Here I Am (Kelly Rowland album)

Here I Am is the third studio album by American singer Kelly Rowland, released through Universal Motown and Universal Music Group on July 22, 2011. The album is Rowland's first release since parting ways with her manager Mathew Knowles and longtime Sony Music record label Columbia Records (through Knowles' Music World Entertainment). Here I Am is predominately a pop, R&B and dance album. It follows Rowland's assertion that "no one puts her in a box" with common themes around womanhood, sexual intimacy and love. Originally scheduled for release in 2010, the album was pushed back after the first round of singles were released to mixed critical and commercial reception.

"Commander" (2010) produced by and featuring David Guetta topped the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart and became a top-ten hit in the United Kingdom and some other European territories. Three other singles: "Forever and a Day", "Rose Colored Glasses" and "Grown Woman", all had limited commercial success and are subsequently included on selected editions of the album or excluded altogether. The international version of the album features seventeen songs including ones excluded from the US editions and some remixes. Here I Am also features guest performances from Lil Wayne, Nelly, Rico Love, Lil Playy, The WAV.s and Big Sean. Production of the album was handled by the likes of Rodney Jerkins, Guetta, Jim Jonsin, Hit-Boy, RedOne and The Runners. Love wrote half of the songs on the album, while Rowland co-wrote three songs on the album.

After re-recording the majority of the album, a new single featuring Lil Wayne titled "Motivation", preceded the album in the United States. It was greeted with a positive reception from critics and topped the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart as well as peaking in the top-twenty of the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Rowland's second most successful single as a lead artist in the United States. Here I Am was received well by critics, many of whom praised the strong productions and vocal performances but questioned some of the guests and a lack of the up-tempo dance sound Rowland had spoken of. Here I Am debuted at number one on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and number three on the US Billboard 200 albums chart, selling 147,000  copies. To date, it's Rowland's highest debuting album in the United States.