Ms Kelly

For years, a not-insignificant contingent of Destiny's Child fans have been claiming that Kelly Rowland, not Beyoncé, was the diva to watch in that group--the one whose crystalline vocal gifts got piggybacked on. With that kind of underdog love, Kelly could have coasted in her solo career, cranking out batches of classy ballads and midtempo joints designed mostly to keep the faithful convinced they were right. Ms. Kelly, though, has some points to prove, foremost among them that this songbird can rock: "I told y'all I was gonna bump like thee-es," she boasts alongside Eve on the red-hot banger of a first single that is "Like This." Later, she sidles up to Snoop Dogg in the slinkiest way possible on "Ghetto," busts out the funk on "Work," and scissor-kicks expectations about the limits of her clean voice on "Comeback." As the disc rolls on, Rowland's friskiness mellows--"The Show," with Tank, puts the focus on the near-forgotten art of harmonizing and "Still in Love with My Ex" makes a sweet study of romantic regret. The closing track, a ballad a country crooner could have had a good time with, nevertheless gets to the bottom of why this disc is so worth shelling out for: The love Rowland sings about on "This Is Love" is "like a diamond in the sand"; so, we come to realize, is she. --Tammy La Gorce

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