Hot off last year’s chart-topper “When Love Takes Over,” Kelly Rowland is continuing to evolve—just like her music. The former member of Destiny’s Child, after spending a summer in Europe where she became hooked on dance music, Rowland has a new single—”Commander,” out this month—and a new album due in September where she will fuse her newfound love for dance music with her trademark urban tunes. If this sounds good, there’s one thing that will sound even better: seeing Rowland headline this year’s L.A. Pride entertainment.

Frontiers recently caught up with Rowland to discuss playing Pride, taking part in the NOH8 Campaign’s group during the parade, her new sound and more.

You’re headlining Sunday night at Pride. What does that mean to you?

For me, it’s love above anything. I’m so excited. I think my gay fan base has been so incredibly loyal, so I’m down for whatever I can do to make them happy and perform.

Adam Bouska’s NOH8 Campaign will be part of the parade and he’s looking for people to join the march. Would you be interested in participating in that?

Of course! I’ve wanted to be part of the NOH8 Campaign. I’ve yet to get the opportunity to do it, but I love Adam and I think that he’s so incredibly talented. I hope that I can do it. We’ll see what happens.

What do you think of the current fight for marriage equality?

I remember having this discussion with my grandmother. She said that we love who we love; we all should just have an expression of love and that doesn’t matter whether it’s male-female, male-male, female-female. Everybody should definitely have their expression of love. Period. And I agree with her.

You recently spent a lot of time in Europe. How did that influence your music?

In so many ways. More so above anything, it was just going out and getting a chance to party [laughs]. My whole vision changed. I would go out to different clubs and listen to everything around me. After that, I went to Saint-Tropez over the summer with a bunch of friends. We went out from one in the morning and didn’t end until eight. That night, specifically for me, meant so much in the sense that I didn’t care what time it was, I didn’t care what I had on, I didn’t care what drink I had. It was just about the music and that was the best part for me.

Your new single, “Commander,” is pretty awesome. What’s behind the lyrics?

That’s all Rico Love. When it was time to write “Commander,” Rico kicked my ass out of the studio, literally, to write the song. He did a fantastic job. He invited me back to the studio when everything was done and I heard this amazing record.

Whom would you pick to be your personal commander?

Good question! Michelle Obama rocks. She is one heck of a woman; I love her.

When is your new album coming out?

September. Right now I can’t figure out a title for the record. The label and I have tried to think of different titles and I think it’s going to come slowly but steady. I want it to be the perfect title, so I’m taking my time with this one. I gotta hurry up though! [laughs]

Will it be predominantly dance or will it include some of the “old” Kelly Rowland style?

I wanted to promise myself that I wouldn’t put myself in a box because the rest of the world does that for me. When it comes to dance or urban, I just want a mixture of it all because that’s where I am in my life right now. I love dance, but I love urban as well. When I thought about putting the record together, I got so excited about putting dance music on it that for a second I wasn’t thinking about urban. Then I thought that it’s such a major part of me and I can’t take it off the record. I definitely want to mix this record with dance and urban music.

Seems like the press is big on faux celebrity feuds—like the one between you and Beyoncé. Why do you think everyone loves a good feud?

Obviously the world likes a feud because the world likes a little tension. As far as Beyoncé and I are concerned, we came from a group. It’s cliché that girl groups don’t get along and they hate each other; [the press] would love for us to fight and bicker and bite each other’s heads off. For me, I feel like there’s space for everybody and [the press] pit us against each other. If there’s great music, why can’t we love it all? I think there’s so much talent and so much great music right now, let’s just listen to it all; you don’t have to choose, let’s just enjoy it all.

I Heart My Girlfriends is your non-profit charity. How’d that start?

When I was 23, I knew exactly what I was supposed to do here on Earth. Besides music, it is I Heart My Girlfriends. I Heart My Girlfriends is all about female empowerment and education among females. There’s a little stigma set on women that when we meet each other we size each other up. And there’s no reason for that. You possess something that I probably am weak at, period. And I think all women possess something that one might be weak at, but we can always look to you to be strong and ask you about it instead of being insecure about it. Females rule the world, period. I love the fact that we have more power than we know about. I Heart My Girlfriends is all about putting that to great use. Source