoying. I personally don’t like the verses as I think the tune of them is annoying, but the chorus is actually catchy. The song is all about breaking up with someone, seeing them and having flashbacks and remembering how it was when you were going out. The song has a realistic story but I don’t rate the overall song much. 2/5

Every Thought Is You – Another slowish song but unlike the 2 previous slow one, this is actually a good song. The verses are sung a bit faster than the tune itself, which is actually very catchy. It’s an easy R’n’B chilled out song to sit and listen to. 4/5

The Show – This song features Tank, who I mentioned earlier. Another slow song, with a very chilled out R’n’B tune. It is a proper duet with Tank, and actually reminds me off the old R.Kelly duets. Tank starts off the song by singing the first verse, then sharing the chorus with Kelly. The verses are slow, and the chorus is a bit faster, but is quite annoying. A chilled out song but not one I listen to very much. 5/5

Still In Love With My Ex – Again, another slow song with a typical R’n’B tune. This is my favourite slow song on the album. It is all about Kelly still being in love with her ex, obviously. The whole song is very catchy and easy to sing along to, but the catchiest part of the song is the bridge which I love. A really good song, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was her next single. 5/5

Love – Another favourite, not as fast as he others but is a very up-beat R’n’B track. Again, it’s a very catchy song, the bridge being the catchiest part. Another easy track to pick up and sing along to as the lyrics are really catchy. It is all about a man breaking up with her but now he is changing his mind, but things aren’t going well for him. A really good song. 5/5

Better Without You – Another of the slow songs on the album and again, not that god of a song. A chilled out, easy going R’n’B tune, the verses are okay and I have found myself singing along to them, but the chorus is really repetitive and very annoying which is the one thing that lets the song down. “Moving without you, loving without you, happy with out you, better without you,” each sung six times! It’s too much and very annoying. 1/5

This Is Love – Another slow song, but this time it is actually a good one! The tune isn’t exactly R’n’B, its more of a pop tune, as when he song first starts, the tune sounds like a Disney song, but that’no all the way through. This is actually a ballad style song, with Kelly singing about what she thinks love is and why she loves her man. A really good song, and is very different to her usual R’n’B style. 4/5

Gotsta Go – A fast, up-beat R’n’b/Hip-Hop song to end the album. Another great song like the rest of the up-beat songs on the album. This features Da Brat, a female rapper from the US, which Hip-Hop fans would probably have heard of. This is another of my favourite songs on the album. Da Brat begins the song with a short rap. The tune is very catchy, although, unlike the other fast songs on the album, it isn’t one to get up and dance to, but it does make you want to move. The verses are slower than the chorus and are easy to pick up and great to sing along to. The chorus is repetitive, but isn’t annoying and is very catchy. Da Brat also does a short rap towards th end of the song as well. A great song. 5/5

∆Artwork∆
The front cover of the CD has a full length picture of Kelly, along with the title written in black, and Kelly’s name written as a signature in pink.

The back cover is black with a headshot of Kelly. The song titles start off as white and o darker to pink by the time you get to the last song.

The CD is also black with Kelly’s signature written in pink.

The booklet doesn’t have lyrics, just song information. It is only a four page booklet with a few pictures off Kelly, and also her Thank You’s.
The artwork of the album is nice. The pink writing catches your eye, especially on the black background. The pictures of Kelly are really good, and the song information listed is good also, if you like to read them.

∆My Opinion∆

As I said at the start of the review, I have always liked Kelly Rowland even though I was never a fan of Destiny’s Child. I liked her first album, but this album is definitely a lot better. I think the album shows Kelly’s strength when it comes to fast, up-beat tracks as all these are really good songs, but when it comes to the slow songs, they sound a lot like some of Destiny’s Child’s attempts at slow songs, which I personally do not like. I never admired them or their slower songs, I think the only decent one they have done is ‘Girl’, and another song ‘Emotions’, but obviously this is a cover of BeeGee’s so it doesn’t count as it isn’t their talent. Apart from that, the overall album is very good. This I my kind of music, R’n’B, and some songs have a splash of Hip-Hop. Kelly has a very talented voice, no matter what style of song she is singing. I think the album is great, with a lot of good, catchy songs that I think most R’n’B and Hip-Hop fans would like. I am just glad that Kelly has released a second solo album and has had a second try at a solo career, her new stuff is great so i think she will o even better this time. So, if you are a R’n’B fan, then go get this album, but don’t think you will enjoy it if you were in love with Destiny’s Child, as Kelly’s solo style, just like the previous time, is different, but if you loved them, then you will probably just enjoy the slower stuff.

The album was released in July 2007 and was produced by Mathew Knowles. You can get it on Amazon for £6.50 on Market Place.

Thanks for reading
x Staz x

(I’m not new to Ciao, it’s just a new account) 

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