2004: Destiny’s Child, Destiny Fulfilled
By Julia Mallory
During Scorpio season of 2004, Destiny’s Child released their fifth and final studio album Destiny Fulfilled, a full-bodied, fiery, exploration of love. I was in high school when their self-titled debut dropped and as a Baby Ballad Bae, “Second Nature” had me in a chokehold. I was also raising myself on southern rap so hearing Master P on the remix to “With Me,” a Beats by the Pound produced track, was everything to me. Fast-forward six years and Beyoncé, Kelly and Michelle decided to spin the block one more time to complement their already collective and individual blossoming careers. By the time Destiny Fulfilled was released, each of the three members had released solo projects, with Michelle's first album in 2002, followed by Kelly that same year and Beyoncé in 2003.
The album represented a transition from teen pop stars to its very much giving graduation to grown women-ass energy, with the trio in their vocal bag. They are working the highs and the lows, each shining with their distinct voice. Blending them seamlessly into a beautiful chorus, cementing their legacy among groups such as The Jones Girls, LaBelle, SWV and others. In a 2004 interview with Oprah, Beyoncé spoke directly to this growth: “we matured so much, vocally.”1
The album moves along what might be the familiar (and complicated) terrain of a modern romance. It opens with “Lose My Breath,” the drum heavy, Darkchild produced track. It is a breathless tale, full of bravado with a would-be suitor not making the cut. It almost feels like it doesn’t fit but when you trace the throughline, thematically and sonically, it makes sense as if it is to embody the pace of someone coming in hot, begging for your time just to waste it. Saccharine suitors without any real substance.
Then we slide to “Soldier” featuring T.I. and Lil Wayne, the only cut on the album with features. Which brings back memories of some of the best parts of music from that era – R&B/Rap collaborations with each artist in their respective vocal lane. “Baby Boy” who couldn’t keep up on “Lose My Breath” was an afterthought by the time they are checking for their soldier, a hood bae that protects and provides. So quick story, when this single was released, I was a performance poet, outside trying to reenact Love Jones, playing the open mic scene. I remember a popular spoken word duo that I occasionally shared the stage with had an entire diss poem dedicated to “Soldier”. What a time to be alive!
So, what do you do when you get the one you want? According to Destiny Fulfilled (and some new podcasts), you cater to them. I can only imagine the social media discussion in real-time if Twitter existed when the album dropped. Not Beyoncé talembout, "my life would be purposeless without you" (where is that "Stand Up!” reaction video meme when you need it?). But perhaps it is time to put modern R&B music videos back in the desert (see, that's the problem, sistas ain't singing in the sand no more!) and bring back matching mermaid dresses. This song was serving up a heap of fresh fantasy right before the climax with “T-Shirt,” which is one of my favorite tracks on the album. It is so sexy and sensual. The lush layers make me want to crawl into the melody (and a lover’s arms). You can hear the desire and the longing. This song was a problem. It could have you dialing them up just to chase that high.
Until it all came crashing down in “Is She the Reason,” about a situationship that well, situationshipped:
Is she the reason you don't call like you used to?
Fall through my hood like you used to?
Put it on me hard like you used to do?
There is a specific type of pain coming through on this song. Knowing you settled and still got sat to the side. Waiting on closure that ain't ever going to come.
Michelle snaps at the end, yelling: "ALL YOU HAD TO SAY THIS AIN'T WHAT YOU WANT." Girl, they rarely do. A decade and some change later, I was reminded of this song when I marked the end of a situationship by tossing out those t-shirts I once used for sleeping like a second skin to end the self-inflicted misery of me breaking my own heart.
“Is She the Reason” samples Melba Moore’s 1974 track, “I Don't Know No One Else to Turn To.” I love a well-used sample. I have always found the hatred of sampling odd, because it is informed by the tradition of reaching back, or Sankofa. Sampling as a sonic spiritual system. To say I bring my people forward. To build on what already exists. And this album builds on the R&B possibility that harmonies can hold the heartbreak.
And what do you do when you get your heart broke? You call your homegirl(s) OR maybe they stage an intervention. I think “Girl” is genius in that we can hear the encouragement layered between the excuses. Like, damn Kelly, is that how I sound? Yikes (Sis, stand up!). Moving from explanation in “Girl” to an exit in “Bad Habit” when a resolution isn’t possible:
I thought maybe If I started praying
Then we would get better but
When I would pray, the answer would always come
Back to me, being done
What’s the saying about asking your higher power(s) to remove anything/anyone not for you but then you start losing close relationships? I just finished re-reading Toni Cade Bambara's 1980 novel, The Salt Eaters. I'm thinking of the spiritual ancestral guide Old Wife, who tells the healer Minnie during an exchange about having faith, that her prayers are answered. Minnie replies, "this I know. But sometimes the answer is no, Old Wife." Ouch.
If “Bad Habit” is coming to the realization that it’s time to go, “If” is when you finally tell them. The long letter. The long text message. The one that they claim they ain’t about to read. Well, that’s before, as the song said, “they get to feeling stressed up in your [they] chest.” The opening harmonies and Beyoncé's retro outro feel like homage to R&B girl groups throughout the ages. And after you have told them for the (?) time, "Free" is when you tell yourself that you did the right thing. But even when you know you are doing the right thing, bad habits can be heard to break. These three tracks feel like the emotional tug of war in trying to move forward. “Through With Love” is Nina Mosley at the beginning of Love Jones. It’s the pragmatic pessimistic position of the post-break up.
Yet, sometimes, time and healing make recovering from heartbreak possible. The album ends with “Love,” a track that tells us that time has passed and brought a renewed belief in romantic love. Beyoncé described the release of Destiny Fulfilled, as the “end of a chapter.”2 And in fulling their destiny, they ultimately reminded a new generation, as the poetic sage, Sonia Sanchez tells us in her 1984 book, homegirls & handgrenades, "just don't never give up on love."
Julia Mallory (she/they) is a storyteller working with a range of medium from text to textiles. She is a six-time author, including two children’s books. Their latest book, Survivor’s Guilt, is an archive of survivorship that chronicles generational grief through photographs, poetry, and prose.
She is also the founder of the creative container, Black Mermaids and serves as the Senior Poetry Editor for Raising Mothers. Their work can be found in Barrelhouse, The Offing, the Black Speculative Arts Movement exhibition "Curating the End of the World: RED SPRING”, Stellium Literary Magazine, MadameNoire, and elsewhere. Their short, experimental film, Grief is the Glitch, premiered spring 2022 on the film festival circuit.
For more information, visit www.thejuliamallory.com.
Twitter/IG: @thejuliamallory
SOURCES
1. https://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/destinys-child-reunion/all