It's hard to say what adds more ballast to singer Kelly Rowland's solo debut, Simply Deep--her chart-topping past with Destiny's Child or her insanely sexy duet (and accompanying video) with hip-hop star Nelly on the song "Dilemma." For certain, Rowland will take her place alongside fellow Destiny's Child member Beyonce Knowles as a hip, self-assured R&B force with a terrifically elastic voice,...

It's hard to say what adds more ballast to singer Kelly Rowland's solo debut, Simply Deep--her chart-topping past with Destiny's Child or her insanely sexy duet (and accompanying video) with hip-hop star Nelly on the song "Dilemma." For certain, Rowland will take her place alongside fellow Destiny's Child member Beyonce Knowles as a hip, self-assured R&B force with a terrifically elastic voice, if not groundbreaking material. A slick, mostly upbeat clutch of smoochy urban ballads and he-done-me-wrong laments, Simply Deep sounds expensive and Cristal-soaked, which was doubtless the goal. And there are notable exceptions--"Love/Hate" is a electronically juiced rump-shaker while the poignant album opener, "Stole," stands as a beacon to the underdog, delivered in a voice as striking as the face it belongs to, which is saying something. --Kim Hughes