Kelly Rowland’s ‘Talk A Good Game’ Set For Lower Than Expected First-Week Sales

I hope Kelly Rowland has a warm jacket and a torch. It must be cold there in Beyonce‘s shadow and the hapless diva isn’t going anywhere soon if the predicted first week sales tally of Talk A Good Game is any indication. The deeply personal album has garnered positive reviews from critics but is still only expected to sell 60,000 – 65,000 copies this week. To put things into perspective, Queen B sold 300,000+ copies of 4 in its first seven days of release.

Perhaps that’s an unfair comparison but Talk A Good Game will, most likely, sell considerably less than recent albums by fellow R&B divas Fantasia and Keyshia Cole, who managed 91,000 and 96,000 respectively. A first week sales tally of 65,000 copies would be the lowest of Kelly’s career – even less than 2011’s Here I Am, which sold 77,000 copies. There is some good news. The underselling opus is set for a top 10 debut, Kelly’s third in a row.

So what went wrong? This was supposed to be the new X Factor judge’s moment to shine. “Dirty Laundry” proved that Rowland is a multifaceted artist, while “I Remember” is a reminder that Kelly still reigns supreme on the dancefloor. The most obvious cause of the album’s first-week failure is the lack of a hit single. “Kisses Down Low” stalled at number 72, while promising tracks like “Street Life” and “Gone” haven’t been officially released yet.

Don’t despair, Rowland Stones. The child of destiny has a tonne of promo on the horizon and will no doubt keep soldiering on until something sticks. Most importantly, numbers don’t change the fact that Talk A Good Game is a very, very good album.

Why is Ms. Kelly’s masterpiece underperforming? Share your opinion in the comments.