michelle williams: best day ever.

dl: MICHELLE WILLIAMS - Stop This Car (SloDown PenPal remix) (Z - YSI)
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I'm pretty sure Boulangerie must have some unintentional agenda to destroy any blog cred I've established over the past two years, as she somehow provoked me into taking my lunch to go to a meet-and-greet for Michelle Williams (the one from Destiny's Child, not Dawson's Creek). Actually, I blame a certain blacktress for being an enabler to my Destiny's Child addiction. That's right, I said "my" addiction. Boulangerie can't be blamed for this. I have a problem. And the first step to solving such a problem...is, um, writing about it on your blog?

My story today is a period piece. Picture it. New Jersey. Summer of 1999. A young man is sitting on the basement couch watching Black Entertainment Television. He is on a threeway telephone call with his two best friends, but the screen is split into fours with one panel showing the music video for Destiny's Child's "Bills, Bills, Bills". One of the three boys, we'll call him Kai Ull, comments on how smokin' Kelly (Rowland) looks. Jay chips in, "Pssh, everyone knows Beyonce is the hottest." And then the last of the trio chimes in with, "I like the red-haired one."

The "red-haired one" was LaTavia Roberson. My reasons for liking her were pretty simple. She had red hair. She was sassy. Now, let it be known that Latavia and I have history. This one time, we held hands. It was for less than a second, some would call it a handshake, but it was one of the best less-than-a-seconds of my life. I will cherish it forever.

You could guess that I was heartbroken when LaTavia (whatever LeToya) was replaced in 2000. Who were those random chicks in the "Say My Name" video? What the fuck did they do with my LaTavia? Farrah Franklin? Michelle Williams? WTF?

When Farrah was dismissed from the group, Michelle's personality became incredibly prominent. She gave a voice to the sassiness that LaTavia previously just embodied, and she easily became my new favorite member of the group. I was pumped when I first heard Michelle's vocals on "Survivor". There's a scratchy timbre to her singing voice that made DC a teensy bit edgier. A little bit of grit, you know?

I never got into Michelle's gospel work, so I was excited to hear about her first "secular" project. The leak of a snippet from "Stop This Car" only continued to fuel (puns!) my excitement. I'm kind of over Stargate's midtempo "Irreplaceable"-knockoff tired-ass sound, but Michelle's voice really fit the production. Despite the positive reception of this track, the first single wound up being a dance tune called "We Break The Dawn", which recently topped Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay charts. Funny thing is...I don't think it's even touched the Hot 100. This makes no sense given that the song channels the same euro-pop vibe of hits like Rihanna's "Don't Stop The Music" and Chris Brown's "Forever". I'm not sure if hope is lost for "Dawn", but I have my fingers crossed that it'll be a late bloomer like Ne-Yo's "Closer" (at #10 upon writing this).

I like to think that Tenitra* is my new best friend. Despite being a half hour late to her appearance, she hopped in like she knew everyone in the world since middle school. There's nothing diva about her, despite being a former member of the best-selling female group of all time. After her interview with Hillary Crosley of Billboard, she signed autographs, took photos with fans, and then signed even more autographs for people's children. I know that's what she's supposed to do and all, but she didn't make it come off as an obligation and even endured some minor groping (some would call it hugging) from a few male fans. Long story short, she is one humble motherfucker.

Here are some highlights from the interview, which should be appearing soon on Billboard.com...

• Much like me, Michelle doesn't understand why radio isn't down with "We Break The Dawn". She compared it to other upbeat songs by Danity Kane or The Pussycat Dolls, which I didn't really get at all...but, um, at least we can both agree on that, Tenitra!
• Michelle got incredibly awkward when asked about Beyonce's new material. Crosley asked her if it was anything like her new stuff. Michelle squirmed around a bit, finally uttering a response, "It's...different." She followed up by affirming the hotness of B's new tunes. I prefer Solange's method of dealing with Beyonce questions---“I get asked about Beyoncé all the time but I try and make fun of it. Sometimes I say she’s not my sister. Other times I say I’ve stuffed her in my suitcase and sent it to Dubai."
• "The Greatest" will be the second single released from the album, produced by "Lollipop" producer Jim Jonsin. Michelle refused to reveal any details about the video, only stating that it will be "beautiful". Another single "Hello Heartbreak" will be released simultaneously, targeted towards the dance/club demographic.
• Originally, Michelle wasn't going to record "Stop This Car" because she thought the lyrics were too corny.
• Michelle's new haircut is totally cute.
• According to Michelle, there are no official plans for Destiny's Child to reunite. She said something along the lines of, "We wouldn't have called the last album Destiny Fulfilled if we planned to make another." Though there haven't been any discussions yet, it appears that the group would only reunite for a tour in the future. This would not be out of obligation, but for the love and sisterhood that they share. Michelle believes that said tour would only occur after they all have babies, so let's not get our hopes up quite yet!
• This has nothing to do with yesterday, but "Nasty Girl" is an amazing video. There are so many skanks that I've seen who I'd throw into a "nasty zapper".
  

Photographic evidence, in case you doubt me. THANK YOU SO MUCH, SOJO!!

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* Michelle's real name. Rumor has it that Matthew Knowles made her change it because it was too "hood". This may also explain why he got rid of LaTavia. Because "LaTavia, can you handle this?" just didn't sound right.

PREVIOUSLY ON ITMS!!: SoJo's really awesome story about Solange and a bedazzled cast, along with a remix of "Lose My Breath" by DGENETICS. Check it!!