|
|
|
» The Archives
|
:::Music Review:::
|
 |
Destiny's Child - "Destiny Fulfilled"
by William Ashanti Hobbs
author and co-owner of Meroen Press
February 2005
This Music Review is sponsored by:
1102 S. Adams St., ste.#5 - Tallahassee, FL 32301
850.222.6940 - www.flavamusic.net
|
This Music Review is
Sponsored by:
|
|
Yeah, yeah I know… ‘what the hell he doin’ reviewing
them chicks?’ Believe you me, I was doing all I could
to resist. Truth is, after hearing a busload of
elementary school girls bouncing in their seats and
hanging out of their windows singing how they needed a
"Soldier" – and then while walking through the parking
lot of a mall out here and catching a hardcore brother
(clad in Dickies and a gold grill) hugging himself
tighter than Ray Charles ever could and singing "Cater
to You", I figured, I got to see about this.
"Lose My Breath" was banging enough, complete with
Drumline-style intro and pummeling bass. Producer
Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins knew the thump had to be
crucial for a brother to justify riding around
listening to a group that annoyed cats far and wide
with "Bills, Bills, Bills" and "Bugaboo" (though I
agree with the songs in theory). Still, I even felt
like a pedophile getting this out of the record store.
|
|
The varsity cheerleader-like tone of the Beyonce and
company almost brings out dreams of breaking out on
the field through the sorry banners to the half empty
stands of yesteryear. Ahhh, but there’s a heat here
that was never as direct as songs in the past: "I put
it right there/made it easy for you to get to."
Well damn, Jay-Z brought it out in ya’ like that?! The
song veers into the ‘I’m too much woman for you’ spiel
made famous in "Bootylicious", which of course lets
everyone off the hook of dealing with anything more
intimate than that. I thought that was the steelo
here. Nah, Destiny’s Child goes beyond the girlish
tease by mounting and slow-grinding the hater-ade out
of you with class and aplomb for articulating the ways
of (grown) women.
But that ain’t the case with the next song. "Soldier"
comes off like cheesy Broadway material, or even worse
– a plastic attempt by a relatively clean cut girl
group to connect with the ‘hood contingent. Problem
is, clueless little girls that have followed this
group are fallin’ for this one hook, line and sinker,
as if we need is anymore glorification of criminality:
"If his status ain’t hood, I ain’t checkin’ for
him/bedda be street if he lookin’ at me."
I could say they were trying to focus on a man that
would defend and protect them. A man doesn’t need tats
up to his neck and sagging pants to defend anything
though. Maybe the idea is to find protection (or
excitement) in the image. Either way, this was a
cartwheel back into juvenilia that had me folding my
arms and snapping the toothpick in my mouth – waiting
for the next song to keep me from punching the whole
CD out of the deck. And save the CD the next song did;
"Cater to You" cuddles up to the senses with a
lullaby-like melody. Vase-shoving bass sets the
foundation as the Beyonce leads the girls to crooning
a desire to take care of their men in ways that most
bitter women shutter to hear.
"Let me help you take off your shoes/ untie your"
shoestrings, take off your cuff links… sing you a"
song/turn the game on/I’ll brush your hair/help you"
put your doo rag on."
The thoughtfulness of the lyrics shook me. I tell no
lies. I already told you about the G that was bonding
with himself listening to it earlier in this review.
As long as women fall in love to the point of wanting
to make it impossible for a man to miss how much he
means to her, this song will be in effect. "T-shirt"
is the winsome, insightful look into what a woman goes
through when caught up in craving her man’s return
home from work. All this without the unimaginative,
how-to manual crassness you get nowadays.
"Is she the reason" delves into feminine insecurities
about relationships without the whiny factor that
makes you want to go do a swan dive off of an
overpass. "Girl" actually makes the meddling,
no-man-having girlfriends of your lady seem
well-meaning. "If" makes measured merry with Natalie
Cole’s "Inseparable" with a soulful way that almost
stands alongside the original. It captures the
seasoned image of Beyonce, Kelly and Michelle on the
cover. There I was, a dude, and I got through the
whole CD – and, on the whole, dug it! Philosopher
Thomas Carlyle stated that music is "well said to be
the speech of angels." All in all, Destiny’s Child
have crossed the perilous waters from angelic girlhood
to full fledged, worldly women. . . not flawlessly,
but with an openness and sense of class that both men
and women can groove to and learn from.
|
|
|
