To prevent The Lava Lizard homepage from looking like a Kelly Rowland fan page, I was hesitant about sharing this studio version of her new song, “Street Life”. Naturally, her fans took my silence as a slight and threatened to RowlandStone me to death if I didn’t review the tune so I here I go…
“Street Life” will appear on Rowland’s Talk a Good Game album on June 18th and it features a clever placed appearance by rapper Pusha T. When the singer first performed the song live during her Riverfest set, I noted the similarities between the tempo of the track and the opening vocal arrangement to that of Rihanna’s work.
However, although I stand by my previous review, it is clear that Rowland and producer Pharrell went further back in time for inspiration. In fact, “Street Life” is heavily based in the sound of a young, Funk-driven Chaka Khan. Yes, the lyrics are far from the brilliance on the Naughty album – Rowland literally ran out of words mid-verse – but it’s the feeling that counts, right?
Listen to Rowland’s “Street Life” and do your shimmy below: