Wiki
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Release Date
1 January 2013
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Length
12 tracks
Talk a Good Game is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Kelly Rowland. Formerly titled Year of the Woman, the album was released on June 14, 2013 through Universal Republic and its affiliated record labels. Incorporating a base core of R&B and pop music, Talk a Good Game was influenced by the likes of Whitney Houston, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder amongst other of Rowland's idols. Rowland wanted the album to be a celebration of womanhood and referred to the record as her most personal album to date. On the album, she co-wrote all but one song, "Freak", a cover of the same 2010 song by entertainer Jamie Foxx from his fourth studio album Best Night of My Life. A deluxe edition, and Target-exclusive edition of the album featuring bonus tracks, was released simultaneously alongside the twelve-track standard edition.
Rowland called upon the likes of The Runners, The-Dream, Harmony Samuels, Mike Will Made It and Pharrell Williams as well as others, to handle production for the album. In total she recorded 70 songs for the album. Amongst those included are collaborations with Wiz Khalifa, Kevin Cossom and Pusha T, in addition to her former bandmates Beyoncé Knowles and Michelle Williams who feature on the song "You Changed". Occasionally the album dips into other genres such adult contemporary music, funk and dance music.
Upon its release, music critics commended the album's cohesive sound and themes throughout, often noting Rowland's most personal and vulnerable lyrics as well as the strength of her vocals. Talk a Good Game debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 selling 68,000 copies in its opening week, becoming Rowland's third top ten album. The album also debuted at number four on the US R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart, failing to match the number one peak that her last album, Here I Am (2011), reached. In 2014, Rowland parted ways with her label, wanting a new start elsewhere and signalling the end of the Talk a Good Game era; the album was her only release under Republic Records.
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