32 year-old Kelly Rowland is the new covergirl for ESSENCE Magazine's September 2013 issue.

Rowland dishes to the magazine about why she was afraid in going solo, completing her soul-baring album, Talk A Good Game, snagging a seat around the judge's table on the reality competition show The X Factor, her new man and finally putting her own stamp of approval in the music industry.

Here's a few highlights:

On why she was afraid share her real feelings:

I didn’t want anybody to judge me. But now I don’t care,” she says. “Judge me if you want to. And as a matter of fact, it won’t even count, ‘cause the only person who can judge is God.”

On finding her strength through boxing:

“I see the beauty in boxing,” she says. “It teaches me strength, physically but mostly mentally. I had to learn my strength, because for so long I could have been tougher than I was.”

The singer also explained the meaning behind those much-discussed references to fellow Destiny Child's singer Beyonce on her Dirty Laundry track.

“For a long time I wasn’t happy, but that had nothing to do with Beyoncé,” Rowland says. “That had to do with me trying to get my life in order and make better decisions for myself. I’m seeing all these wonderful things happen for her and I am happy for her. But I want a path. I want things to pop off for me, too. Not on her level but whatever my level is supposed to be.”

The new issue of ESSENCE hits newsstands August 9th.