I Am Kelly Rowland...
As one third of Destiny’s Child Kelly Rowland managed to become one of the most successful girl groups in music, topping the charts with singles such as Independent Women and Survivor. After 15 years the girls decided to call it a day and chose to work on their own solo projects. So far Kelly has managed a number 1 collaboration with rapper Nelly and four top ten hits off her own back, combined with a number of film and television experiences Kelly seems to be blossoming in her solo success.
Her new single, When Love Takes Over, with David Guetta, has just topped the U.K. singles chart, and she recently caught up with Heat's Lucie Cave to talk about the people and influences that have made her who she is today.
heat: Could you tell me who the most important people are to you right now in your life?
Kelly: It’s so funny, it’s so emotional when you start thinking about people who mean the most to you or who have inspired you or just completely motivate you on an everyday basis. When I think about that person, it would probably be my best friend. I remember at the beginning of my career with Destiny’s Child, everytime I came home she would tell me, “You’d better not get a big head!” and she would always check me. There was one time when I was a little spitfire and she told me and brought me right back down to earth, and I love her for that. I love the fact that she keeps the normalcy in my life. I think that we experience so much of the high life that we need some sort of grounding, and she definitely does that for me. I can talk to her about anything, whether it’s business or whatever it might be. She’s incredibly intelligent, so she’s probably the person that inspires and motivates me.
Her name is Barbara Rubio.
h: Is there a track that you would associate with her?
Kelly: Girls Just Want To Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper!
h: When you were young, you moved to Houston, you moved away from your father with your mum. Was it a really difficult situation for you making such a big move and leaving your dad?
Kelly: Being a kid and moving away from Atlanta, which is where I was born and my mum had a job and supported myself and my brother, I really didn’t know my father. I haven’t seen my father since I was about six or seven years old, and here I am twenty-eight now. But I would definitely say it moulded and shaped me and gave me great character. Moving away from Atlanta to a whole different place also shaped and moulded me; I’m able to go to a different city every day and find my way and be comfortable there. So I think that everything happens in our lives for a reason, no matter how difficult or painful they might be at that time. That wasn’t easy, growing up without a father, but at the same time, it’s no different story from anybody else, than a lot of people. So I don’t hold a pity party for myself, but I will make sure to give my children a great father, a fantastic supportive, loving father who is great to me as a husband.
h: Is there a song that reminds you of moving to Atlanta, Georgia - your childhood days?
Kelly: I would say the song that reminds me of moving to Houston is Madonna’s Don’t Tell Me, because of the fact that I thought Texas was all about cowboy boots and plaid shirts and stuff, and little hip moves that she did in the video!
h: You must have a really strong bond with your mum?
Kelly: We bicker a lot, but when we finally settle on something it is such a fantastic bond and she loves me so much. My mum is fantastic, she’s a very strong woman. She was a nanny when I was a kid, so looking after me and looking after someone else’s children, it was really hard for her to balance, but she always found a way to do it, so that’s why I look at her as a great pillar of strength.
h: Could you pick a track to play for your mother, is there something that you hear that reminds you of her?
Kelly: Mama by Boyz II Men. Every Mother’s Day, I play that and we’re both just crying like babies! But that’s such a fantastic record. So I dedicate that one to my mum.
h: A couple of years ago, it was reported that you were intending to look for your father, did you ever actually look for him?
Kelly: I don’t know who started that story! I haven’t actually. I feel like I’m not really ready for that yet, I’ve enough going on in my life to really open that up. Maybe later on in about sixteen, seventeen months. I told myself I’d work for sixteen long months and then I’d take a vacation or a break, but now’s not that time for me.
h: You joined a church choir when you were really little, when you were 4, who or what inspired you to sing?
Kelly: Whitney Houston inspired me to sing when I was a kid. I remember seeing her on TV and she made it look so easy, the notes just floated out of her voice, it was just so effortless. I remember saying, “I want to be a singer.”
I remember going to church and singing with the choir. The choir director would see me on the side trying to sing louder than everybody else, and she said, “Do you want to do a solo, baby?” So I did a solo and it was called I Want to Walk and Talk with Jesus. I even have a tape of it. I will never play that to anyone, but it’s really funny because you can’t understand what I’m saying. It was my first solo and I was so proud. I had the ugliest, biggest, white cupcake dress on, with ugly, big cupcake, white shoes and socks, and my mama just made me look like a complete cupcake! But it was the coolest moment, because I remember standing on that chair to see everybody in the church, and I was comfortable. You would think that at four or five years old I would be nervous. I was fine, my mum was like, “I cannot believe how comfortable you were!” I loved it. Still do. In front of thousands.
h: Is religion important to you?
Kelly: For me, it is. My faith, I call it my four F’s, I think it’s four or five F’s, it’s faith, my family, my friends, the fans. It’s very important.
h: Do you find it difficult in today’s society to talk about your faith, or do you think it’s very much a private thing?
Kelly: I think you know who you feel comfortable talking about religion with, and for me I’m comfortable in my faith where I don’t go talking about it to everybody. When the time is appropriate or I feel like I want to go and pray with someone or maybe give someone a word, then I will. I think that everybody deserves some sort of faith or hope, and if you can be a part of that then so be it.
h: Destiny’s Child began when you were really young as well. You guys always seemed really, really driven. Did you know when you were that young, did you have a feeling that that was what you were going to do?
Kelly: Yes! I say yes very quickly, because we were very unusual at nine and ten years old. We knew exactly what we wanted to do, what we wanted to be. We wanted to sing all the time, we wanted to practice all the time, and even when we got lazy, our manager, Matthew Knowles, who’s still Destiny’s Child’s manager, he just really pulled it out of us. He was like, “You guys are being lazy, but ya’ll are the best!” He was such a great coach and trainer, especially us being so young. It was just instilled in us as kids and we were ready for anything. So I think that there were so many things that we learned at a very early age that, I must be honest, that a lot of artists who come out now, they don’t know. So I’m really thankful to him for that. We’ve been wanting to do it since we were kids and look at us now, we’re still doing it, years later.
h: What was it like when you first had that mega success and were worldwide famous? Was it really difficult?
Kelly: No, we were really busy and we had our family around, our friends around, people who genuinely loved us and were not ‘yes’ people. We had curfew too. Curfew helps! We could go out or be out past 12 o’clock, if it was for some after party for an awards show and all the parents were there. That happened until we were about 18 or 19 years old. That could have stopped at 17 or 16 but I’m happy that they did, it was a good thing.
h: Do you have a really fond memory from being in Destiny’s Child?
Kelly: One of my fondest memories would have to be - I’ll get all choked up! - it would have to be when we opened up a youth centre in Houston, Texas. I think that was so monumental because of the fact that you’re leaving a legacy, it’s not just about a microphone, cute outfits, how many awards you get, or anything like that. That’s great, don’t get me wrong, number one records are great, don’t get me wrong! When Love Takes Over, number one! But I think that when you can have your name as part of something, which means something to a community that you grew up in, that is just fantastic. You get to grow old and show your kids and you expect them to do the same thing, to sew back into the same community that fed in to you as well. So that was a great moment, a fantastic moment, I’ll never forget. We’re actually working on another building too.
h: You do an awful lot with AIDS awareness and breast cancer awareness, and I see you’ve got a charity to do with teenage girls standing up for themselves as well. Can you tell us a bit about that and why are those issues so important to you?
Kelly: We live in a very different and difficult time than what even we grew up in. I think that there’s so much peer pressure out there. Growing up, I had an identity crisis. I went to a school that was predominantly white and I was the only black girl there. I remember thinking I don’t want to be as dark as I am, I want to be a little fairer, you know what I mean? I didn’t want to be me, and that was a problem.
When I got older, I embraced me and who I am as a woman, and I think that it’s important to instill that in our girls, to know that they possess something so special. The world should see that everybody’s not supposed to be the same but they’re also supposed to support each other at the same time. And that’s with young people period, but I know for me it hits home when I talk about young girls because when I look at them, it’s almost like I’m looking at myself, and I would want them to be a lot stronger than what I was as a child and know who they are as little women.
h: This identity crisis that you had, who got you out of it?
Kelly: The one person that helped me get out of my identity crisis was Tina Knowles, Beyonce’s mother. I remember that she sat me in the mirror and she was like, “Girl, look at how pretty you are!” She would really make me feel comfortable in my skin. It wasn’t so much forced, but it came from a mothering place, and I really appreciated her for that. She was so great at putting together my hair, my style, because I didn’t know what to do with myself. She had this fly hair salon, and she had the coolest people in her salon and I remember just thinking, “Oh my god, I love this woman! I love her style, as a woman she’s so cool!” And she helped me come in to my style.
h: What song would you play for her?
Kelly: What song would I play for her? Who’s That Lady by The Isley Brothers! That’s her ring on my phone!
h: Can you tell me about how you got together with David Guetta to make your single?
Kelly: David and I met in the South of France. This sounds like the beginning of a romantic novel! But it was so funny, because I was a fan of David’s at the time and I was like, “Oh my god!” Me and Solange would hear David’s records in the clubs and go crazy here in Europe. When I finally met him - his wife Cathy was there as well - I fell in love with his spirit first. I never ever connect with people, there’s always something there that’s weird, but I instantly liked David. After that, he started playing tracks and I started loving him even more.
At the time, I was really bored with R&B and I wanted something refreshing. I felt like he was a breath of fresh air, to be completely honest with you. I still feel like that to this day. There’s a reason that we met at the certain time that we met. So when he played the track from When Love Takes Over I cried! There’s so much emotion behind it, it’s big, it has such a great presence.
