March 30, 2009
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Former Destiny's Child starlet Kelly Rowland has reportedly been dropped from her recording contract at Columbia Records.

Pop star Kelly Rowland has been dropped by her record label just two months after she fired her manager and former bandmate Beyonce Knowles' father.

Rowland, known widely for her stint in the multi-platinum selling group Destiny's Child and charting solo career that included the hit singles "Like This" and "Dilemma," was dropped based upon fears that she was no longer "commercially viable" according to reports.

News of Rowland's departure from Columbia also follows the singer's much-talked-about split from long time manager Matthew Knowles who is also Beyonce's father.

In a release issued earlier this year, Rowland called the split "amicable" stating:

"Mathew Knowles has been a positive influence in my career. I have had great success under his guidance - both as a member of Destiny's Child and with my solo projects. Although we have decided to part ways professionally, the Knowles family and the entire Music World Entertainment team will always be my family."

Prior to today's news, Rowland was said to be working on a third album with new management. Her last album titled "Ms. Kelly" peaked at no. 2 on the R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart.

Speaking last year, Rowland expressed hopes to diversify her business dealings by working on projects outside of the music industry:

"I would like to write children’s books, and host my own daytime talk show. I think that would be so cool [to have my own talk show]."

In February, Rowland's dream came true through an exclusive co-hosting deal on Bravo's forthcoming series "The Fashion Show".
[Edited 3/31/09 9:27am]

It sounds like she wanted out of her contract and Columbia made it happen. I wish her the best.

i hope see can do something.

Sorry, but what took them so long? In my humble opinion, she is the least talented of the 3....Bout' time.

daPrettyman said:

She has not proven herself a viable asset to the label. Hence, she was given the boot, cut from the roster.
[Edited 3/30/09 12:54pm]

Copycat said:

If her last album had been promoted properly, she would have had more success. I mostly blame Matthew for that and not Sony/Columbia. I say that because I only saw her out a few times performing and promoting her project by herself. The rest of the time she was doing a DC reunion (like at some awards show).

For Michelle's first two albums (the gospel projects) they did well only because they properly promoted her to that audience. She went on tour by herself and did a ton of press to promote the projects (especially the first one).

Wendy Williams was so right. If Michelle and Kelly want to succeed in the industry, Matthew was not the right person for them to work with.

daPrettyman said:

I also believe that not only is Michelle tad more talented than Kelly, but gospel music is looked at a little differently from R&B music.

shorttrini said:

That is true (to a certain extent). I really don't consider Michelle's first 2 projects as gospel albums. They are more inspirational than gospel. Therefore, they could justify having her on tour with Gerald Levert and Luther Vandross.

As for Kelly, her first album was horrible. They tried to make her a pop act and failed miserably. With her 2nd project, they tried to push her to r&b audiences. When her 2nd single flopped, they gave up on the r&b crowd then tried to push her to the dance audience. Especially when they reissued the cd in a special edition with dance tracks.

Why am I not surprised by this news.

daPrettyman said:

...and as a D.J. those tracks were pretty good. I still think that she really does not have the talent to make it as a solo artist.

shorttrini said:

I totally agree with u. They were pretty good. If promoted properly, she would have managed to get a hit or two.

This might actually be good news for Kelly.She didn't stand a chance at Columbia,with Matthew Knowles around.It's clear where their priorities lie.They only care Beyonce and her career.Kelly was just an afterthought.

Your talent has nothing to do with whether you are signed or not signed, i mean how many times do we go through this. On one hand we are criticizing labels and other threads we are saying "bout time", so whats it gonna be??

The reason Kelly doesnt catch is easy....the US market can only handle one black female at a time, and that black female is Beyonce, but it has to be a black female that they feel "safe" with. She cant be different, look a little odd, etc...And for those who say Rihanna is black, well true, but she is Beyonce's twin.

For some reason I expected this to happen to Michelle first since "Unexpected" was a mess but Kelly has potential if the marketing is done right...

lastdecember said:

I don't think so. I wouldn't say that at all. As for the fact that the media can't handle but one black star at a time, I don't agree with that either. They can only handle 2.

Kelly has talent, but it was not allowed to shine through being managed by Matthew. With Matthew having the big cash cow at Columbia, they decided stay with the big cow and let the calf go. Besides, we don't know if Matthew had anything to do with her getting dropped. So there are a lot of unanswered questions that we don't know.
[Edited 3/30/09 14:57pm]

shorttrini said:

I don't think Michelle can sing better. If you listen to the DC projects
that she sung her voice was horrible. I have a friend who got to see her
when she was promoting her first album during a gospel tour and he stated
that she her voice was awful as well. I think Kelly can have some success
but obviously not beyonce success. It's all about timing and finding the
right situation.

phunkdaddy said:

It's also about getting a label that will stand behind you. Ask LeToya about that. People had counted her out and she did manage to get a BIG hit a few years ago and her new song is doing pretty good at radio.

daPrettyman said:

Yeah i hope letoya continues to have success. It will show everyone she
didn't need to kiss matthew's ass to be successful or be beyonce's puppet.
Go letoya baby!

phunkdaddy said:

Kelly cannot sing live, I have heard her and she was horrible. Her voice, needs the most work when in the studio...case in point, "Can't nobody". There was some much effects on that track done to her voice, it was a shame.

daPrettyman said:

Well its ironic how first Amerie goes and then Kelly, both from Columbia, both black females that speak their mind when given the chance. Kelly is very much like MYA, though Mya has more to offer IMO, but she has the look where some think she is smoking HOT and some think they just aint, Beyonce,Rihanna etc..fit the mold where everyone thinks they are attractive, especially Beyonce, i aint ever heard any person say she wasnt, black,white,red,green, yellow, she appeals to everyone which is why she is pushed

shorttrini said:

She probably can't. But please don't tell me that michelle can.

lastdecember said:

NO in vocal area but Rhianna takes risks and does a bit more uptempo crossover tunes and does not stay just in one category. One thing that kept Beyonce in the game is not her producers or managers..its her voice and her style, clever catchy songwriting and tunes. Her voice will always outshine the people that she works with ..she is a household name.

Michelle did go in a new route with unexpected..but....I dont know..her voice doesnt match that type of music...frankly I never really cared for her vocals either.

Michelle has some potential..but she is always going to be looked over as long as Beyonce is around..she is the Jermaine to Michael. The Jesse to Prince, the Apples to Vanity.

phunkdaddy said:

Well, she's the lesser of the two evils...

shorttrini said:

Okay if you say so. I haven't rushed out to get anything kelly rowland
or michelle and never will but at least i can say kelly's voice has
been more distinctive as a member of DC and as a solo artist than michelle.
Like i said i won't ever see any of them sing live outside of television
so it's really not a big deal to me. I just don't see how michelle got
a record deal anywhere.

this is old news. supposedly kelly's churning out an album sometime in april so lets wait and see. ms kelly was pretty hot for what it was. she should have listened to the fans and given them what they wanted.

lastdecember said:

are u still going on with this bullshit?

paisleypark4 said:

rihanna and the word "risks" should never be spoken in the same sentence. michelle had the potential to blow up. people tend to forget that she was the first of the Destiny’s Child girls to perform on Broadway and release a solo album. She has four albums under her belt.The thing is she can cross-over but her project and her talent was poorly managed, poorly marketed and poorly misunderstood - her priority within the Knowles camp was a factor - she could have made a dent in the market but she was surrounded by the wrong people and wrong producers. Her camp should have referenced Kylie Minogue, get with songwriters like Ms Dynamite, Scritti Polliti, Karen Poole, Johnny Douglas and MJB’s "Growing Pains" should have been the blueprint for this album - i know deep down that she has an album of that quality within her. A majority of the songs on that project didn’t do her justice vocally and retransform her - in most songs she’s drowned out by overproduction. We havent heard from her in a long while since the greatest. i was hoping she was in the studio, plotting a rerelease and then an assault on the European market.

lastdecember said:

I getcha now. I some-what agree about Mya. I think she is a great talent, but I don't think she's that cute (that's just my opinion).

IMO, I think record companies try to find women that can be marketed heavily to white America. I only say that because you don't see hardly any dark or caramel colored black women being promoted in the music business. I don't think it's the talent factor so much, I thinks its the mass appeal. Sad, but true.

viciuzurban said:

How is the truth bullshit??? Name another Black Female that is accepted mainstream, that isnt 100% in the Beyonce mold. Face it, its another form of racism. This is the same kind of thinking that actually thought because JLO was a big star, america embraced Latinos, get fucking real, she isnt even 100% latino, she's born here.

lastdecember said: