Destiny's Child (album)

Destiny's Child is the debut studio album by American R&B group of the same name, released by Ruffhouse, Columbia Records and Music World Entertainment on February 17, 1998. It features the singles "No, No, No" and "With Me", both of which preceded the album. "Killing Time" was also featured in "Men in Black: The Album" and released as a promotional single in 1997. Prior to release, the album was set to be called "Bridges". The album spent twenty six weeks on the US Billboard 200 chart and peaked at number sixty-seven. To date the album has sold a total of 831,000 copies in America. In the United Kingdom, it reached the top fifty, peaking at number forty-five. It was re-packaged and re-released in several countries after the success of the follow-up album, The Writing's on the Wall (1999). The album was met with generally favorable reviews from music critics, including AllMusic and Rolling Stone, and won a Soul Train Lady of Soul Award for Best R&B/Soul Album of the Year.

Singles
"Killing Time" was the first release of the album, it was featured on the Men In Black film and its accompanying soundtrack, from which it was released as a promotional single for, in 1997.

The first official single of the album was "No, No, No" in October 1997, where both Part 1 and Part 2 were released on the radio. It hit the top ten in 5 countries, and it hit #1 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Music videos were made for both versions of the song, both directed by Darren Grant.

"With Me" followed as the second single in 1998 as a moderate success, hitting the top 20 in Netherlands and the United Kingdom. A radio-only single in the US, it was not eligible to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, but it hit the top 40 in some component charts. A music video for Part I was created, also directed by Darren Grant.

As the last release of the album, "Illusion" was released as a promotional single. Remixes by Maurice Joshua were commissioned for this release, where the group re-recorded their vocals exclusively for these remixes.

Commercial performance
Destiny's Child was a moderate chart success. It debuted at number sixty-nine on the US Billboard 200 during the week of March 7, 1998. The album reached it peak at number sixty-seven in its fifth week and spent a total of 26 weeks on the chart. On the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart the album peaked at number fourteen. In July 1998, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and later earned a platinum certification on July 11, 2000, for 1 million shipped units. Internationally the album album achieved greater success; it reached number twenty-nine on the Canadian Albums Chart, number thirty on the Dutch MegaCharts albums chart and number forty-five on the UK Albums Chart.

Critical reception
Rolling Stone gave the album a mixed review. John Bush of the website AllMusic feels that "Destiny's Child isn't quite just another debut album from an R&B girl group... Their voices sound beautiful together. Still, much of the album sounds indistinguishable from all the other female groups out there.

Legacy
While not a massive commercial success, the album has been retrospectively regarded as "a solid introduction to their twin strengths of sweeping ballads and tight harmonies." Jon O'Brien of Billboard recognized "No, No, No" as "one of the top-tier uptempos in Destiny’s Child’s catalog", further remarking that "[h]ad the rest of their debut album reached the same heights, their world domination would no doubt have come a little sooner."

In 2022, Destiny's Child member Beyoncé recreated and interpolated their 1998 harmonies from opening track "Second Nature" on a duet version of "Make Me Say It Again, Girl" with original sampled act The Isley Brothers, peaking at number nine on the US R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, twenty on the US Hot R&B Songs chart, and number one on the US Adult R&B Songs chart, remaining on the chart for 37 weeks.

In a 2023 article celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the album release on the Recording Academy website, writer Sope Soetan remarked that the album "generally [held] up well... despite its middling commercial success." However, when discussing the overall impact of the album, he lauded the project as "an artifact of the elements central to Destiny's Child's musical persona: The syncopated, rapid vocal style that Beyoncé innovated on "No, No, No Pt 2," and lyrical themes of romantic equity, mutual respect, self-confidence and autonomy, [which] would govern the band's career-defining hits and influence many of their contemporaries."

Track listing
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes

Notes
 * undefined signifies a co-producer
 * undefined signifies an additional producer
 * Some copies of the album credit no writers for "Illusion".
 * A pre-release promotional version of the album was issued in 1997, when it was still called "Bridges", with a different tracklist. It included songs "Show Me" and "Never Had A Love" and omitted tracks "No, No, No Part 2", "Illusion" and "Sail On". "You're The Only One", a bonus track in the European 2001 reissue of the album, was also present in this version. Additionally, "No, No, No Part 1" was simply titled "No, No, No".

Sample Credits
 * "Second Nature" contains replayed elements from "Make Me Say It Again, Girl (Part 1 & 2)", performed by the Isley Brothers, written by Marvin Isley, Ronald Isley, Rudolph Isley, Ernie Isley and O'Kelly Isley.
 * "No, No, No Part 2" contains elements from "Strange Games & Things", performed and written by Barry White.
 * "With Me Parts I & II" contain a sample of "Freak Hoes", performed by TRU, written by Master P.
 * "Bridges" contains replayed elements from "Simply Beautiful", performed and written by Al Green.

Personnel
Credits are taken from Destiny's Child liner notes.


 * Mark Morales – producer
 * Bill Ortiz – trumpet
 * Darin Prindle – mixing
 * Warren Riker – engineer, mixing
 * Bob Robinson – arranger, producer, multi instruments
 * Tim Kelley – arranger, producer, multi instruments
 * Carl Washington – producer
 * Carl Wheeler – keyboards
 * D'Wayne Wiggins – bass, producer, guitar, multi instruments
 * Benjamin Wright – arranger, conductor
 * Eric Fischer – engineer
 * Jay Lincoln – drums, producer, mixing, keyboards
 * James Hoover – engineer
 * Erwin Gorostiza – art direction, design
 * Wyclef Jean – producer, performer
 * Rawle Gittens – engineer
 * Vince Lars – saxophone
 * Cory Rooney – programming, producer, mixing
 * Craig B – producer, mixing
 * KLC – producer
 * Sylvia Bennett-Smith – arranger, producer
 * Jerry Duplessis – producer
 * Joey Swails – engineer, mixing
 * Ian Dalsemer – assistant engineer
 * Rob Fusari – producer
 * Anthony Papa Michael – acoustic guitar
 * Beyoncé Knowles – lead vocals, background vocals
 * LeToya Luckett – background vocals
 * LaTavia Roberson – background vocals, rap vocals on "Illusion"
 * Kelly Rowland – lead vocals, background vocals
 * Lee Neal – drums
 * O'Dell – producer
 * Mathew Knowles – executive producer
 * Tina Knowles – hair stylist
 * Storm Jefferson – assistant engineer, mixing assistant
 * Mean Green – production coordination
 * Che Greene – producer
 * Darcy Aldridge – arranger
 * Mike Arnold – engineer
 * Charles Brackins – engineer
 * Johnny Buick – make-up and hair stylist
 * Kenny Demery – guitar
 * Paul Empson – photography
 * Eric Ferrell – make-up
 * Pras – performer
 * Debra Ginyard – stylist
 * Mike Scott – mixing
 * Booker T. Jones III – mixing
 * Master P – performer
 * Terry T – producer
 * Bill McKinley – bass
 * Paul Arnold – engineer
 * Preston Crump – bass
 * Jermaine Dupri – producer, performer
 * Dale Everingham
 * Steve Foreman – percussion
 * David Frank – piano
 * John Frye – engineer
 * Kevin W. – second engineer
 * Brian Gardner – mastering
 * Jamie Hawkins – keyboards
 * Vincent Herbert – producer
 * Jon Jubu Smith – guitar
 * Marc M2E Smith - mixing