UBX – Destiny’s Child (Segment 01)
In the late 80’s, R&B music was going through a drastic makeover. “New Jack Swing”, a genre spearheaded by Teddy Riley that blended hip hop beats with R&B melodies, totally changed the sound of the music and gave R&B an edge that was sorely needed. Moving away from dance and pop influences, early 90’s R&B was harder and related to the hip-hop generation, but still kept the soulful sensibilities of the 70’s. The 90’s also re-introduced us to the R&B “girl group”. Not since the days of the Supremes had we seen groups like En Vogue, SWV and TLC ruling the charts and airwaves. With a deadly combination of talent, sex appeal and street savvy, 90’s girl groups had huge crossover appeal and enjoyed some of the biggest hits of the decade (montage).
Enter Matthew Knowles. The visionary from Houston TX, watched his eldest daughter Beyonce, originally her mother Tina’s maiden name, sing around the house and put on small shows at Tina’s hair salon. Seeing that she was a natural performer, Matthew started developing her talent and paired her up with LaTavia Roberson, a friend Beyonce met at a local audition. In ‘90 they formed a group called GirlTyme, focusing on dancing, singing, and even rapping. Two years later, Matthew became the guardian of his niece Kelendria Rowland when her mother moved out of state to find work. Kelly moved in and it wasn’t long until she became the 3rd member of GirlTyme. With Matthew’s solid work ethic and the girls’ countless hours of practice, they landed a spot on Star Search. GirlTyme was the first rap group ever on the show but they didn’t do well and Matthew decided to make some changes. He thankfully cut out the rap and added the girls’ school friend LeToya Luckett to balance the harmonies and dancing. The final piece of the puzzle, Beyonce’s mom re-named them “Destiny’s Child” after a passage in the Bible (clip).
Soon, Destiny’s Child became a full time project for Matthew. With unquestionable faith in the girls, he quit his six-figure salary and sold their house to have money to continue developing the group! The major change put strain on the family, and for a while the Knowles separated. Feeling the pressure the girls worked even harder! Soon, they were building a fan base in Houston and opened for R&B stars like SWV and Dru Hill. In ‘97, after being turned down by other labels, Destiny’s Child signed with Columbia Records and their first appearance was “Killing Time” from the Men in Black soundtrack (clip).
Their first official single “No, No, No” dropped in 1997 as well. With production on the remix by Wyclef Jean from the Fugees, who had just had huge success with their album “The Score” in 1996, the single definitely put “Destiny’s Child” on the map. “No, No, No” parts 1 & 2 both hit #3 on the Billboard pop charts and the single went platinum (clip)!
Building on the momentum, Matthew Knowles made sure that their debut album was completed that year. Self-titled and released February 17 1998, “Destiny’s Child” showed the girls’ potential but ultimately got lost in the sea of other girl groups. With production from Jermaine Dupri, Wyclef, and Dwayne Wiggins of Toni Tony Tone, the album had a few stand out tracks, but not enough to separate them from other girl groups at the time like Allure and Brownstone. Although it wasn’t a huge success, “Destiny’s Child” does capture the essence of 90’s R&B, and hit the Top 20 on the R&B charts (montage). You’re inside the Unauthorized Biography of Destiny’s Child. From their self-titled debut album, here’s “No, No, No Pt. 1”.
UBX – Destiny’s Child (Segment 02)
Destiny’s Child was just another R&B girl group in 1998. Their debut self-titled album showed their potential but was similar to so many other albums at the time. R&B fans knew the girls were special though, thanks to the solid single “No No No” and “Get On The Bus” from the “Why Do Fools Fall in Love” soundtrack (clip). Refusing to be labeled one-hit-wonders, they regrouped and started work on their 2nd album “The Writing’s On The Wall”. Similar to their first effort, Mathew put together a crop of phenomenal R&B producers. Again, Dwayne Wiggins from Tony Toni Tone, Kevin She’kspere Briggs, Rodney Jerkins and Missy Elliot were all on board. The main difference this time around though was that all 4 members played key roles in song writing, and what a difference it made. It was like night and day compared to their first album. The girls sounded refreshed and Beyonce’s signature vocal style shone through. Basically, they sounded like they were having fun and with an independent girl-power “do-it-yourself” type attitude, Destiny’s Child had legions of female fans and the album skyrocketed to success (montage).
“The Writing’s on the Wall” was released July 27, ’99. It debuted at #6 on the Billboard pop charts and was in the Top 40 or better for most of the year! “Bills, Bills, Bills” was their first #1 Pop single and the track “Jumpin’ Jumpin’”, that Beyonce actually produced, hit #3 (clip).
With all the success, while promoting the album, the group however became seriously divided. LeToya and LaTavia felt that the focus was on Kelly and Beyonce and more importantly, that the profits were being split unfairly by Matthew, since he was Beyonce’s father and Kelly’s uncle. Tension ran high for months until Matthew dropped a bomb and let everyone know what was going on. In February 2000, the video for “Say My Name” was released and LaToya and LaTavia were not only stunned to find themselves not in it, but replaced by two new girls who obviously didn’t even sing on the track, Farrah Franklin, a former backup dancer, and Tenitra Michelle Williams an extra on the “Bills Bills Bills” video. Understandably enraged, they filed suit for breach of partnership against Mathew, Beyonce and Kelly! The drama had everyone talking about Destiny’s Child, and all lawsuits would be settled out of court. In a strange turn of events, only 5 months after the initial switch, Farrah Franklin would also be let go. She missed important promotional stops and performances and complained about things like her hairdressers and all the travelling. Losing Farrah would prove to be irrelevant. Despite all the drama, “Say My Name” climbed to #1 on the Pop charts and would later win Destiny’s Child 2 Grammies, while “The Writing’s on the Wall” was a smash album, going 8x platinum (clip).
International superstars, Destiny’s Child were a phenomenon but they were about to get even bigger in 2000. High in demand, the girls were recruited for the soundtrack to “Charlie’s Angels”. The track “Independent Women Pt 1.” would prove to be the ladies anthem of the year, ruling the #1 spot on the pop charts for 11 consecutive weeks (clip). The media still doubted the staying power of the girls though, and Beyonce was perceived as a difficult diva instead of a multi-talented writer and performer (clip). Jokes even started about which member of the group would be next to be voted out, a reference to the popular TV show, Survivor. The negative energy would just inspire the girls to start work on their third and most successful album. You’re inside the Unauthorized Biography of Destiny’s Child, from “The Writings On the Wall” here’s “So Good”.
UBX – Destiny’s Child (Segment 03)
Despite all their drama, in 2000, Destiny’s Child re-defined the “girl group”. “The Writing’s on the Wall” was a huge success, and introduced us to their brand of R&B. Differentiating themselves from the girl groups of the 90’s, Destiny’s Child finally came into their own, lead by Beyonce’s distinct vocal arrangements. “Independent Women”, their biggest single to date, was their 3rd #1 hit of 2000. It also debuted at #1 on the UK charts, making them the first female group to do so! People couldn’t get enough of them, and there was plenty more to come. “Survivor”, released May 1st ‘01, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Pop charts. The single aimed at the former members, satisfying drama-hungry fans while encouraging females in general to be confident and to have self-esteem, continuing with their “Independent Women” themes. More of a Pop album than an R&B album with Pop success, “Survivor” sold an amazing 12 million copies (montage).
Writing, arranging and producing most of the record, Beyonce was emerging as the leader of the group, a responsibility that she shied away from in the past. At the top of their game, the trio announced that they would split up for a bit to work on solo projects. Fans feared this would be the end of Destiny’s Child so to tide them over, a holiday album “The 8 Days of Christmas” was released along with “This is the Remix”, a remix album in early 2002 (clip).
In April 2002, Michelle hit #1 on the Gospel charts with her debut album “Heart to Yours”, and proved her talent as an actress in the lead role of Aida on Broadway! Not the only actress in the group, Kelly made her debut in “Freddy vs. Jason”, while Beyonce appeared in “MTV’s Carmen”, “Fighting Temptations” and the famous “Austin Powers in Goldmember” (clip). Back on the music side of things, Kelly surprised everyone with her solo album “Simply Deep”. Refusing to be in Beyonce’s shadow, “Simply Deep” went 2x platinum and featured the huge Grammy award winning single “Dilemma” with Nelly (clip). But it was Beyonce’s “Dangerously in Love” album that would eclipse all expectations. Going 9x platinum, winning 5 Grammies and birthing 4 smash hits, Beyonce left the realm of R&B and became an international Pop icon. (clip)
While enjoying their professional successes, the ladies also found time to maintain personal relationships. Kelly got engaged to Dallas Cowboys safety Roy Williams and Beyonce started her then hush-hush relationship with one Shawn Carter (clip). Done proving to themselves that they could stand alone as solo artists, they thrilled their faithful fans and re-united for a fourth album, “Destiny Fulfilled” in 2004. The album relied less on forced Pop hits like “Survivor”, so naturally didn’t have the same commercial success. A solid album none-the-less, Destiny Fulfilled gave us a more mature Destiny’s Child and hit #2 on the Pop charts (montage).
While on their next massive world tour, Destiny’s Child announced again that they would split up, this time permanently. Influenced heavily by ‘90’s groups like SWV, Destiny’s Child took the R&B “girl-group” to the next level in the new millennium. By balancing international pop success on the level of the Spice Girls, with grass-roots street respect, Destiny’s Child have created their own place in history (clip). They’ve sold out world tours, made millions in endorsement deals for companies like Pepsi, The Gap and L’Oreal, have received countless awards, and have sold over 50 million albums combined. You’ve been listening to the Unauthorized Biography of Destiny’s Child. From “Destiny Fulfilled” here’s “Is She The Reason”.
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