"Kisses Down Low" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter

Kelly Rowland Kelendria Trene Rowland (born February 11, 1981) is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. During the gr ...

and is the first single from her fourth studio album ''

Talk a Good Game ''Talk a Good Game'' is the fourth studio album by American singer Kelly Rowland. Formerly titled ''Year of the Woman'', the album was released on June 14, 2013 through Universal Republic and its affiliated record labels. Incorporating a base co ...

''. The song was written by Rowland, Marquel Middlebrooks, Timothy and Theron Thomas and Michael Williams, the latter of whom also produced the song under his production moniker, Mike WiLL Made It. Complimented for its lyrics about oral sex and steamy content, "Kisses Down Low" was released on February 1, 2013, serving as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from ''Talk a Good Game''. The song has been certified gold by the RIAA. The

Colin Tilley Colin Tilley (born June 27, 1988) is an American filmmaker, music video director, and television commercial director. Tilley is the CEO and owner of Boy in the Castle Productions. He has directed more than 300 music videos. Tilley directed, pro ...

-directed

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

features colorful scenes, featuring several different

pin-up A pin-up model (known as a pin-up girl for a female and less commonly male pin-up for a male) is a model whose mass-produced pictures see widespread appeal as part of popular culture. Pin-up models were variously glamour models, fashion models ...

looks and multiple vibrant wigs and costumes. Critics noted similarities between the video for "Kisses Down Low" and "

Say My Name "Say My Name" is a song by American group Destiny's Child from their second studio album, ''The Writing's on the Wall'' (1999). It was written by Beyoncé Knowles, LeToya Luckett, LaTavia Roberson, Kelly Rowland, LaShawn Daniels, Fred Jerkins ...

" by Rowland's former group Destiny's Child

Background and composition

Following the chart success of her

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman, joining ...

-backed single " Motivation" (2011), Rowland started to work on her upcoming fourth studio album. 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 ... oI 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." The song was written by Marquel Middlebrooks, Timothy Thomas, Theron Thomas, Kelly Rowland, Michael Williams with production helmed by Williams under his production name Mike WiLL Made It.

Critical reception

A reviewer from Rap-Up described the song as a "bedroom banger". A writer for UK magazine ''Fact'' magazine wrote that "Kisses Down Low" as memorable as 2011 world-beater "' Motivation', t'sa step-up from previous single, "

Ice Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaqu ...

". Carl Williott of

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...

liked the song describing it as a "sluggishly shimmering track" and along with "Ice" " t'sshaping up to be quite the steamy affair." Meanwhile, not all reviews for the song were positive, in a review in ''

The Sowetan ''The Sowetan'' is an English-language South African daily newspaper that started in 1981 as a liberation struggle newspaper and was freely distributed to households in the then apartheid-segregated township of Soweto, Johannesburg, Gauteng ...

'', an editor said that Rowland's vocals were stronger than what was displayed in "Kisses Down Low". The reviewer said "to be honest, the song, produced by Mike WiLL Made It, doesn't really challenge her vocal abilities, which we believe are a lot stronger, but who said a girl can't play around in the studio every now and then?!"

Chart performance

In the United States "Kisses Down Low" debuted at number 96 on the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 for the issue dated March 10, 2013. On its third week the song peaked at number 72.

Music video

Background

The music video for "Kisses Down Low" was directed by

. On February 10, 2013, Rowland posted behind-the-scenes video, Rowland spoke about the theme of the video saying, "I’m so excited about this video. The theme is fun and flirty and pinup. The makeup is poppin’, the hair is poppin’, the styling is so cool, but it feels just really flirty. I wanted to bring that out of the song instead of making it as racy." The video premiered on

VEVO Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, ...

on March 12, 2013.

Synopsis

The video concept focuses on a number of vanity shots and costume changes. Various scenes from the video feature Rowland dressed as a

girl, on a floral swing, with a curly blonde wig and hot pants. Another scenes features Rowland dressed in a red wig and retro bikini.

Reception

Sam Lansky from Idolator, gave the video a mixed review writing, " it's not the most thrilling video we’ve ever seen — all those splashy hues and chic looks don't entirely make up for a feeling that it's all a little insubstantial — but it's certainly not bad to look at." John Boone from

E! Online E! (an initialism for Entertainment Television) is an American basic cable channel which primarily focuses on pop culture, celebrity focused reality shows, and movies, owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of NBCUniver ...

compared the video to a number of other music videos by Rowland's former group Destiny's Child, in particular "

Track listings and formats

*;Digital download #"Kisses Down Low" – 4:14

Credits and personnel

;RecordingKelly Rowland — ''

''. lbum Booklet Republic Records (

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

). Catalog Number: 602537415168. * Vocals Recorded at Triangle Sound, Atlanta, Georgia *Music recorded at Eardrum Studios,

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

. *Mixed at Larrabee Sound Studios,

North Hollywood, California North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The North ...

. *Mastered at Sterling Sound,

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. ;Personnel * Sam Thomas - Recording Engineer *Trehy Harris – assistant

mixing engineer A mixing engineer (or simply mix engineer) is responsible for combining ("mixing") different sonic elements of an auditory piece into a complete rendition (also known as "final mix" or "mixdown"), whether in music, film, or any other content of a ...

. *Jaycen Joshua – mixing engineer. *Beau Vallis – recording engineer. *Marquel "Marz" Middlebrooks – co-producer,

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

. *Kelly Rowland – songwriter, lead vocals. * Timothy and Theron Thomas (Rock City) – songwriter,

additional vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

. *Michael L. Williams ( Mike Will Made It) – producer, songwriter.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* {{authority control 2013 singles Kelly Rowland songs Song recordings produced by Mike Will Made It Music videos directed by Colin Tilley Songs written by Timothy Thomas Songs written by Theron Thomas 2013 songs Republic Records singles Songs about kissing Songs written by Mike Will Made It Songs written by Marquel Middlebrooks Songs written by Kelly Rowland