Over the past two years Kelly Rowland's been a fixture on the dance charts and found a bigger audience abroad with 2009's 'When Love Takes Over' and 2010's 'Commander' both collaborations with producer David Guetta, much to the respective singles' success Rowland appeared to be moving in a new musical direction, but Rowland's latest Here I Am finds her right back in 2007 where she left off with her previous record, Ms. Kelly.
Here I Am's uneven composition works against Rowland dedicating more time to typical stale contemporary R&B (a genre in serious need of a makeover). Kick started with the brassy 'I'm Dat Chick' much of the record only goes skin deep and doesn't do Rowland justice with tracks that show little to no personality. Current single 'Motivation' featuring Lil' Wayne is one of the few bright spots on Here I Am, alongside the previous hit 'Commander' there's little else of intereste, as even larger than life beats of dance tracks 'Each Other' and 'Down For Whatever' don't quite cement Rowland's credibility as a dancefloor maven.
Too often Rowland is referred to as the 'other Destiny's Child' singer, which makes Here I Am all the more disappointing, as Rowland is equal to the task of belting out dancefloor anthems, and cooing soft-slick R&B pop as her former Destiny's Child cohort Beyonce. Problem is Rowland lacks direction or confidence to jump from the safe confines of her R&B roots into the dance-pop/electronic arena. Sad, we like Rowland best when channeling Donna Summers bravado over bombastic pop anthems.
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