Alright so you may have seen the last post where I posted links to a bunch of posts that I've done recently, and you may have thought "So where the interviews at?" You most probably weren't thinking that at all but it makes me feel better to think you did. But anyways, I digress, back on track: I have done about 5 interviews in the past 6 weeks. I'll be rolling them out in due course. The one I'm most proud of however is one that I did for Soul Culture.
Return To Classics is a series I've thought about for a while. The Soul Culture execution has been so high, extremely high but I really wanted to get into it. We had a team meeting about potential ideas and albums for Return To Classics was one of the topics. Chris Williams raised the bar to some extreme levels interviewing people involved in making the albums. I randomly brought up Kandi and The Writings On The Wall as an idea in conversation. Next thing I know *BlackBerry Message* "Would you be interested in interviewing Kandi tomorrow?" #WINNING
You all know I'm a dancehall/reggae man but Destiny's Child - The Writing's On The Wall is one of the first r&b albums I ever bought. To this day it is my favourite album by a girl group. The same can't be said for WOTW 12 years later. Back in the good old days of Choice and pirate stations, they played Bug-A-Boo, Say My Name and So Good at the time of first single Bills, Bills, Bills. That is still virtually unheard of in today's radio programming. Everyone spoke about this album. It was up there with Eminem's Marshall Mathers LP, Dr Dre's Dre 2001 and TLC FanMail. If you didn't have those albums, you weren't cool.
Soul Culture: making dreams come true
Birthed in Houston, Texas initially named Girls Tyme, the original Destiny’s Child comprised of Latavia Robinson, Latoya Luckett, Kelly Rowland and lead singer Beyoncé Knowles. Destiny’s Child are the most successful female group in history with over 60 million records sold, sold out world tours and former lead singer Beyonce has gone on to become one of the most celebrated icons in music.
Their departure left a void which has never been filled. Whilst spawning the Wyclef-assisted classic platinum-certified single “No, No, No”, the self-titled debut album only peaked at number 63 on the US Album Charts. Remember the second single ‘With You’ featuring Jermaine Dupri? I didn’t think so.
The group’s seminal sophomore album, The Writings on the Wall, marks when Destiny’s Child became that girl group! DC weren’t short on controversy either; members Latavia Robinson and Latoya Luckett saw the video for smash-hit single “Say My Name” on TV with Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin in their place. Franklin left shortly after the release of fourth single “Jumpin’ Jumpin’”.
What makes this a classic? It is an album you can pop in the player fresh out of the wrapper, press play and tell the fast forward button “Find a new hobby!” But to me, it takes more than a solid album to be stamped a classic. There must be some sort of impact or significance in my opinion; an album everyone spoke about, played in cars, brings back memories of a particular time, moved the genre forward and/or one that many will agree on.
If I had to sum this album up in one sentence I’d say: “Voice of the next generation via the voice of the next generation.”
Click here for the full story + the stories behind So Good, Bug-A-Boo, Hey Ladies and Destiny's Child's first number 1 Bills, Bills, Bills
Oh and No Scrubs is still a banger! Salute Kandi 'cos she did a lot back in the day.
Return To Classics is a series I've thought about for a while. The Soul Culture execution has been so high, extremely high but I really wanted to get into it. We had a team meeting about potential ideas and albums for Return To Classics was one of the topics. Chris Williams raised the bar to some extreme levels interviewing people involved in making the albums. I randomly brought up Kandi and The Writings On The Wall as an idea in conversation. Next thing I know *BlackBerry Message* "Would you be interested in interviewing Kandi tomorrow?" #WINNING
You all know I'm a dancehall/reggae man but Destiny's Child - The Writing's On The Wall is one of the first r&b albums I ever bought. To this day it is my favourite album by a girl group. The same can't be said for WOTW 12 years later. Back in the good old days of Choice and pirate stations, they played Bug-A-Boo, Say My Name and So Good at the time of first single Bills, Bills, Bills. That is still virtually unheard of in today's radio programming. Everyone spoke about this album. It was up there with Eminem's Marshall Mathers LP, Dr Dre's Dre 2001 and TLC FanMail. If you didn't have those albums, you weren't cool.
Soul Culture: making dreams come true
Birthed in Houston, Texas initially named Girls Tyme, the original Destiny’s Child comprised of Latavia Robinson, Latoya Luckett, Kelly Rowland and lead singer Beyoncé Knowles. Destiny’s Child are the most successful female group in history with over 60 million records sold, sold out world tours and former lead singer Beyonce has gone on to become one of the most celebrated icons in music.
Their departure left a void which has never been filled. Whilst spawning the Wyclef-assisted classic platinum-certified single “No, No, No”, the self-titled debut album only peaked at number 63 on the US Album Charts. Remember the second single ‘With You’ featuring Jermaine Dupri? I didn’t think so.
The group’s seminal sophomore album, The Writings on the Wall, marks when Destiny’s Child became that girl group! DC weren’t short on controversy either; members Latavia Robinson and Latoya Luckett saw the video for smash-hit single “Say My Name” on TV with Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin in their place. Franklin left shortly after the release of fourth single “Jumpin’ Jumpin’”.
What makes this a classic? It is an album you can pop in the player fresh out of the wrapper, press play and tell the fast forward button “Find a new hobby!” But to me, it takes more than a solid album to be stamped a classic. There must be some sort of impact or significance in my opinion; an album everyone spoke about, played in cars, brings back memories of a particular time, moved the genre forward and/or one that many will agree on.
If I had to sum this album up in one sentence I’d say: “Voice of the next generation via the voice of the next generation.”
Click here for the full story + the stories behind So Good, Bug-A-Boo, Hey Ladies and Destiny's Child's first number 1 Bills, Bills, Bills
Oh and No Scrubs is still a banger! Salute Kandi 'cos she did a lot back in the day.
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