Dirty Laundry

"Dirty Laundry" is a song recorded by American recording artist Kelly Rowland, for her fourth studio album, Talk a Good Game (2013). Co-written and produced by The-Dream, the R&B ballad was serviced to radio as the album's second single on May 15, 2013, and was released for digital download on May 21, 2013, through Republic Records. The record candidly documents the time in Rowland's life after the release of her debut album Simply Deep (2002); Rowland speaks of her envy of former groupmate Beyoncé's solo success and the domestic abuse she suffered during a previous relationship. Critics praised the sparse piano-led melody, as well as Rowland's openness about her jealousy of Knowles and the inspiring message about leaving an abusive relationship. The official remix features a new introduction from Rowland and new verses from R. Kelly. Background and release Following the chart success of her Lil Wayne-backed single "Motivation" (2011), Rowland started to work on her upcoming fourth studio album soon after. She said, "I'm in the studio. Man, it's been so much fun. I do wish that some of my fans could be in there for that ... [so] I have taped a lot of moments for my fans." She went on to add that the follow-up to her third album, Here I Am, will have a theme: "I made sure that I locked in on a concept and everyone that's come in to work on this album, we've all built around it. It's just building up so beautifully. I'm so proud! So I can't wait till all of my fans hear it." In the summer of 2012, Rowland reprised her collaboration with Wayne on another song called "Ice". It peaked at number 24 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and number 88 on the Billboard Hot 100. Rowland officially began the campaign for Talk a Good Game with the release of its lead single, the Mike Will Made It-produced "Kisses Down Low" in February 2013. "Kisses Down Low" peaked at number 25 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and number 72 on the US Billboard Hot 100. On May 9, 2013, Rowland released a teaser for "Dirty Laundry", the minute-long clip features a scene from a laundromat set to an instrumental of the song. "Dirty Laundry" was written in collaboration with American singer-producer The Dream, who said he wanted to push Rowland outside of her comfort zone, "I want[ed] to write [her] a record so that people will know exactly who [she is], underneath it all." He told Billboard, "When you have a stage like Kelly has, you should talk about that part of your life.