REVIEWS
Reviews of her albums and singles
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| REVIEWS Reviews of her albums and singles
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KELLY
ROWLAND REVIEWS
10/30/2002 9:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Dan Leroy
She emerged from the shadow of her bandmate Beyonce Knowles by
joining Nelly on last summer's slow jam du jour, "Dilemma."
But the solo debut of Destiny's Child member Kelly Rowland is a
bigger and more pleasant surprise, with a persistent undercurrent
of neo-soul enriching the sort of high-gloss R&B that's been
Rowland's calling card to date.
Not that this is a commercial gamble on the order of Lauryn Hill's
recent "Unplugged"; a few numbers, like "Love/Hate,"
could easily pass for the latest Destiny's Child single (especially
when Beyonce's little sister Solange adds her harmonies to the
mix). And, of course, there's the inevitable reappearance of
"Dilemma." Those moments are offset, however, by a more
subtle and thoughtful groove, most evident on the gentle conga
clatter of "(Love Lives In) Strange Places," and "Stole,"
a Res-like rock & soul reflection on a teen gunman and his
victims. Both simpler and deeper than anyone might have expected,
Simply Deep puts some further distance between Rowland and her
day job.