As well as serving up that fierce realness in the latest issue of Vegas magazine, Kelly Rowland also opened up to the publication about her hotly anticipated follow-up to last year’s ‘Here I Am’.
Details after the jump…
Via Vegas magazine:
“I am more excited going into it this time than last time [her third solo studio album, Here I Am, came out in 2011], because I have a concept,” Rowland says. “I’m making this album for my ladies, oh, yes, and it is strong. All of the producers I’ve been working with get the concept so much that they brought in a little more aggressive—and sometimes masculine—approach, but there is a really incredible top line: I want to tell women how incredible we are, how our intuition is so spot-on. Sometimes we don’t listen to it, but it is the thing that can actually make us happier.”
When asked if, um, her male listeners could find a message somewhere in the new release (the time frame for which is still being worked out, with the end of the year being the target), Rowland laughs again. “I know that men will buy it,” she says. “Y’all will definitely buy it and sing to it. You’ll say, ‘I can’t believe I’m singing to this!’ If you want to learn about women, listen to my next album!”
Rowland is currently fine-tuning a music style close to her heart: classic rhythm and blues. To prepare, she re-listened to her favorite R&B records by artists including Whitney Houston, Marvin Gaye, and Stevie Wonder. “What triggered it all was when I was on tour last year with Chris Brown,” she says. “I stopped by Hitsville U.S.A. [the nickname for Motown’s first headquarters in Detroit], and saw all of this history; it filled my soul up to the point where I wanted to tell my story. To me, it’s really about having something to say, and people love that. That’s what’s so great about Adele: She is a storyteller.”
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Exciting times!
Despite possessing the ability to convincingly convey many a genre, Kelly clearly found her “success niche” with R&B on her last outing (see: ‘Motivation’).
With more folk than ever rooting for her to continue “winning”, Ms. Kelly looks poised for heightened success – as long as the material is hot to trot. Especially with the compelling narrative angle she’ll be coming from.
And so as to ensure this plays out the right way, Rowland has employed a solid array of hitmakers. Those who’ve logged in studio time with the Destiny’s Child graduate for the project include Rodney ‘Darkchild’ Jerkins, Pharrell Williams, and Da Internz.