Darkchild Talks Destiny's Child's Final Album Destiny Fulfilled 20 Years After Release: 'Cracked the Code' (Exclusive)

• Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins recalls his work on Fulfilled destiny
• The album celebrates its 20th anniversary on Friday
• It was Destiny Child’s last album before their hiatus

For legendary producer Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, Destiny’s Child’s Fulfilled destiny the album was “really important” to me because of its indelible influence on R&B music over the past two decades.

On November 15, 2004, the R&B trio – Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams – released their final album through Sony Entertainment after a multi-year hiatus for individual projects. Darkchild remembers the “Crazy In Love” singer, now 43, casually tapping him in New York to see if there were any songs that might be more successful.

“I was on 54th Street in Manhattan because there are two studios on the same street, Sony Studios and Hit Factory. I went back and forth to every studio,” Darkchild, now 47, tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview via Zoom.

Take a look back at Destiny’s Child reunions through the years

Destiny’s Child.

SGranitz/WireImage

“I’m getting out of the car to leave the studio. Beyoncé walked into the studio and said, “Hey.” I haven’t seen her since ‘Say My Name’. She said, ‘Hey, Rodney.’ I said, ‘Hey, how are you?’ And she said, ‘We’re doing this Destiny’s Child album, do you have anything?’ ”

Darkchild continues, “I literally had a CD with me, and the song ‘Cater 2 U’ was on that CD. I gave her the CD, then she went to the studio and I went my way. And then they called me later and said they wanted me back in the studio later that night… They gave me another room down at Sony, and that’s when I was working on ‘Lose My Breath.’ It was all done on the spur of the moment.”

Darkchild recognized that there was something special about the aforementioned records when he finished working on them. He had the same feeling in 1999 after finishing “Say My Name” — and the group then included Beyoncé, Rowland, 43, LaTavia Roberson and LeToya Luckett.

“You never know what’s going to be a single, you just – you hope,” says Darkchild. “Of course, as a producer, a songwriter, you’re always hoping to get a single. But when you’re making it, you get that feeling of, ‘OK, this sounds like this could be something.’ And that’s what I definitely got out of both of those songs when I was working on them.”

Fulfilled destiny was an undisputed success, selling more than seven million copies worldwide. According to Darkchild, the girls discovered a formula for girl group success that hasn’t been done since.

LeToya Luckett shares photo from recent Destiny’s Child reunion: ‘Let’s hand over my favorite moment to 2023.’

“When you really think about it, have we had a group since Destiny’s Child in the R&B, urban space that crossed over and has done that ever since?” Darkchild says and adds, “I don’t think so. At least not at that level. There were groups, but not on the level of Destiny’s Child. It tells you how long it took for someone to crack another code and figure it out.”

Following Darkchild’s work on Fulfilled destinyit was also selected for Beyoncé’s 2006 single, “Déjà Vu,” featuring her now-husband JAY-Z. The producer said he was brought to “[create] groove that she could really sing and really dance and have a lot of energy.” He also noted that there was a clear shift in Beyoncé’s energy, which could not rely on the comfort of her former band members. The group officially broke up in 2006.

JAY-Z and Beyoncé perform at the BET Awards in Los Angeles in June 2006.

Frazer Harrison/Getty

“Maybe because she was surrounded by girls in the group and Kelly is like a sister to her, so it was a natural playfulness and whatever. I felt like when we got to ‘Déjà Vu’, there was a different seriousness to it. There was a laser single focus. It’s not that she wasn’t focused before, but it was just more locked in.”

Like many Destiny’s Child fans, Darkchild would love to see the trio collaborate musically once more for old time’s sake. Beyoncé’s set at Coachella in April 2018 marked the last time the girls took the stage, surprising the crowd with “Say My Name,” “Lose My Breath” and “Soldier.”

“A Destiny’s Child reunion – I’d love to see that happen. I would pray that it would happen and that I would be invited because we pick up where we left off,” says Darkchild.

Michelle Williams, Beyonce Knowles and Kelly Rowland perform at Coachella in April 2018.

Kevin Mazur/Getty

In addition to working with Destiny’s Child, Darkchild has also worked with Michael Jackson, Brandy, Toni Braxton, Ashanti, Britney Spears, Ariana Grande and more. Recently, Darkchild launched a label, ALIENZ ALIVE, a faith-based hip-hop sound featuring artists Alex Jean, Jon Keith, IMRSQD, TJ Carroll and Gawvi.

“We like where it’s going and where it’s going to be able to make faith-based music that’s uplifting, inspiring, pure, but the quality is still there, the innovation is still there, and the uplifting content that we’re putting out is still there,” he says. Darkchild on the label he founded with his son and daughter.

“It’s not like it’s in this little bubble or this little box, it’s something you can really appreciate and listen to and move and groove to and feel good about. I’m excited about it.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education