Kelly Rowland has not been shown much love by the US music market. Neither one of her albums made a huge impact and her only top 10 hit, ‘Dilemma’, was not even her song as a lead artist. Last year Kelly saw massive success with her dance anthem ‘When Love Takes Over’, which was number 1 in literally every country than the US. The US market is the toughest to crack, which is why it is harder for international acts to achieve success here rather than a US artist to achieve success in Europe. Kelly is looking to change her luck in the US with her third album being released in September.
With the success of ‘When Love Takes Over’ it was a safe bet for Kelly to team up with David Guetta to producer he new single as well. ‘Commander’ is the epitome of a pop-dance song. The beat really is perfectly done by Guetta with a strong build up in the verses leading to the chorus. The beat in the chorus is strong, giving the song the epic feel that it calls for. This is Guettas best production lately, because of its strong pop influence. As a techno producer before he hit the pop scene, Guetta is really the only person out there who knows how to make real dance music. If anyone knows how to create a dance anthem it is he.
Songwriter Rico Love wrote the song, which was another great choice due to his work as writer (‘Sweet Dream’, ‘Love Like This’). Love is normally an R&B writer, so adding his R&B flare to the song allowed it to offer something that other dance songs don’t. I wouldn’t argue that the song is heavily influenced by R&B, but I will say that Guetta and Love created a nice fusion of the two genres. The song as shows what a good songwriter Love is because the chorus of the song is pure pop. Songwriters should be able to explore other genres if they want to have a legitimate status as a writer.
The best part of the song though is Rowland, who shows off the range of her voice. I think she has found her calling as a Pop artist rather than R&B. Rowland has a great voice to begin with, but she has never shown off her true vocal strength with her R&B songs. Pun intended, she really commands the song and has a really connection with both the lyrics and the beat. The only problem I have with the song is the auto-tune that used on her voice in the verses. There is no reason that she needs it considering she sings so well, but I think it was just done for the effect.
With I song this good there is no reason why she shouldn’t have a number hit on her hands. The real problem lies with the radio stations in America. The song will be number 1 all over Europe; there no questioning that, but its time that America starts showing love to a good artist. Only time will tell how well the song will do. The song didn’t hit the top 100 on itunes yet, which is not a good sign. Rowland is in America now promoting the song so hopefully she will gain enough support for the song to get the attention that it deserves.