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!!

dgenetics: destiny's child remix.

dl: DESTINY'S CHILD - Lose My Breath (DGENETICS remix) (YSI)
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The first portion of today's post, entitled "Destiny's (Step)Child", was guest-written by a good friend of mine-- Sojourner "You Can't Handle The" Truth, a woman of color and a writer. If you enjoy the hilarity below, I suggest rubbing her blog Diary Of A Mad Blacktress all over your Google Reader.

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I have a confession: I was once a Teen People Trendspotter. Yes, I was.

This involved attending focus groups, filling out surveys, trying products for Teen People magazine. On rare occasions, I got to attend events hosted by the magazine, which was always great. The funniest thing about "trendspotting" is that, throughout high school, I had as much style as a old-tyme mammy. I wore baggy, ill-fitting clothes—including Mickey Mouse sweatshirts—and refused to wear contact lenses. And I often wore a ponytail, much like Rachel Leigh Cook in "She's All That"…only I wasn't.

Anyway, I was wearing my jazziest polo sweater when I attend the Teen People "What's Next!" concert at the Apollo Theater. Being a Harlem girl (I am a blacktress, after all), I got to stay out way past my bedtime and see such performers as Lil' Bow Wow (who I like to just call "The Wow") and Destiny's Child.

This was by far the highlight of the evening. DC performed last, and by then, half of the underage audience had gone home. I was able to sneak down to the floor level and watch the magical quartet in all of its glory. I saw them when the group consisted of Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, Farrah Franklin and Michelle Williams. They entered to their hit, wearing purple rhinestoned ensembles that had to have been made by Tina Knowles. As they took to the stage I noticed something was off. Then Beyoncé filled us in: "Hey y'all. Kelly hurt her ankle tonight, so she can't dance, but she's here—we ain't gon' quit on ya!"

We applauded as Kelly took a seat on a stool on the far left of the stage (stage right, if you're a theater nerd) and sang her parts. The other three girls did the choreography as directed, but there was another dancer in Kelly's place, just to keep the symmetry. She didn't get a microphone, but she fit in seamlessly, also dressed in purple rhinestones. She looked familiar, and I realized who it was—SOLANGE KNOWLES!!!

Yes, y'all!! Before she went on to start her own career on the Proud Family, Solange made her own family proud by acting as a black-up dancer for Destiny's Child. She was a perfect understudy, with her moves on point and her mouth silent like the puppet she was supposed to be. To the left, Kelly belted out the tunes, in costume. As she swayed, I was temporarily blinded. Why? Well, Kelly's cast was bedazzled with rhinestones, to match their wardrobe.

I KID YOU NOT. A BEDAZZLED CAST!!! If that's not the sign of a true diva, I don't know what is!!!!

I was mesmerized. Kelly made ankle injuries the new hotness in my mind, and I reached out to touch one of them for just a moment in time. I was then rudely knocked sideways by a larger girl, who gave Beyoncé a high five as I nursed by bruised shoulder…and looked at Kelly in awe.

At that moment, I knew that Kelly Rowland would always be my boo—and Solange would always be a silent dancer.

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This story was recently recounted to me over a "Chicken Thumb Platter" at Uno's, resulting in me nearly falling off my chair at the mention of Kelly's bedazzled cast. Prior to this, I had a conversation with my gay bestie about why everyone always hates on Michelle. We agreed that her voice had the most interesting timbre of the group's membership. And *yes*...we used the word "timbre". It troubles me that these weren't the only times that I've had extensive discussions about Destiny's Child in the past months. I think I have a problem.

But you know what's not a problem? My love of Old Gold, DGENETICS, and their squad. I first heard of Old Gold through Leif and PdL. (Along with Old Gold, these two form the wondrous DJ trio Hell Yup.) After becoming obsessed with "D.O.G." (Drugged Out Girls), I was glad to see it on BIGSTEREO in May 2007. Reading this post was my introduction to DGENETICS, and "Skate With Me" slowly became an iPod favorite of mine. Listening to it often added an extra spring to my step. During the days when I thought VIRB was going to give the Space a run for their money, I came across this remix of DC's "Lose My Breath" and fell even more in love with DGENETICS.

I've actually been meaning to share some photos of Old Gold performing at DGENETICS Musics' pre-CMJ showcase, and now seems like an appropriate time to do so. And oh...It should also be noted that DGENETICS has a remix of Old Gold's "D.O.G." available on iTunes.

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BONER TRACK: THIEVES LIKE US - Drugs In My Body (DGENETICS Junkie remix) (YSI)

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