They once were nine, and now they're 3. They're Destiny's Child, they of the finger snappin, head poppin, eye rollin anthems of the girl power generation. Upping the ante set in motion by The Spice Girls to an alarming degree, the DC style put extra emphasis on Bitch. And bitch they do. To the guys. To the girls. Hell even friends.


DC was started by one Beyonce Knowles at the tender age of nine. There was a massive group of them, around 9, and they danced and sand like a bunch of American Idol contestants. Enter Matthew Knowles (The BigM) who sees a meal ticket in his daughters group and decided to transfer his skills at financial finagling from his current job to the music business. He develops the girls, polishing up their act and shops them around. They land on Star Search and lose. They get a record deal and are quickly dropped. Then the ball gets rolling.

You keep saying no no no no no
When it's really yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

DC gets signed again. They tart up the make up and outfits (Courtesy of the imfamously non talented Tina Knowles (Momma Knowles)) and wind up looking and sounding twice thier age, forever! They release the blueprint, "No No No" and it's becoming successful on R&B radio, but it needs something more. Enter uber-irritant Wyclef Jean for the remix. Wyclef speeds up the song where the girls can barely sing the lines they're spitting them out so fast, and what was once a come hither slow burn now has edge, more of a, "You be sayin no no no no no!, When it's really yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah!" feel to it. Presto! DC stumble into a style. The song goes #1 R&B. Time for Act II.

Can you pay my bills
Keep paying my telephone bills
Keep paying my automo-bills
If you do then maybe we can chill
I! Don't! Think! You! Do!
Soooo
You! And! Me! Are! Through!

The BigM rushes the girls into the studio to hammer out what is now a master of R&B innovation, "The Writing's On The Wall". This album was a blast (DC do things in blasts, not breaths) of fresh air when it dropped in 99. It brought the whole DC aesthetic into full focus. Beats were jittery. Vocal arrangements were gymnastic.Put downs were fierce. "Writing" was pure male-bashing at its highest. The science of DC is that thye are high class bitches. Never happy, they spit words out at a rapid fire precision so you can't get a word in edgewsie. Everything is extreme. The speed, the attitude. First they scream at you for being a freeloader (Bills Bills Bills). Once he becomes more attentive they whine because he's all up in here (Bugaboo). He gets tired of your her bitching and isn't around much anymore. She gets paranoid and thinks he's cheating (Say My Name). Once things settle down they get bored and decide it's better to leave the man at home so they can party (Jumpin Jumpin). All thins done around production that was innovative at the time, with tight harmonies snaking around and pouncing on every tick and boom. It was exhilirating, but the drama just wasn't on the tracks.

So LaTavia and LaToya (The 2L's) decide they've had enough of the cooky Knowles clan and bail. They also sue. Beyonce's a bitch and her father is like Napoleon. In sashays Michelle and Farrah. But Farrah isn't working out. She's getting a first hand look at just how zany those Knowles' can be. First she realizes what we've all grown to learn later, that no sane person would trust Momma Knowles with clothes and hair. Since Farrah values her hair she quicly gets her own stylist. They want Farrah to appear darker then she is so she is forced to tan. The straw that broke the camasols sole was when The BigM demanded Farrah to show up for a show while sick. Farrah bails and spills the beans to the press. Apparently michelle wasn't happy either but being the smart woman that she is she eats crow and shuts up. All this drama helps the album sell more then 9 million copies in the US, further cementing the new style of selling records, tabloid style. But if Act II was entertaining, act III was the pinnacle.

If you're independent I congradulate you
If you ain't! in! love! I congradulate you
Do them boys like they used to do you
If you! pimp! him! I congradulate you

The diva of the millenium is a different animal then the diva of the past. There's no time for whimpy platitudes sung at a high volume in an evening gown. The attitude is bitchy. The style is designer glam. DC know this, and with "Survivor" they brought it.
"Survivor" is thought of in some critical circles as Beyonce's true first album, what with her co-doing everything on it. Sure she throws a few crumbs to the other girls here and there, but it's obvious someone has an ax to grind. It didn't help that Michelle and Kelly were becoming the Stepford children to B, claiming stuff in public that should really be kept amongst themselves (B is the driving force of the group, B writes all hits, blah blah). I mean someone was definitely appeaseing someone else, but it all adds to the dynamic of the group. The end product if you will. Beyonce HAD to produce "Survivor", for no other reason then to admonish the 2L's. They do that and then some on what has to be the most fun you'll have in an hour. Where "Writing" was harsh on the guys, "Survivor" was harsh on the ladies. You're a jealous, vindictive so and so, they don't "Fancy" you much. You a low down, t'oh down ho with cleavage from here to where? Mexico! You're "Nasty", and it goes on and on. There's a seven song stretch on "Survivor" that is so none stop that it's a definite high.

Act IV is on the way. I was nervous at first when I got a whiff of the title of their new song "Lose My Breathe", but rest assured it's classic DC. I light dance song seemingly, the girls virtually dare you to "keep up", as if they could keep up with that beat. The poses are all in play, attitude is completely out of check. It's on. Some groups might have better singers (En Vogue). Some have better songs (The Supremes). But NO ONE is as interesting, or anthem ready, as Destiny's Child. They are THE greatest girl group ever!

The person that wrote this article should have used spell check. Can someone give a brief? I don't have time to read the book.
[Edited 9/15/04 14:46pm]

i like their new song!!!!!

It took me some time to tap this thing out so spell check be damned! (LOL) This board doesn't have one anyways does it? Oh well I wrote this so I suppose the least ya'll can do is critique it. Anything?

Honestly, you can't knock the hustle. This is true manufactured talent put together to reap the benefits of Fame & Celeberity. They're marginal singers at best, but at least for Byeonce & Fam., they have struck oil with their calculated plans. Hey if I knew how to do this, and guarantee success, I'm on it. My bank account needs the love.
[Edited 9/15/04 15:18pm]

It really all boils down to this:

CynicKill said:

And that, to me, is blasphemy!

VoicesCarry said:

Who da greatest?

CynicKill said:

I'd have to say The Supremes. But there are many superb candidates: Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, The Ronettes (who made the greatest pop single ever, according to Brian Wilson), The Crystals, The Chiffons, The Marvelettes (more gritty than a lot of other Motown acts), The Shirelles (classy stuff!), The Paris Sisters, The Shangri-Las (too melodramatic for me), and The Exciters - all the way up to groups like The Go-Go's, The Bangles, and The Pointer Sisters.

VoicesCarry said:

You forgot Bananarama.

minneapolisgenius said:

They actually have to sing or play instruments to count

Does Beyonce's ambition count for anything??? *ducks*

CynicKill said:

Ambition to be what? Certainly not a singer. The next J-Lo.-style multimedia icon flash-in-the-pan, maybe.

I guess the whole point I was trying to make was that the whole essence of the Destiny's Child mystique is that it's so rooted into the times we live. The diva of the new millenium overcompensates, sort of like daily life today. So they don't just sing, they sing in an over-arranged vocal style (DC's a capella neck-breaker "Amazing Grace" from "Writing..") or their bludgeoning attempts at message songs (the mean put downs in "Fancy" and "Nasty"). It transcends DC from more then just a girl group, and more into a statement of the times.

You gotta do much better
If you gone
Dance with me tonight
You gotta work your jelly
If you gone
Dance with me tonight
Read my lips carefully
If you like what you see
Move, groove, prove
You can hang with me
By the looks I got you
Shook up and scared of me
Hook up your seatbelt,
It's time for takeoff

I don't think you
Ready for this jelly
I don't think you
Ready for this jelly
I don't think you
Ready for this
'Cause my body too
Bootylicious for ya babe


A seemingly light dance song, "Bootylicious" is as ruthless as any DC song. "Move, groove, prove you can hang with me" indeed.

And while "I don't think you ready for this jelly" is too much, it's so right. No other girl group can pull this off and non have tried. Just another example of the edge the girls bring to the genre.

"Lose My Breath" has moved to #7 on the Hot 100 in only it's 3rd week of release. Destiny's Child still seem to be a force to be reckoned with.

Just goes to prove you can make anything seem profound through BS rhetoric.

VoicesCarry said:

My deconstruction? (LOL)


I plead NOT GUILTY to BS rhetoric!
[Edited 9/30/04 11:58am]
[Edited 9/30/04 11:58am]

VoicesCarry said:

The original lineup of En Vougue kills all of 'em.

OdysseyMiles said:

CynicKill said:

What! I just saw this.

As VC laid out...




Here's the problem, the groups above (among many others) had real, what used to be known as, SONGS.



tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

I did mention in my decontruction that En Vogue were better singers and that The Supremes had better songs, but DC have made an impact. The most important thing being their edge. They bring a forcefulness to the genre that wasn't there before. Very feminist in their approach.

Diana Ross and the Supremes are the greatest girl group ever. Destiny's Child? fook right off.
[Edited 9/30/04 13:54pm]

First off, let me say that I really like the title of this thread.

That's about it.

JANFAN4L said:

I'm surprised to hear you say that, for DC took a page from the blueprint, "Control", and sort of ran with it. Taking feminist anthems like "Control", "What Have You Done For Me Lately, and "Nasty" into context, it's obvious that they are direct descendents of songs like "Bills Bills Bills" and "Survivor".

R 'N B SUCKS

CynicKill said:

Yeah, but "Bills Bills Bills" and "Survivor" aren't good songs.

"Bills Bills Bills" is argueable. Sung within an inch of its life, I'd venture to say it's THE best head-wagging, eye-rolling, tell-off song to come out of that genre.

CynicKill said:

Out of all R&B? Surely you jest!