Kelly Rowland Preps “Here I Am”

Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter-actress-dancer KELLY ROWLAND has announced the title of her eagerly awaited upcoming third solo album, HERE I AM, to be released by Universal Motown in Fall 2011. She revealed the title of HERE I AM and explained the inspiration for it in an exclusive interview with Billboard: “I was talking to my product manager [and] I said I wanted people to know that this is the record, the sound I’ve been working toward… that here I am. And she said, ‘That’s the title.’ It just connected with my heart and the music as well. It stands for everything I’ve gone through and thought about for this record as a woman. It’s very strong.”

ROWLAND’s album title announcement comes as her white-hot single “Motivation,” featuring Lil Wayne, rises to No. 3 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and enters the Top 40 of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart at No. 31, in addition to climbing Billboard’s Ringtones chart (No. 11), its Digital Songs chart (No. 32), and its Radio Songs chart (No. 33).

Produced by Jim Jonsin and written by Rico Love, “Motivation” is ROWLAND’s second-biggest hit since “Dilemma,” her Grammy-winning 2002 duet with Nelly, which topped Billboard’s Hot 100 and R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for 10 weeks and nine weeks, respectively. Directed by Sarah Chatfield, choreographed by Frank Gatson, and styled by Lysa Cooper, the seductive music video for “Motivation” has topped iTunes’ Top R&B/Soul Videos chart, ranked in the Top 10 of iTunes’ overall Top Music Videos Chart, and surpassed 10 million views on VEVO.

KELLY ROWLAND achieved global pop stardom as a member of Destiny’s Child, one of the best-selling groups of all time. She first stepped out on her own in 2002 with the release of her RIAA gold-certified solo debut album, Simply Deep, which reached No. 12 on the Billboard 200 chart. In 2007, ROWLAND’s second solo album, Ms. Kelly, hit No. 6 on the Billboard 200 chart and sold more than 1.2 million copies worldwide. Scheduled to be released in Fall 2011, Rowland’s third solo album, HERE I AM, her first release for Universal Motown, features a host of A-list producers and songwriters, including Dr. Luke, Stargate, Salaam Remi, Ne-Yo, Rico Love, Jim Jonsin, RedOne, Tricky Stewart, Esther Dean, Rodney Jerkins, and David Guetta, among others.