In 2007, after a short musical hiatus, TGJ-favorite Kelly Rowland showed those who had doubted her that she could in fact “bump like this”. Our pick for this week’s From The Vault comes in the form of her club-classic ‘Like This’
Produced by Polow Da Don and written by Sean Garrett and Rowland herself, the track – which features a rap verse by the amazing Eve – was released as the first single from her sophomore effort ‘Ms. Kelly’.
It peaked at #30 on the US Hot 100, a respectable feat if you ask us, still we are sure you would agree when we say it deserved an even higher ranking – as it is often the case with Kelly’s material. On the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart though, the tune managed to reach the 7th position and was her very first single to ever top the Hot Dance Club Songs tally. It also proved to be an international hit placing inside the Top 20 in Australia and Top 5 of the British and Irish charts.
The house party-themed accompanying visual, helmed by Canadian director Mike Ruiz does a stellar job capturing the carefree vibe of the song and at the time presented us with a brand new Kelly, a sassier and more confident Kelly. The performance bits are particularly stunning and the night-vision shots make for a nice addition.
With ‘Ice’ generating quite the buzz ever since its release last week and ‘Motivation’ standing as one of the biggest achievement of her career, let’s only hope the ex-X-Factor judge doesn’t forget to feed us with the club-bangers on her next project.
For as much as us and radios alike live for her mellow material, cuts such as this one, ‘Work (Put It In)’, ‘I’m Dat Chick’ or ‘Turn It Up’ as well as her more Dance-oriented tunes only testify of the diversity Ms. Kelly has to offer.