Tuesday, July 3, 2007

MS. KELLY

Kelly Rowland

Ms. Kelly goes to Washington? Sounds about right, based on Kelly Rowland's latest single "Like This." The former Destiny's Child singer has scored a sweet summertime hit, coasting over a conga-laced beat that emulates go-go -- the District's own home-grown funk music.

Crafted by production maestro Polow Da Don, the song's chorus serves up some jaunty drumming with Rowland and guest rapper Eve announcing: "Told y'all I was gonna bump like this. . . . Turn around then I make it jump like this."

Unfortunately, nothing else on Rowland's new solo album, "Ms. Kelly," bumps and/or jumps quite like this. "Better Without You" comes close, reprising the funky drumming, but as on most of the tunes on this disc, Rowland fails to assert herself over the mid-tempo mush. Tentative and midrangey, she often sounds as if she's playing the foil to a Beyonce who never arrives.

That isn't the case with "Ghetto," a collaboration with Snoop Dogg on which Rowland croons with a feathery whisper that almost induces goose bumps. The delivery is plenty enticing, but the hooks are forgettable. And where's the beat?

Maybe Rowland should scrap such tepid R&B tunes and consider going go-go for good.

-- Chris Richards

DOWNLOAD THESE: "Like This," "Better Without You"