"COFFEE" x Kelly Rowland
Kelly Rowland's new single "COFFEE" dropped today. The song featured stunning visual marketing and production that sounds like a recipe for success in this alternative R&B era. This and Kelly's impact on R&B ensured the song was going to get streams.
The lyrics of the song certainly embrace sexuality but are denied substance by the lack of range in her vocals. It's apparent that the vocals in "Coffee" don't nearly compare to that of "Motivation," "What a Feeling", or "When Love Takes Over." Still, the song is easy on the ears.
Kelly quotes to Essence Magazine: "To me, COFFEE is about embracing your individuality, sexuality, or imperfections. Not comparing yourself to others. We need to celebrate ourselves more often -- with this song, I want you to have yourself in mind. I want to remind women all over to reignite their magic!"
The message is beautiful. However, considering the video features only Black women in a gorgeous array of shades, it's interesting that Kelly failed to say "Black."
Then again, how celebratory can this video be if its representation of Black women doesn't extend beyond "beach bodies"?
Under a video where people are praising Kelly and Black women, it's possible they're only referring to Black women whose bodies look like this. Seems to me like the intention was good, but the execution was flawed.
Remember the song "Crown" (2019) where Dove and Kelly partnered to encourage young girls to love their hair? After watching the video, it seemed like she was comparing the plight of Black hair to that of a white girl getting called a "dumb blonde." The plight of Black hair is about more than overcoming namecalling (hence, the existence of the Natural Hair Movement, but I digress).
While "COFFEE" seems a bit more genuine and developed than "Crown", both neglected to represent Black women fully.
Watch Kelly Rowland's "COFFEE" and "Crown" music videos below: