1999 Rewind: Remembering Destiny Child’s The Writing’s On The Wall

Are y’all ready to party like it’s 1999? We all love the 90s here at Soul In Stereo, so it’s only right to revisit albums that are marking 25 years in 2024. 1999 Rewind looks back at all your old faves and see how well they hold up.

Twenty-five years ago today, Destiny’s Child proved not only that there was no sophomore slump, they solidified themselves as one of the greatest girl groups in R&B history. That legacy came with a LOT of controversy though. 1999 was a wild time. Today it’s another father-son teamup as my adopted R&B son Damon Dunn returns to chat with me about one of his favorite albums.

Share your thoughts on hearing this album for the first time.

Damon: My first time listening to this album outside the singles obviously was in 2016 when I first explored the world of music from the 90s and I went and downloaded a bunch of albums that were featured on those “Greatest 90s R&B Albums” lists on the Internet and this one blew me away. The production was a fantastic capsulation of the time it was released and whilst I initially gravitated toward the uptempo tracks overtime the slow jams really stood out for me. It was love at first listen and this album has grown into one of my all time favorites.

Edd: Look, everyone knows I’m ancient and my brain is filled with empty cans of Surge and fruit snack wrappers from the 90s. Therefore, I can’t quite remember when I first purchased Destiny Child’s sophomore set – it could have been release day or maybe I copped it from my Columbia House subscription weeks later. Those $1.99 CD sales were a godsend in the days before streaming. But I do remember being excited to hear the album. My younger brother had DC’s debut and that made me a big fan of the group, and first single “Bug a Boo” was all kinds of fun. The album exceeded my expectations though, maintaining the group’s soulful roots but clearly putting them on a path for pop dominance. This album felt like a big deal and was part of my road soundtrack as I traveled from campus to my job. And it still holds up today!

Best song! Let’s talk about your picks.

Damon: “Confessions”

“Confessions” is the perfect mix of both the top notch production and the high quality vocals. I love the storytelling and the song having a drum heavy beat in the verses but keeping the overall song as a midtempo to truly showcase the vocals. Just a fantastic song which struck me as an obvious shoe-in for a single. Also anytime Beyoncé and Missy collaborate heat is created.

Edd: “Temptation”

Back in 1999, “Confessions” was my favorite song from the project. I still love it but it slides down the list a little today. Instead I gotta go with “Temptation” for the top spot. The production is downright intoxicating, playing into the alluring theme of the track. Damon isn’t wrong – Missy and Beyonce would go on to make even more magic in later years. But the song doesn’t lie, the “Temptation” just be callin’ me.

This project yielded several videos. Which one was best?

Damon: “Bills Bills Bills”

“Bills Bills Bills” just beats “Say My Name” for me simply for having more variation in setting and costume with  salon theme and the chair choreography at the start and the dark room with the different lousy boyfriends in each box is a fun concept that matches the theme of the song. Also it has the typical late 90s random sped up footage which again just encapsulates that era of videos perfectly.  

Edd: “Say My Name”

Honestly I don’t love any of the videos from the project. They’re all fine, I guess, but they’re VERY much a product of their era. Weird settings that didn’t match the theme of the songs, the sped-up footage that Damon mentioned, jerky dance moves, the “put the trash boyfriends in their place” vibe – they all felt the same. I’ll go with “Say My Name” as the best – it’s not anything special but IT IS FOR SURE the most memorable. More on that later.

Which song from this project should have been a single?

Damon: “So Good”

“So Good” is kinda a cop out because whilst it sounds similar tempo wise to the other singles, I think the hyperactive tracks with fast singing was becoming their style whilst DC’s slower album cuts just don’t really scream single to me. But “So Good” just stands out as an obvious shoe-in for a hit single and it also got slight TikTok hype a few years back.

Edd: “If You Leave”

Funny you mention “So Good.” It’s a solid song but my beef has always been that it felt so boilerplate. Most of the tracks on this album felt really fresh at the time, offering something new in terms of production or writing. “So Good” sounds like Solid 1999 Radio Song No. 847  that could have been on any of the 90s girlies’ albums. This project had a ton of singles but instead of “Jumpin Jumpin” I would have gone with “If You Leave.” It’s a completely different vibe from the songs that came before it, duets always did well in this era and Next were at the peak of their popularity. It would have made for a great messy video too, as was the style at the time [Grampa Simpson voice].

What’s the most underrated song?

Damon: “She Can’t Love You”

Honestly you could say quite a lot of this album isn’t heavily discussed outside the singles and more hyperactive tracks that matched the time of release but I’ve never seen talk about “She Can’t Love You.” The Spanish guitar draws you in immediately and Beyoncé’s lower register really compliments the more simplified beat overall one of my favorites from the album and I’m surprised that this song isn’t mentioned across Beyoncé’s fanbase. 

Edd: “Now That She’s Gone“

It probably wouldn’t have performed well as a single, but “Now That She’s Gone” ranked high on both of our lists for a reason. I love the girls’ tone on this track, and it carries the same When A Woman’s Fed Up theme as “Bills Bills Bills” and “Bug a Boo” without being as silly or over the top as those. You can feel the maturity in their performance. It’s criminally overlooked, as many of the album cuts are.

What’s the best vocal performance on the album?

Damon: “If You Leave”

“If You Leave” has probably Beyoncé’s strongest and most controlled vocal performance of her early career and her and RL’s vocals match very well on this song  and that “Ooh” Beyoncé hits after Next’s verse always just melts in my ears. Very underrated song 

Edd: “Outro”

It may have ranked low on my list, but that’s not a shot at its quality – I think the “Amazing Grace” outro is a great showcase for what the girls can do without the bells and whistles of 90s production to lean on. Yeah, it’s very churchy so it may not be everyone’s vibe, but the power and control over their vocals is impressive for their ages. There’s no way your current faves could pull that off without sounding like a rusty motorboat.

Obviously Damon wasn’t around to witness this real time, but what were your first thoughts in hearing about the changing of Destiny’s Child lineup, and the drama that followed?

Damon: Unfortunately being a 2005 baby I kinda missed the whole Destiny’s Child era but as the king of revisionist history I got to say it’s pretty cold and a horrible business move on Matthew Knowles’ end as it was honestly a potential career finishing move. Not only were LeToya and LaTavia just kicked out without knowing, they had a whole music video filmed without them with two random girls performing their part. Honestly, if “Say My Name” or the album as a whole were big hits I could just see this as the crash and burn of the group as many groups faced around this time. I think they should’ve waited until at least after the roll out for the album to do this because it’s just a screaming lawsuit waiting to happen. Imagine if something like this happens today in the social media era, it could possibly be lights out for Destiny’s Child. Just a crazy story especially for an act just reaching their mainstream stardom to just self implode into media controversy. 

Edd: This was the definition of a “you had to be there” moment. Imagine turning in to the premier of DC’s third video from this project and two of the girls are gone, replaced with two randos. Watching it in real time, I thought they were just stand-ins and LeToya and LaTavia would pop in later on in the video. But as the video went on and it was clear they were not there at all, I was so confused. We all were! There were no IG accounts to check for details, no Twitter to scream frustrations into the ether. I remember talking to friends the next day like “ummm did you see that video? What happened to the other girls?” Answers did not come quickly. And I’m sorry modern-day Beyhive, when we finally did get the explanation for their departure, many fans blamed Beyonce. She was already catching heat for being the forced centerpiece of the group at the time. SEE, IT WAS ALL HER DOING, many screamed.

In the months and years that followed, cooler heads prevailed, we learned of the real reason for their departure and the Beyonce hate subsided. But Damon is right: if something like this occurred in today’s reactionary culture, the backlash might have killed DC – and Beyonce’s career – for good.

Original DC lineup vs DC + Michelle and Farrah vs DC3. What’s the best lineup?

Damon: Personally I find this much closer than I initially expected because whilst I think DC made some of their best as the original 4, it’s hard to ignore that Beyoncé is at the forefront and the other 3 are on background duties. I’m going to say the DC3 trio worked better and finally made their music feel like they were apart of a group and every member truly shined. 

Edd: Original Recipe DC and it ain’t close. Don’t get me wrong, DC3 eventually found their groove (that Survivor album was a STRUGGLE though) and their later songs had a maturity that the early group lacked. That still doesn’t beat the chemistry of the original four, along with the diversity of tracks their albums showcased. Damon’s point is sound – we often called Destiny’s Child “Beyonce n’ Dem” in that early era – but I can’t ignore how great the music was. We need a reunion tour. Even I’d spend money on that.

Is The Writing’s on the Wall the best Destiny’s Child album?

Damon: It’s close between this album and Destiny’s Fulfilled but just track for track I’ve gotta put The Writing’s On The Wall on top simply because there’s no real weak song. Whilst the sequencing is heavily praised for Destiny’s Fulfilled I think it can get a little too slow around the middle which could turn listeners off and lose their attention which is kinda the only notch on that album. I think this is a question where you can’t really go wrong between the two but for me The Writing’s On The Wall just has a better display  of more memorable singles and strong album cuts. 

Edd: Damon’s right, it’s close, but Destiny Fulfilled edges out this album. It’s just a tighter release. The Writing’s on the Wall is very strong but you can lose two or three tracks and greatly improve the runtime. The sequencing also gets a little weak near the end. Destiny Fulfilled is a slightly more complete package but both are worth your time.

Is The Writing’s on the Wall an R&B classic?

Damon: For sure it’s an R&B classic, I’m not usually a statistics and charts person but the numbers speak for themselves here. As I mentioned earlier this album is a perfect encapsulation of that era and the memorable singles and strong album cuts made Destiny’s Child into the stars which Beyoncé still rides of the momentum created from this album today. But on top of all of this The Writing’s On The Wall is arguably the best R&B release of 1999 and one of the strongest releases of that decade where there’s a lot of competition, yet this stands out. 

Edd: It’s easy to overlook this album because, as I’ve mentioned before , it’s such a product of its time. I swear every other song is about how the girls want to leave their broke boyfriends. But look beyond those late 90s teen vibes and you’ll find a very strong R&B album with daring production for its era, great vocal performances and mainstream singles that pushed them to new heights. Even Great Deletion of Tavia and Toya has added to his album’s legacy, for better or worse. Great songs, great success, and a whole lotta controversy cements its status as classic.

Who got it right, Damon or Edd? Share your DC memories below!