Simply Deep

Simply Deep is the debut solo studio album by the American singer-songwriter Kelly Rowland. It was first released on October 22, 2002, by Columbia Records and Music World Entertainment. Initially expected to be released during the hiatus of her group Destiny's Child in 2003, recording of the album was accelerated after the success of the single "Dilemma", a collaboration with rapper Nelly. Predominantly an alternative pop, alternative rock, folk and R&B album, Simply Deep also incorporated elements of rock and dance music in its production and was largely produced within three weeks only, guest appearances on Simply Deep include Nelly, Solange Knowles and Joe Budden. The album received generally mixed to lukewarm reviews from most music critics who called it a pleasant listen but found that it lacked ambition. While Simply Deep peaked at number 12 on the Billboard 200 and sold over 600,000 copies in the United States, it was regarded as a bigger commercial success abroad, where it topped the UK Albums Chart, reached the top five in Australia, Denmark, and Ireland, and singles such as "Stole" and "Can't Nobody" were released to stronger commercial success. In late 2003, nearly a year after the album's initial release, Rowland embarked on her debut solo Simply Deeper Tour to promote the album in Europe. While Simply Deep established Rowland as a viable solo artist and, with worldwide sales of more than 2 million units, remains the biggest-selling album within her solo catalogue, the singer has expressed her dissatisfaction with the rushed and less thought out character of the album, though still being fond of the material that she had recorded for it.