N'Walins And H-Town Like This

ruffk at These Rocks Pop

Ms Kelly and Lil Weezy get their unofficial remix on (thanks to (R)Andy for giving me the link).

Oh, and seeing as I never posted it, here's an interview I did with the lady herself for i-D. But before I do, here's some things about Kelly that I was surprised about:

- that she swore, specifically the word 'prick.' Omg. I interviewed her for Simply Deep and for the last DC album and the hardest word she said was 'gosh.' I remember Michelle swearing when I interviewed them a couple of years back, and Beyonce looking at her like 'Yeah, you just got ya wages docked again, beotch.'
- that she was pretty normal, as pop types go. I mean, she ate in frickin' Mr Jerks, and not cos she was sent there by the label like 'oh do an interview here and look really grounded.' She goes there every time she's in town - she knew the menu inside out. I like that.
- she had 'Throw Some D's as a ringtone
- that she still has this weird snorting/ throat thing. She did it around Simply Deep. It's like a sniff/ snort/ phlegm thing that sporadically appears during conversation. I took it for a cold at the time, but it must be allergies or a tic or summin cos she did it again a few months back. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, I'm just....saying.
- that she cried. Ok, ok, it's all PR, but, wow, real tears and everything.
- that she even knew what sizzurp was. Ok, so even my mum prolly knows, but you know how strict that Mathew dude is, right?


BACK LIKE THAT

A Wannabe Bee? Hell to the no, Kelly Rowland definitely knows how to Freakum her own damn self.

“The only time I sip sizzurp is when I’m sizzick,” muses Kelly Rowland, pausing to add some extra spice to her jerk chicken. “I may be from Houston, but that Robitussin will have you real crazed. I know when I’m ill and I drink it, I’m out of my mind. I don’t know whether I’m coming or going.”

So she may not indulge in H-Town’s second favourite pastime (the first of course being cars) unless she’s sick, but Southern superstar Ms Kelly R isn’t as pure as her previous Destiny’s Child CV proclaims. A mostly God-fearing, church-going good girl she may be, but the Houstonite reveals a far more rebellious side on her new album, Ms. Kelly. The hair’s grown and sexy, the videos are seriously under-dressed and the new Polow Da Don produced single Like This is positively steaming with sauciness. The jumpin’ jumpin’ Come Back meanwhile displays a determined vocal that sees The R telling her wannabe lover just how hard she’s gonna ‘put that on ya.’ This is Kelly, just not quite as we know her. This time round, there’s no cutesy Dilemma’s, nothing got sweetly Stole; instead Rowland and guests including Eve and Snoop are putting the smack down. Hard.

“You don’t picture Kelly as a rolling down the street, smoking indo and sipping on gin and juice type of girl,” she admits with a grin. “But I’ve loved Snoop since Doggystyle; La Di Da Di was my everyday after-school track. So getting him to record Ghetto with me was great. He’s so cool,” she coos, ordering an extra side of plantain. Sat in London’s infamous Caribbean restaurant, Mr Jerks, Rowland looks relaxed. Later though, she reveals there’s been a lot of pressure on her to perform with her second solo record; particularly with a certain Ms Knowles’ stupendous success lurking stage right. “When I started recording this album, I was terrified. I remember walking along the beach and I just started boo-hooing about how I was going to get through it. People were saying different things about me, like ‘Kelly, she ain’t gonna be nothing cos of Beyoncé’ and blah, blah, blah - so I don’t even read the blogs anymore, I don’t listen to the bullcrap,” she insists in molasses-like Southern accent. “Before, you’d have thoughts where you maybe wouldn’t want to release after Bee, but everybody has different paths,” she shrugs, pausing to glance at her phone (the ringtone? ‘Throw Some D’s –I’m so ghetto!’) before switching it off. ”I’m not going to kill myself at night trying to figure out how to be more successful than Beyoncé, because that’s what the rest of the world thinks. I have so much respect for Bee and I’ve learnt so much from her. So if anything, I ask questions, I don’t hate.”

In fact, Rowland insists she has no time for why’s and what if’s. Well, maybe one… “Actually, I regret that last guy I dated. But at the same time he taught me a lot – he taught me what I don’t want,” she says, turning to her tour manager and close friend, Heather who raises a pair of disgusted eyebrows in silent support. “That’s one selfish, crazy prick. I had to ask myself why I attracted that prick. So I went back and did some soul-searching and I’m going to attract the right person from now on.”

In the meantime she’s got Ms Kelly to promote, more films to think about starring in and work out what the hell she’s going to wear later (“you know I’ll be hitting up Top Shop, right?”). But while we’re shocked to see her dropping the odd swearword while chilling in Mr Jerks rather than reading the bible in Mr Chows, the 24 year-old who admits to enjoying the odd glass of Cabernet, insists not that much has changed. “It’s not so much a new Kelly, just a more mature, coming-into-her-own kind of Kelly. I’m not being cocky, but I know I put together a great record. I’m very excited about it. I’m not worried about the competition at all; there’s room for everybody” she breezes, brushing the other R&B beotches aside. “I’m not Ciara, I’m not Amerie, I’m Kelly Rowland and Kelly Rowland brings a different flair to music. It’s very real – very real. I allowed myself to be vulnerable on this record. I think that with this record,” she decides, finally clearing her plate. “I really knew what I wanted. Even if it doesn’t sell a unit, I’m proud of it cos I put my all into it.”

MySpace.com/kellyrowland