Kelly Rowland is having a busy 2021
If good things come in threes, then Kelly Rowland is basking in her moment of bliss this year.
So far in 2021, the Grammy winner has give birth to her second child, Noah; celebrated her
40th birthday; and dropped a new EP, simply titled “K.”
“A couple of months ago, I said
I’ll have two births: the birth of the baby and the birth of an album,” said Rowland. “Some songs I’ve had for years, some of the songs I’ve had for maybe a year or a couple of months, but it’s all come together so beautifully.”
The result of her musical labor of love is a six-track project heavily influenced by Afrobeat rhythms. So how was it recording with a growing womb?
“(I was) out of breath!” Rowland laughed.
“When I hear a song, I don’t hear it for, ‘Is this going to be a hit record?’ I hear it for how it makes me feel … and with the records that everyone will hear on the (EP), there’s a connection to all of them,” Rowland said.
The single “Black Magic” is an ode to being “unapologetically Black and proud and full of joy,” Rowland said. It’s a track exuding self-love and pride by a woman whose name, thanks to a Kanye West lyric, has become an adjective for a beautiful darkertoned Black woman. But Rowland didn’t always possess that “Black Magic” confidence.
“I did notice it with certain photo shoots or with people being honest and saying, ‘Well, we can’t have her for this campaign.
She’s a bit too dark,’ ” she revealed. “Did it affect me? For a while, it did because I was thinking, ‘Well, if I’m darker, then does that mean I’m (not) going to get the same opportunities?’ ”
But Rowland found comfort in the successes of artists such as Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston and Brandy, along with encouragement from older women close to her, and became confident in her complexion.
“My confidence took a while, (and) there were some times I was faking it until I made it,” said Rowland, who was also celebrated in Beyonce’s “Brown Skin Girl.” “The girl who would possibly feel like (I did), I have to bring her along for the journey, (and) I have to stand up for her.”
It has been nearly a quarter-century since the original Destiny’s Child quartet blasted out of Houston into uncharted entertainment galaxies, and it’s that lifelong bond between Kelly and Beyonce, along with Michelle Williams who joined the group later, that has helped keep Rowland anchored.
“That’s been the greatest blessing,” Rowland says of the sisterhood. “They truly are my rock,” she said. “And I don’t know a lot of people who get that in this industry.”
March 28 birthdays:
Harmonica player Charlie McCoy is 80. Actor Dianne Wiest is 73. Singer Reba McEntire is 66. Actor Alexandra Billings is 59. Rapper Salt is 55. Singer Rodney Atkins is 52. Actor Vince Vaughn is 51. Rapper Mr. Cheeks is 50. Singer Matt Nathanson is 48. Actor Julia Stiles is 40. Singer Lady Gaga is 35.