Forever and a day ago… Ms. Kelly Rowland went and released one of the most dance-worthy songs in ever. That song was “Commander” and it came after the great success she saw with David Guetta on the track “When Love Takes Over”. I mean who doesn’t remember how inescapable that song was back in 2009? I couldn’t get away from it, and I didn’t want to, that shit was fire. So why did she leave us on the dancefloor with nothing but our glow sticks and pockets full of dreams?

I still remember the day I first heard “Commander”, I was blown away; it was on repeat for months. She was gearing up to release a proper dance album and all seemed to be right in the world. I was sure that the song would be a bonafide hit for Rowland, seeing the same success as her last collaboration with Guetta, 2009’s “When Love Takes Over”. Unfortunately, the song failed to make the impact that it seemed it would have and most definitely should have.

She released a more R&B friendly double A-side, the sassy “Grown Woman” and the touching “Rose-Colored Glasses”, to appeal to a different audience. Both songs were great, but failed to make an impact on the Billboard Hot 100 like they were supposed to. The album was set to drop a few months later, but was quickly pushed back as a result. She hauled that ass into the studio to record some new material…

That material included the horribly underrated and relatively unknown international single “Forever And A Day”. As I was riding the bus home from the gym, the aroma of french fries wafting over me seductively, I was pleasantly surprised to see the song pop up on my iPod classic (plug). So I started thinking, I said to my self: “Self! Why did Kelly do this to us?!”

The lack of success must have scared Kelly and shook her confidence because she quickly got back to her R&B roots by releasing the obviously perfect “Motivation (feat. Lil Wayne), climbing out of the dance niche she fit so well. When Here I Am dropped, well over a year after she released “Commander”, gone was the dance-ready anthems I so desperately needed.

It was her first release without long-time manager Matthew Knowles, so that could definitely explain the kind of aimless direction and genre-exploration we see. Kelly says of the albums genre-mixing, “no one puts me in a box”. The album wasn’t bad by any means, but I definitely think that Kelly needs to explore that side again, and bring Jennifer Hudson with her too. Until then, we can remember the good times.