Kelly Rowland World {www.kelly-rowland.net}

HEN Kelly Rowland co-wrote Work, her recent top-10 hit single, there was one person she had to consult over the racy lyrical content - her mum.

“If I was going to be singing, Put it in and Do it, baby, I needed to make sure my mama was happy.

“Part of me was thinking, I don’t wanna talk about that stuff,” she says mock-tearfully.

“I asked her if she thought it was too much. She said to me, ‘Girl, you’re past 21, you can sing about whatever you want. If I says it’s fine, it’s fine.’

“So I said, ‘OK, Mama. When people ask me about these lyrics, I’m going to make sure they call you.’”

While her lyrics are risqué rather than raunchy, coming from Rowland - who kicks off her album’s sleevenote credits with a heartfelt thanks to her Heavenly Father - the new grittier sound and material on her second solo album, Ms Kelly: Deluxe Edition, is all woman, rather than innocent ingenue.

Even so, there are few artists who would admit they sought mum’s approval before singing about sex, but Rowland happily recounts this story, laughing at herself at the same time.

As an anecdote, it defines her perfectly. She’s the gracious mama’s girl who loves God, prays daily and, for a long time, was known as the quiet one from Destiny’s Child, the powerhouse R’n’B trio who spawned numerous booty-shaking singalong hits such as Say My Name, Independent Women Part 1’and Survivor.

Rowland, it seemed, was happy to defer the bulk of the star status to her va-va-voom cousin and bandmate Beyoncé Knowles.

But since the ‘ladies’, as she refers to the group, disbanded in 2005, Rowland has emerged from Knowles’ shadow to become a bona fide grown-up star in her own right.

Rowland has packed a lifetime’s worth of experiences into her 27 years.

She was born in Atlanta, Georgia, but raised in Houston, Texas, after her mother, Doris Rowland Garrison, split from Rowland’s father, Christopher Lovett - with whom Rowland has no contact.

Struggling to raise a child alone, Doris channelled her daughter’s energies into a rap and dance act, which included cousin Knowles.

Initially known as Gyrl’s Time, the group, who were managed by Knowles’ father, Matthew, eventually evolved into Destiny’s Child.

“I spent most of my childhood working,” recalls Rowland

“But nobody twisted our arms and made us do it; we worked because we wanted to.

“When Matthew took us on, he saw our potential. He’d say to us, ‘Even if you feel like being lazy, you have to remember this is your dream, and your dreams will take hard work to achieve.’

“It may have been harsh, but his words instilled in me the strong work ethic I have today.”

After four years on the road, touring the US relentlessly to build a following from the ground up, Destiny’s Child finally broke through in 1998 with the release of their debut, self-titled album.

“I was 18 years old when it finally happened for us,” says Rowland smiling.

“One day, the ladies and I were playing neighbourhood shows in Houston, the next we were travelling first-class to three countries.

They were crazy times, but it was so nice to have my girls with me, too.”

Rowland is still incredibly close to both Knowles and fellow bandmate Michelle Williams, name-checking them both on her album and saying today, “I don’t see B (Beyoncé), especially, as much as I’d like, but we talk all the time.

“She’s like a sister to me.”

Despite the fact Rowland grew up in a virtual celebrity boot camp, she’s managed to sidestep the Britney-style meltdown - an accomplishment she attributes to her mum.

“I haven’t done a Britney because whenever I went home (after being on the road with Destiny’s Child), I’d have my head popped if I acted up. That’s for real,” she says, imitating her mother giving
her a clip around the ear.

“I remember, one time, I came in and asked Mama to do something for me and she turned around and said, ‘You just got too big for your britches.’

And she popped me on the side of the head. I was 18 and her pops do not feel good.

To this day, if I get smart, all she has to do is call me by my whole name - Kelendria Trene Rowland - and I’m still scared.

There’s no way I could’ve gone wild because my mama would reel me back in, real quick.”

The strict, no-messing upbringing has clearly paid dividends because, despite the jet lag and her insane schedule on her recent whistle-stop visit to Australia (in which she packed in appearances on everything from Rove to Weekend Sunrise, as well as numerous radio interviews and handful of showcase gigs), Rowland is an absolute delight.

Greeting the entire sunday magazine team assembled to work with her on today’s long photoshoot with warm smiles and handshakes, she enthuses about a wide range of subjects, including her love of Bondi Beach, the Sex and the City movie (in which she narrowly missed out on landing the role of Carrie’s assistant, Louise, which instead went to Jennifer Hudson) and the fact she’s thrilled Barack Obama has secured the Democratic Party’s nomination for the US presidential election.

Despite her girl-next-door niceness, when Rowland mentions in passing that she’s met Obama and found him to be “warm, personable and inspirational”, you’re instantly reminded that her celebrity status is such that she’s able to meet the man who could possibly be in charge of the free world come November.

Moments later, she’s gushing about the vast collection of classic ’80s tracks loaded onto her iPod, which are already pumping out through the studio’s speakers, before turning up David Bowie’s Let’s Dance (“An awesome track”), Madonna’s Dress You Up (“So funky”) and even Rick Astley’s cheesy anthem Never Gonna Give You Up (“Woohoo!”).

Six hours and eight outfits later, Rowland asks if I mind if she eats her lunch while we do the interview.

“I’m not a diva,” she insists quietly through a mouthful of steak. I wonder why she often refers to herself as one when, clearly, she’s anything but.

“If things aren’t going right during a show, I will blow up,” she insists wide-eyed. “You don’t want to mess with my sound.

I recently sang The Star-spangled Banner at (London’s) Wembley Stadium but, on the night, the sound was a disaster.

I was livid. You don’t want to disrespect your country by messing up the national anthem, do you?

People were whispering, ‘Oh, she’s pissed off.’ Hell yeah, I was pissed off, because I’m a professional and I want things to be right. If that makes me a diva, then that’s how it has to be.”

Despite the tough talk, Rowland admits she strives for perfection, not for the sake of it, but because she battles with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

“It’s becoming worse as I get older, not better,” she says, citing her need to be aware of every aspect of her daily schedule and a desire for neatness as the main manifestations of her condition.

“You need to have some control and, because everything is so out of whack for me a lot of the time, keeping the ketchup bottle straight calms me down.

“My friends say to me, ‘Are you sure you’re not just a control freak?’

And I think, maybe that’s it; it’s not OCD, I’m just an over-controlling diva.”

She laughs, before adding that daily prayer and meditation sessions help prepare her for the day and keep her obsessive tendencies at bay.

In her limited downtime, Rowland says she loves to cook and veg out in front of her favourite TV shows (“I’m a nut for the Food Network channel”).

She’s also currently plotting a permanent move back to Houston from Miami.

“I bought a beautiful waterfront apartment in Miami two years ago because it’s all happening there. I thought to myself, I’m young, I’m single, I’m going where the party is.

“But I miss my family and Houston feels like home, so I’m going to make it my base.”

It’s not just a new home Rowland is looking for, but “the guy” to share it with. Previously, she’s been linked to rapper Nelly, with whom she had a 2002 worldwide number-one hit single Dilemma.

More recently, she dated – and was briefly engaged to - American-football star, Dallas Cowboy Roy Williams, but the pair put their marriage plans on hold after deciding they were too young to wed.

Today, she says she’s still looking for Mr Right.

“I saw my mama struggle to raise me on her own, so I want to be a wife before I become a mother. I want to find a fantastic husband and father for my children.

“Unfortunately, the search is going a little slowly at the moment,” she laughs.

In the meantime, Rowland says she’s happy to keep looking.

“I’ve dated tall guys and I’ve dated small and, so far, all of them have turned out to be dogs. I’m waiting to meet my prince.”

Lunch is finished and Rowland’s tour manager is keen to keep moving.

Rowland, ever gracious, thanks us once more, insisting that today has been “so great”. As a diva, she clearly has a long way to go. Her mama would be proud.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 20th, 2008 at 10:43 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.