Recorded 2006 Length 3:38 | Genre R&B
hip hop Label Columbia
Music World | |
 | ||
Released March 13, 2007 (2007-03-13) Format Digital download
CD single | ||
"Like This" is a song by American recording artist Kelly Rowland, featuring vocals by rapper Eve. Recorded late into the production of Rowland's second solo album Ms. Kelly (2007), the song was released on March 13, 2007 as the lead single from the album. The artists co-wrote the song with its producers Sean Garrett, Polow da Don, Blac Elvis, and Jason Perry, with additional production from S-Dot. "Like This" is a contemporary R&B song, with its lyrics referring to a woman growing out of a past relationship.
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The song received generally positive critical reviews. Upon its release, the song became Rowland's highest-charting solo success since her 2002 single "Stole", reaching the top-ten in Ireland and the United Kingdom, as well as the top-twenty in Australia and New Zealand and number 30 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. In addition, it became Rowland's first single to peak at the top position on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. An accompanying music video was directed by Mike Ruiz and filmed in the Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California in mid-March 2007.
Writing and recording
"Like This" was one of the last songs on the album Rowland and co-producer Sean Garrett started working on in mid-September 2006 after the cancellation of My Story, the album's actual version. The singer has described the "very sassy" song as a perfect example of what attitude she exactly had on her mind when creating the revamped version of the album, entitled Ms. Kelly: "Polow already had this hot track", she said in an interview with her official website. "I loved the sound of the cowbell; it was so different! Sean and I started writing and he said 'Kelly this is your first single'."
Happy about finally running "into that song that definitely sticks out" after many months recording, Rowland eventually took a break from recording tentatively titled "Wooo!" or "Bump like This" — not without returning with a flash of inspiration. "I just heard Eve on this song", she recalled. "I knew her energy belonged on the song and, just like that, it all came together. Then I knew: This was the single [...] and it turned out he [Sean] was right." "It's a great combination of her thoughts and her feel on the type of music that she likes to do", Garrett added in an interview with MTV News. "It's a cross between something in a club and on mainstream radio. We're just trying to stay a step ahead of what's going on."
Although Columbia Records intended to release album cut "Work" as Ms. Kelly’s lead single at a particular time, "Like This" eventually replaced the album's original lead single "Gotsta Go", a collaboration with rapper Da Brat. On February 13, 2007 a ninety-second clip of the song leaked onto the internet, and by February 16 a full low quality preview of the track had leaked. Since, the song was remixed by several producers and DJs, among spawning official versions with rappers Sean P of the YoungBloodZ and Lil Wayne.
Commercial performance
First release stateside, "Like This" debuted at number ninety-six on the US Billboard Hot 100 issue dated March 31, 2007. Although the song fell off the chart the following week, it re-entered at number ninety-eight the following week. It eventually peaked at number thirty on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number seven on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. In addition, the song peaked on top of both the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales chart and the Hot Singles Sales chart as well as the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play.
As with Rowland's previous single releases, "Like This" became a much larger success outside North America. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number eighteen on the UK Singles Chart based on digital sales alone, the day before the song's physical release. Once the physical copies of "Like This" were released on June 11, 2007, the song climbed to number four on the UK Singles Chart, and went on to spend four weeks inside the UK top-ten, making it Rowland's second-highest-charting solo single on the chart (not counting her featured role on "Dilemma"). It eventually sold 95,000 copies. In Ireland, "Like This" debuted at number thirty and reached number five in its fourth week on the chart, becoming her third top-ten single in Ireland. In Germany, the song was released on digital formats only and failed to chart on any official singles chart.
Music video
The music video for the song was directed by Mike Ruiz and shot on-location at a Hollywood Hills house on March 12, 2007. Rowland premiered the video on MTV network's countdown show Total Request Live on March 26, 2007. The video debuted on BET network's 106 & Park on May 24, 2007, where it peaked at number-three on the show's countdown.
The video starts with Rowland walking into her room after taking a shower. When she notices a webcast of her, she quickly throws a towel over it. She is then next seen in front of her vanity table, getting ready for a party while singing the lyrics. The video then shows Rowland in a dark room with a chair. During the first, scenes are shown of the Rowland in front of the dresser and the Rowland in the dark room, performing what seems to be the same choreography — the latter with the chair in the room, the former with the chair in front of her dresser. By the second verse, the Rowland in the dark room is the only one with the chair. scenes of her are shown throughout the song. During the video, the audience sees Rowland at the party in her living room. Eve enters, rapping her solo verse with scenes of Rowland performing more choreography. In the final scene the audience sees Rowland performing more choreography while sitting in the chair seductively as glitter is seen flying upwards from the floor.