Back in 2002 Nelly and Kelly Rowland dominated charts around the globe with their #1 smash hit "Dilemma". For a minute Kelly Rowland was the most visible and most popular Destiny's Child graduate; the ever-silent Michelle Williams was going into Gospel music and Beyoncé was alternatively flopping and cancelling singles (several songs were set as her lead single prior to "Crazy In Love"; after that the rest is history).
As for Nelly, he continued his winning streak for a good while with hit singles and a multi-platinum double album release (Suit/Sweat). After a short spell away he has recently made a return to prominence with the smash radio and sales hit "Just A Dream".
The incredibly beautiful and talented Kelly's career, on the other hand, has been nothing but awkward and terribly mismanaged. Following Nelly's release of "Dilemma", she has had a few other lucky breaks - the Freemasons remix of her cut "Work" which became a huge hit all over Europe, the even greater success of French DJ David Guetta's track "When Love Takes Over" which featured her vocals. Her own solo work has been plagued with bad promotion, bad single choices, cancelled single choices, and worst of all a penchant for constantly changing her sound which has put what small fanbase she has at constant risk.
It is therefore with some uncertainty that, almost a decade later, fans receive the third Nelly and Kelly Rowland collaboration (the second was on her cancelled Urban-radio release, the Rico Love remix of European single "Commander"). Touted as Dilemma Part II, the sequel, "Gone" was without a doubt the most antecipated track from Nelly's new record - and yet, when the album finally dropped, it sold considerably less than the significantly less antecipated Keri Hilson collaboration on that same album. After Nelly's "Move That Body" and Kelly's "Rose Colored Glasses" both flandered at US radio formats, their label finally decided to push the cut as a single, sending it for adds and granting it a rather lavish (yet dull) video treatment.
The song has so far stalled at US radio with audience impressions hovering at the 8 million mark. The video debuted yesterday and is featured above.
