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| You can keep your immunity idols. Beyonc�, Michelle and Kelly have survived it all, and their Destiny's Child tribe is raking in its own millions in album sales. The threesome has overcome member-shuffling and enough drama for a month's worth of "Behind the Music" episodes to climb to the top of the heap with their #1 smash, Survivor. As the Texas trio prepares to embark on a headlining tour, they held a tribal council with Heather Stas and Franklin Cumberpatch and talked about why it's harder for women in the business and how they deal with all those haters. * * * MTV: What exactly is the definition of "Bootylicious"? Beyonc� Knowles: "Bootylicious" is a song that I wrote on a plane. We were bored [on] this long flight to London, and I was like, "You know what, I gotta do something." I'd listened to this Stevie Nicks track ["Edge of Seventeen"] and I'm like, "This is hot!," and the word "Bootylicious" just popped in my head. I was ashamed to tell Kelly and Michelle 'cause I didn't know what they were going to think. The meaning of the song is just confidence. ... "Bootylicious" doesn't necessarily mean you have to have a big booty. It's all about attitude and feeling good about yourself and not looking like everybody on TV. You do not have to be small you can have some junk in your trunk. Michelle Williams: Some cornbread. Beyonc�: That's right, some cake. MTV: Some people thought your last album bashed on the men a little bit, and now your new disc has a song called "Nasty Girl," which seems kind of harsh in the other direction. Kelly Rowland: We've ran into some nasty girls. Beyonc�: The song has a positive message to it. It lets people know that it's about how you carry yourself in your clothes. Not saying you can't dress sexy, not saying you can't show a little cleavage. Kelly: It's all about your attitude. Beyonc�: And how you walk into a place. You know how you see a girl who's sexy and you say, "She looks good." But then you see a girl who's a little nasty and on top of that, the way she's acting is nasty? That's what the song is about. MTV: How would you describe the overall vibe of the album? Kelly: It's full of moods: love moods, party moods, you're-chilling-in-the-club moods. Beyonc�: It's the type of album you'd listen to if you're feeling kind of down or you feel like you need to conquer something or survive something. It gives you that confidence and self-esteem. ... Everybody is singing lead on all of the songs, so it gives it a more Destiny's Child feel. It adds so much. MTV: Beyonc�, you produced and wrote almost every single track on the album. Why did you decide to do that? Beyonc�: It wasn't decided for me to write and produce the whole album. I only wanted to do like three songs. Kelly: But she can't help herself. She just writes hits. Beyonc�: Thank you, Kelly. I wrote and produced "Independent Women [Part 1]" and "Jumpin', Jumpin'." Then I did "Survivor" and "Bootylicious" and the label loved it. [Same with] "Nasty Girl," "Emotions," "Happy Face," and "Apple Pie a la Mode." The label kept saying, "Do another song, do another song, do another song." It wasn't planned. It wasn't something like I said, "OK, I'm going to take charge." Kelly: A great thing is Beyonc� is a writer and a producer. She will open up the doors to younger writers and producers that are females. MTV: Still, as the group's leader, you must face a lot of pressure. Is the song "Happy Face" an attempt to explain what you go through every day? Beyonc�: You read something [in the press], you hear something crazy and you get sad and depressed. I was the type of child always that if someone didn't like me, it killed me. My whole thing was to wonder why and to fix it. When someone makes up something, it really hurts, and I'm very sensitive. When I read crazy stuff that's why I went through a depression [after the lineup] changes in the group. There's nothing you can do to fix it unless you go around talking about it, and if it's in the past and you don't want to bring it up, you're put in a weird situation. One day I woke up and it was a beautiful day outside, and I was like, "You know, I can feel God. I'm happy and I'm blessed. All of us are blessed." MTV: The Bee Gees' Maurice Gibb said he likes your cover of "Emotion." Beyonc�: Whoa, that's amazing. Kelly: You're always scared to do cover songs 'cause the artists, they're legends. The Bee Gees are legends and we just wanted to do it right so if he says it's cool with him, then yay! MTV: What made you choose, of all songs, to cover that one? Beyonc�: Our manager, Mathew Knowles, told us we should do it. We always feel scared about doing cover songs, 'cause if they're not as good, then you shouldn't even waste your time. We didn't know if we could do it, so instead of trying to compete, we did it different and added our Destiny's Child flavor to it. Vocally, it's the strongest song on our album. It features everybody you can really hear all our voices. All of us are very thankful to the Bee Gees for writing that [beautiful] song. MTV: What is the importance of the album's last track, "Outro (DC-3) Thank You," in which you praise one another and God? |
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