Beyoncé recalled how excited they were to be invited to the party. “We scrambled up all our money, got us some outfits. We were the only group that came dressed as a group. Everybody was sayin’, ‘Y’all are like The Supremes.’” That line was how the journalists talked about the Destiny’s Child during 1998.
But at this point in their career, there was an underlying tension between Roberson and Luckett and Rowland and Knowles. Although it wasn’t talked about openly, they knew everything was not well. And when the girls were due to go on their European tour, LaTavia came down with a fever. Mathew suggested that she be temporarily replaced by dancer Janelle.
Chapter 4 – Destiny Written On The Wall
At this point in their lives, Destiny’s Child was faced with a challenge not to become a one-hit wonder and sink back to obscurity like some artists before them did. Beyoncé said, “We appreciate everything, and we do understand that all of this can be taken away the next day. You can be No. 1 and then the next week, nothing.”
The girls continued to work hard with rehearsals and recordings, going on a three-month tour with Boyz II Men and preparing for their next album due the next year. Each of the girls was also learning to play a new instrument.
In their autobiography, Soul Survivors, Kelly wrote, “When it came time to work on our second album, we sat down together and wrote down all the things we didn’t like about the last album and all the things we did like.” While their debut album was a good start for the group, the girls knew there was still room for improvement.
Teresa LaBarbera Whites at Columbia suggested that the girls consult with producer Kevin Briggs aka She’kspere. During that time, Briggs wrote with his girlfriend, Kandi Burruss, a member of the group Xscape. Briggs became known for producing for Xscape and was about to break big with the record he had produced and written for another girl group, TLC, No Scrubs.
Destiny’s Child’s second album was released in July 1999 and contained their hit song, Say My Name
She’kspere flew to Houston and brought Burruss with him to meet Destiny’s Child. Later on, he would say, “I didn’t know much about them. But I was trying to do whatever it takes to establish my credibility as a producer and a songwriter. I went to Texas and at first it was a little uncomfortable, because they weren’t expecting to see Kandi.”
The girls were expecting to meet She’kspere alone, but were in awe of Burruss, a 23-year-old girl who, as Kandi Girl, was one of Destiny’s Child group peers.
She’kspere and Burruss were told that they could produce one track for the album. When the two met the girls and Mathew, they presented the track Bug A Boo but the girls were not enamored until Burruss began discussing melody ideas with them. Soon enough, She’kspere and Burruss were contributing five songs that would guide the Destiny’s Child in their new direction.
The album was named The Writing’s On The Wall in reference to an event in the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament of the Bible where supernatural writing on the wall foretold the downfall of the Babylonian empire. Released on July 27, 1999, the album showcased improvements from their first album. Ten of the songs were co-writes between the girls and their production and writing teams.
The songs on this album talked about mannered, staged dramas that centered on relationships, female empowerment and duplicity of men. Having spent much of their time in Tina Knowles’ salon, Beyoncé was there to hear the grievances and complaints of customers as they talked about relationships and financial hardships, and all these appeared on the songs in the album.
The album’s first single Bills, Bills, Bills brought Destiny’s Child fully into the mainstream. Ske’kspere played all the instruments and was recorded in Houston but was mixed in Los Angeles’ Larrabee Sound Studio. Beyoncé provided the lead vocals and Kelly sang the bridge while all four of them provided the backup vocals. Briggs’ inspiration for the song came while he was paying for groceries and he heard someone asking to pay their “bills, bills, bills”.
The single was released on June 15, 1999 and entered the US chart a few days and climbed to the number one spot where it remained for a week. It stayed on the Billboard hot 100 for 20 weeks and 9 weeks atop the Billboard R&B chart, becoming the longest-running chart topper of the year.
Another single, Bug A Boo, was one of the album’s signature tunes and was released in October 1999. Interestingly, the single fared better in the UK where it peaked at number nine than in the US where it reached number 33.
Jumpin, Jumpin was also another successful hit from the album and it caught the interest of white rock journalists. The single was Beyoncé’s first writing and production credit, having co-written the song with Chad Elliot. The song showed the girls observing nightclub happenings and encouraging ladies to leave their men at home and have fun.
Interestingly enough, the song was misinterpreted at some levels. The critic Garry Mulholland discussed in his book, This Is Uncool: The 500 Greatest Singles Since Punk and Disco, the song was a “crusade to convince all happily married women to have as much adulterous sex as possible.” But the girls maintained that the song discusses girls being fed up with their men and want to party, not to be adulterous but to actually have some fun.
During this time, the group was already performing as opening act at the concerts of pop singers Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.
But it was Say My Name that became the album’s centerpiece. It was released in February 2000 as a single and became Destiny’s Child’s second US number 1 and remained in that position for three weeks.
Initially, after writing the song, Beyoncé was displeased because there was “too much stuff” and it sounded like a “jungle.” American producer-songwriter Rodney Jerkins, who produced the song, reworked the track after which Mathew urged his daughter to listen to the remix. The girls liked the new version.
With the success of the single, the song won awards for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and Best R&B Song at the 43rd Grammy Awards. It was also nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 2001 Grammy Awards and an MTV Video Music Award.
Following the success of Say My Name was a controversy that would cause some changes in Destiny’s Child. Roberson and Luckett were removed from the group after being fired by their manager while two new members were introduced. The two removed members filed lawsuit, with two sides disparaging each other (see next Chapter).
Despite the controversy, Destiny’s Child’s success continued. Their album The Writing’s on the Wall became one of the biggest-selling R&B albums of all time. The album entered the US album charts at number 6 shortly after its release and sold more than 132,000 in its first week. It remained in the Top 40 for most of 1999 and had sold more than 1.6 million by the end of the year. In January 2000, the album was certified a double platinum. Destiny’s Child was nominated for six Grammys, including Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals (twice), Best R&B Song (twice), Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
Nine months after its release, The Writing’s on the Wall returned to the Top 10 and peaked at number 5 in May 2000. It became the tenth best-selling album of the year 2000 with 3.8 million copies sold during the year. In November 2001, the album was certified eight-time platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and has sold more than 6.3 million copies in the United States alone.
Chapter 5 – A Period of Difficulty
The success of Say My Name was dogged with firings and lawsuit against Mathew Knowles, Beyoncé and Kelly. In December 1999, questions about money arose after Mathew was alleged to have kept a disproportionate share of Destiny’s Child’s profits while favoring his daughter and Kelly.
In February 2000, as Destiny’s Child was about to film the video for Say My Name, Luckett and Roberson fired Mathew as their manager. They wanted to be represented by another manager because they felt that they were sidelined by their manager. They also thought that Mathew’s role as manager was compromised by being
Beyoncé’s father and having Kelly living with his family.
LeToya and LaTavia were removed from the group
From the start, there was already some tension amid the friendship of the four girls, further worsened by the fact that Luckett and Roberson were the closest to their late manager Andretta Tillman and had reservations about signing with Mathew’s Music World Entertainment. In addition, as the girls were still young and had their taste of their first royalties, the duo felt that Beyoncé was getting the lion’s share of the group’s profits. They observed that Beyoncé was driving around in a Jaguar while Roberson’s mother, who served as the group’s on-the-ground chaperone for their television performances and support tours, was still using a battered old car. While they really had no issue with either Beyoncé or Kelly, they felt excluded.
The situation was further worsened when they began earning good money. Beyoncé wrote in Soul Survivors, “Once Destiny’s Child started to get successful, that’s when we found out who our friends really were. Our whole world changed, and that makes friendship more complicated, especially with females. I hate to say this, but women are too competitive – they let it make them crazy. A lot of the time when we were younger, that competitive instinct – jealousy and envy – got so out of control that it was scary. It can sometimes make some people do crazy things.”
It was clear that Roberson and Luckett wanted a voice within the group. Both were alleged to have been hanging with Columbia hit makers and Jermaine Dupri prodigies Jagged Edge and wanted to depart from the wholesome image and lifestyle required to be in the group.
Beyoncé told Q magazine, “We tried everything. Counseling with our church, our youth pastor. Rotating rooms. But it was two and two. Our vision of the group was different from theirs.” What Beyoncé meant was that Luckett and Roberson wanted the group to be raunchier and less Christian.
Luckett and Roberson were stunned when they first learned they were to be replaced. Beyoncé recalled, “At the time of the split, we had a lot of promotional appearances to do because we were just starting to make a name for ourselves. We were also scheduled to shoot the Say My Name video in two weeks. So not only did we need to find someone who looked similar to LaTavia and LeToya – we didn’t want the drama to overshadow what people thought about our music. We just didn’t want the press making a big deal out of the split. So much for that!”
Luckett and Roberson had the shock of their lives when they saw the new video for Say My Name. There was Beyoncé and Kelly, and two new members that looked like them. Mathew had hired Michelle Williams, former backup singer to Monica, and Farrah Franklin, an aspiring singer-actress, to replace Luckett and Roberson without the consent or knowledge of the signed members.
The new Destiny’s Child, with newcomer Michelle (left) and Farrah (third from left)
The music video was filmed in January 2000 and debuted on February 15, 2000, thereby causing shock among the audience after noticing the absence of Luckett and Roberson and the presence of Franklin and Williams. The video was debuted on MTV and BET at the same time a press release announced the new lineup.
After watching the video, Luckett and Roberson made it clear that they didn’t know they were out of the group until they watched the video featuring the new members. Luckett remembered herself saying, “Wow, seven years down the drain, just like that.” They observed that Michelle looked like LeToya while Farrah resembled LaTavia. The two new members were mouthing the words that Luckett and Roberson had sung when they recorded the single.
Luckett and Roberson filed a lawsuit against Beyoncé, Kelly and Mathew Knowles for allegedly ruining their careers. While it may be understandable to file a suit against Mathew, it was another story to bring their friends into it. They alleged that Mathew had denied them money and acted abusively towards them.
Following the lawsuit, both sides were disparaging each other in the media and it became a hot topic. But it would also serve to destabilize Beyoncé, whose sadness over the whole thing overshadowed her joy as the record made it to the top of the US charts. While they may have differences, it couldn’t be denied that LaTavia and LeToya had been her friends since the beginning. LaTavia, in particular, was her first friend in the group.
Beyoncé noted in Soul Survivor, “Up until that point, we were squeaky-clean nice girls who grew up in Texas. We had all been together for years – lifelong friends since childhood. We couldn’t get on the covers of any magazines. I guess the media felt our story was too boring. Then two members were gone, and soon all eyes were on us.”
Beyoncé also recalled that it was a very stressful time for her and Kelly. “We were very depressed and hurt.” She and Kelly remained silent about the issue, but stories continued to haunt the girls. By the end of 2000, Rowland was ready to explode. “They were very negative and jealous. Am I right? I don’t sound mean, do I? I’m just tellin’ the truth. They weren’t able to do leads by themselves. We went to voice lessons because we wanted strong vocals. They wouldn’t do that. They’d just show up when it was time to make money.”
Luckett and Roberson’s departure from Destiny’s Child was the most controversial in the group’s career. For quite some time, the press stories focused on the machinations within the group. While this publicity caused Beyoncé to experience depression that would last for some years, it was nevertheless good publicity for Destiny’s Child.
And then there was Franklin’s brief stay with the group. She had only stayed with the group for five months and was able to record with them their forthcoming single, Independent Women Party I. Franklin joined the girls in 2000 after appearing on Bills, Bills, Bills as one of the extras.
Franklin left because she couldn’t cope with the punishing schedule that the group had gotten used to. The girls would rehearse 12 hours a day for two weeks straight to get Williams and Franklin up to speed. Franklin was always withdrawn and appeared awkward at press conferences. And on the eve of the prestigious MTV awards, Franklin left. Beyoncé said about it, “That was such a huge thing for us. It took us nine years to get on MTV. We’d worked so hard to get to that point. Whatever your problems, can’t you hold off until you get back to the hotel? It showed how she’d only been in this for five months. That’s what happens when you give somebody that kind of success in two weeks and they don’t have to work for it.”
What was clear in all of this was that Beyoncé didn’t want these problems to bring down Destiny’s Child. She had worked for too long and invested too much. She said, “Most people don’t realize that we really have dedicated our lives to this. Some people in Houston used to say we were crazy trying to get a record deal because no one’s ever really done it from there before. But we are proof that whatever you put your mind to you can achieve. This is just the start for us, believe me.”
And when Franklin left the group in 2000, the media, again, had a field day. The whole thing was tougher on Beyoncé who received much of the flak just because she was the lead singer, and so it looked as if she called the shots with the firing and hiring. She was even compared to Diana Ross from the Supremes, and people thought she was a diva who would “go around kicking people out of the group.”
Responding to allegations that she was a controlling diva, Beyoncé said, “It is the media hype. And I understand that people have to sell their magazines, but it still takes its toll. And you never get used to that.” This was harder for Beyoncé because her personal image was more important to her than being a singer.
Her band mate Williams claimed that Franklin left because the woman could not handle the pressure while Franklin disclosed that she left the group because of the negativity surrounding the lawsuit and her inability to assert control in the decision making. Her departure from the group was less controversial but it affected Beyoncé badly.
“The changes have been hard,” Beyoncé told Teen People. “For a month I stayed in bed. I was sad, hurt, on the verge of a nervous breakdown… But I realized it’s dumb to dwell on the negativity.�
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Farrah Franklin left the group because of the negativity surrounding the lawsuit
Beyoncé’s depression was added to by being attacked publicly by the media and her split from her longstanding boyfriend whom she dated between 12 and 18 years of age. Beyoncé struggled to speak about her depression because then Destiny’s Child had just won their first Grammy Award. It was her mother, Tina, who had talked her out of her depression.
Even after Franklin’s departure from Destiny’s Child, stories didn’t let up. Franklin later on claimed that Mathew Knowles told her to go to a sun-tanning salon to get darker so that Beyoncé would have the lightest skin of the group, and thereby would stand out from the rest. Ex-members Luckett and Roberson accused Mathew Knowles of “greed and insistence on control.”
Another story claimed that “the promotion of his daughter’s interests became the dominant force in Destiny’s Child,” with LeToya claiming, “Mathew was like: ‘This is my group. I made it. My daughter is going to sing. Deal with it.’ He would say things like: ‘If you don’t like it, get another career.”
If the stories about being control-freak were true, Mathew was not bothered. Truth to tell, the Knowles couple freely admitted to some of the things there were accused of. For instance, Tina admitted that she supported Mathew in telling Franklin to tan more and dye her hair black, but also stressed that it was meant to provide each girl an individual look.
Franklin said, “The Knowleses are kind of like a cult. They don’t have friends who aren’t in the Destiny’s Child clique. I just started getting picked on by Beyoncé’s family when I asked too many questions. After a while, I didn’t even let her mother fix my hair because she would do something bad to it. The group is not fair or equal. And with someone’s whole family running the group, it will never be equal.”
Modern Divas Boxed Set Page 15