Everybody’s talking about Kelly Rowland’s performance on the 2011 BET Awards last night. But many are asking themselves where was this Kelly Rowland all these years?

One writer for the Atlanta Post thinks he knows the answer: she was a victim of her former manager Mathew Knowles’ anti-competitive management style.

Salem Aster writes that Knowles was simply more interested in boosting his daughter to worldwide fame — and he did that by suppressing Kelly’s now obvious talents.

Obviously, Beyonce needs no explanation. She is fierce, she is driven and she has the success to match her passions. Nobody is doubting that. However, why is it that Kelly’s talents had to be downplayed for the sake of Beyonce’s success? Economically, it doesn’t make sense.

For some reason, (I’m assuming) Papa Knowles thought there wasn’t enough room for more than one Destiny’s Child member to gain success in the music marketplace. If he did indeed steer Rowland’s career away from success, then he was engaging in anti-competitive practices.

Thew writer notes that, since Kelly “broke ties with her former manager” she is now seeing much more success than when she first became a solo artist. Since the Atlanta Post is a business magazine, I wonder if the writer is hinting that Kelly can sue Mathew?

Meanwhile, over the weekend, her former bandmate, Beyonce, made history as the first female performer to headline at the Glastonbury music festival in 19 years. :yawn:

Beyonce photo: Getty Images