Nelly knocks himself from #1 with “Dilemma”

Dilemma Nelly with Kelly Rowland

Writer(s): Cornell Haynes Jr., Antoine Macon, Kenneth Gamble, Bunny Sigler, Kelly Rowland (see lyrics here) Released: June 25, 2002 First Charted: July 5, 2002 Peak: 110 US, 15 RR, 19 RB, 12 UK, 3 CN, 14 AU (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 1.8 UK, 7.6 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.5 radio, 581.17 video, 704.91 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “While Nelly’s ‘Hot in Herre’ got parties started throughout 2002, his pairing with Destiny’s Child’s Kelly Rowland on this sentimental rap track proved just as popular.” BB He met Rowland on tour in 2001 and wanted to use her on the song. WK She became the first member of Destiny’s Child to chart as a solo artist. SF The Guardian’s Caroline Sullivan wrote of her vocals that she “is no longer a mere backing vocalist for Beyoncé Knowles,” WK her co-member in Destiny’s Child. “Dilemma” was a last-minute addition to Nelly’s sophomore albumNellyville. Producer Antoine “Bam” Macon gave him a basic track which sampled Patti LaBelle’s 1983 “Love Need and Want You” and Nelly crafted lyrics for it. WK The song is about a “girl who thinks about another guy even when she’s with her boyfriend.” SF Nelly and Kelly sing to each other by name in the song and act this out in the video. SF Not only was the song not planned for the album, but it wasn’t planned as a single. While “Hot in Herre” was still climbing the charts, U.S. radio latched onto “Dilemma” and it powered its way into the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 based on airplay alone. WK Nelly wisely released it as the album’s second single and it ended up knocking “Hot in Herre” from #1 and becoming the biggest song of Nelly’s career. WK He became the fifth artist in chart history to succeed himself at the top, following The Beatles, Boyz II Men, Puff Daddy, and Ja Rule. SF The song was nominated for a Grammy for Record of the Year. It didn’t win that, but did take home the prize for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. A video to support the song featured Patti LaBelle as Rowland’s mother. BB Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Nelly DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Kelly Rowland BB Billboard (9/08). “All-Time Hot 100” SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Last updated 6/18/2023.

Destiny’s Child spend 11th week at #1 with “Independent Women”

Independent Women Destiny’s Child

Writer(s): Beyoncé Knowles, Cory Rooney, Samuel Barnes, Jean-Claude Olivier (see lyrics here) Released: September 4, 2000 First Charted: September 16, 2000 Peak: 111 US, 6 GR, 17 RR, 13 RB, 11 UK, 7 CN, 3 AU, 12 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.6 UK, 1.74 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 56.9 video, 227.24 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Destiny’s Child, “a Supremes for the 21st century,” TB ironically had their greatest success at the time of their greatest upheaval. With Beyoncé Knowles becoming the obvious Diana Ross-style leader, the rotating cast behind her mattered little. This was the group’s first single to feature new member Michelle Williams on vocals. It also was the first appearance on a single for Farrah Franklin, but she had been jettisoned from the group by the time the video was filmed. WK The song was the biggest of Destiny Child’s career and spent more weeks atop the Billboard charts than any other soundtrack song in history up to that point. SF The song was also listed in the 2001 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running song by a female group. WK “Women” began life as a solo recording from Beyoncé. After an argument with her boyfriend, she recorded this declaration of female independence. She re-recorded it with her bandmates when Columbia Studios asked for the song’s inclusion in a new Charlie’s Angels movie. They changed some words, even mentioning the film’s stars Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu in the lyrics. SF In the video, the band members took on the roles of the three Charlie’s Angels. SF “Part 1” was added in brackets to distinguish this version from the different version (that became “Part 2”) that appeared on the group’s album Survivor. SF “Part 2” was a bit slower and sported some different lyrics as well as “space-age sound effects.” TB “Part 2” was the original song and then the Pasadena remix became the single version and got moved to “Part 1” status. WK Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Destiny’s Child SF Songfacts TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 291. WK Wikipedia First posted 1/12/2019; last updated 3/22/2023.

Destiny’s Child “Say My Name” hit #1

Say My Name Destiny’s Child

Writer(s): Rodney Jerkins, Fred Jerkins III, LaShawn Daniels, Beyoncé Knowles, LeToya Luckett, Kelly Rowland, LaTavia Roberson (see lyrics here) Released: November 7, 1999 First Charted: December 4, 1999 Peak: 13 BB, 11 BA, 3 GR, 3 RR, 13 RB, 3 UK, 9 CN, 14 AU, 23 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, 1.2 UK, 4.85 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.3 radio, 416.32 video, 818.98 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “Make no mistake: ‘Say My Name’ is a Beyoncé record. There are four people on the cover of that single…but Beyoncé is the only person who sings lead…That was probably a power play on the part of Beyoncé and of her father, Destiny’s Child manager Mathew Knowles. But “Say My Name” is a perfect song.” SG It “works on all sorts of levels — as soap-operatic melodrama, as futuristic technological brain-warp, as club-jam singalong.” SG “At the time, Beyoncé was one of a few R&B singers inventing a whole new form of delivery — a complex and rhythmically sophisticated cadence that moved and breathed with the track itself.” SG Of the four people on the cover, two were gone by the time the song hit #1. LaTavia Roberson and LeToya Luckett had been friends with Beyoncé since they were kids but resented how she and Kelly Rowland got more attention and money. When they saw the video for the song on BET, they realized they were out of the group as two other girls (Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin) lip-synced their parts. Farrah didn’t last six months, but the group continued as a trio with Williams. Beyoncé came across like a modern-day Diana Ross, who “jettisoned the old friends who helped her get rich and famous in the first place…but all the drama within the Supremes never stopped anyone from thinking of Diana Ross as a pantheon-level pop star, and the same thing happened with Beyoncé.” SG Rodney Jerkins, who’d produced “The Boy Is Mine” for Brandy and Monica and “If You Had My Love” for Jennifer Lopez signed on to work with Destiny’s Child on The Writing’s on the Wall, the group’s second album. Beyoncé would later say she couldn’t stand “Say My Name” because “There was just too much stuff going on in it.” SG She even said the song wasn’t going to make the cut for the album, but then he remixed it with more emphasis on the vocals, turning it into what Beyoncé then called “an amazing, timeless R&B record…It was one of the best songs we ever had, one of the best he’s ever produced.” SG He “throws every trick in his arsenal at the track. Strings spiral through busily jaunty figures. Drum machines dance through syncopated stop-start patterns. Squelching funk guitars strut in, and then Jerkins chops them up almost to the point of abstraction. Jerkins throws so much else at the track: wind-chime swooshes, soft G-funk synth-wines, an electronic boiiiiing sound effect…But even with all those different sounds percolating away, ‘Say My Name’ deals in a simple, relatable relationship dilemma.” SG Songwriter LaShawn Daniels had the idea for the song’s lyrics. His girlfriend was jealous if she heard anyone in the background when she called him and would demand, “Well, say my name then, and tell me that you love me.” SG It became a song in which “Beyoncé’s narrator is…consumed with that wounded, destabilized feeling,” SG “convinced that her significant other is cheating.” SG Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Destiny’s Child SG Stereogum (8/8/2022). “The Number Ones” by Tom Breihan Related Links: First posted 4/29/2024.