Band: Kelly Rowland
Album: Here I Am
Best song: “Motivation” is great, even with a terrible guest spot.
Worst song: “Keep it Between Us” isn’t much.
I wonder if Kelly Rowland, barely a week younger than I am, ever gets really jealous of Beyonce? I have no idea if they’re friends or not, but I have to think there’s a jealousy in the difference in the amount of attention the two of them get.
I don’t know if all popular singers think they’re the best around — it seems to be true for rappers, that’s for sure — but do you think that Rowland goes to bed thinking “Goddamn, if only I’d gotten more face time in Destiny’s Child, I’d be headlining the Grammys.”
After all, Beyonce’s records are h-i-t-s. She gets to work with the best producers. She gets great guests on her records. She ends up in movies.
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I’m 30 years old — again, the same age as Ms. Rowland — and I have had the various timeline points that a regular guy gets, looking at others who’ve surpassed me (often by miles, it seems). The easiest example of this is the baseball player thing: Most men (at least baseball fans) die a little inside when there is a major league player older than they are. As in, sometime in college, it’s a sad day when some shortstop is younger than you are, at the time.
Rafael Furcal was that, for me. Turns out he’d forged his birth certificate and was a little older, but, the premise holds. Since then, there have been many players younger than I am. It’s… upsetting.
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But, ultimately, that success threshold is defined by our peers. I’m not a baseball player; I didn’t really even play past age 15. The same holds for actors, musicians and titans of industry. I play a few instruments very poorly and I can sorta carry a tune in Rock Band, but, ultimately, I’m not a musician. Mark Zuckerberg is younger than I am, but I don’t really know how to code much — save for what’s required of my job, aka html, javascript, Flash, etc. — so I’m not the type to have created Facebook.
It’s easier to discern for peers. To quote the amazing “Marge Gets a Job” episode of The Simpsons, “I’m used to seeing people promoted ahead of me: Friends, coworkers, Tibor… I never thought it’d be my own wife.” I’m similar; I’ve seen plenty of people I know (including a few former coworkers) get to be in positions I would’ve envied, in a former life.
And that’s the key: I don’t mind. I am not wired for that stuff. I’m not a striver in any particular way. I’m sure a lot of it has to do with the self-satisfaction of being raised in affluence; my parents told me from a young age that I was special, so my efforts toward making myself special didn’t exactly manifest. Rather, I’ve been pretty happy with the way things were — I never really wanted for anything in my life. Looming similarly large, of course, is whatever factor genes, brain chemistry (wooooooo depression!) and the like play into this. My sister, though not a striver, is not a step and a half removed from Burnoutville, like I am.
Yes, I’m past the age that David Eggers and Jonathan Safran Foer wrote their great debut works. Yes, I’m not blogging for anyone other than a few people who check my Twitter feed. Yes, I never made the majors.
But, all of this is good enough for me. I have referenced the great — probably sarcastic, at the time — advice my dad gave me (“Don’t ever get married, Ross. Get a dog and an apartment.“), but the fact is that I’m living that advice. I have a decent group of friends. I have hobbies I enjoy. I love my dog. My apartment is kind of small, but it’s in a great location.
Living the dream, man.
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I wonder if Rowland thinks that way? As in, has her jealousy ceded to accepting reality. Kelly Rowland is, after all, a pretty accomplished singer with a record deal. She was engaged to a professional football player. She gets Lil Wayne to do a verse on one of her tracks (“Motivation”), however lazy said verse is.
Here I Am is, in many ways, paint-by-numbers R&B. There are some sultry slow jams, some club songs, etc. “I’m Dat Chick” has the stutter step reminiscent of many a Rihanna song, only less so. “Feelin’ Me Right Now” has snares popping and the sheen of R&B of three years ago (which is when it was recorded, so, sure), complete with a lyric about picking someone up at a club. “Down for Whatever” is zippy and exciting, but it’s hard to really ignore that it would be a mediocre Jennifer Lopez song. By Rowland, it’s not a ton better. Though, the concept — she’s down for whatever in the sex department, including making “love on the floor” — is tantalizing.
The big single, “Motivation,” is a lovely song that’s wildly enjoyable… until Lil Wayne comes in. The song’s tempo is perfect for Rowland’s voice and the R. Kelly-esque sexy countdown of the things happening in her bedroom, but it loses itself when Lil Wayne starts recounting his sexual moves. Too slow. Too many drugs.
But, it’s a successful record. Is it as good as Beyonce’s recent work? Probably not. But, if Rowland is anything like I am, she’s perfectly OK with that.
