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Beyoncé · S1 E6
Mathew Takes Over
Homeschooling, boot camp rehearsals, and a childhood traded for a career
After Star Search, Mathew Knowles does two things. He ends the group's relationship with co-manager Andretta Tillman, the woman who believed in Girl's Tyme before he did. Then he calls a real estate agent in Atlanta.
"Independent Women Part I" by Destiny's Child (2000). Eleven weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Written for Charlie's Angels, it became the group's defining anthem of self-sufficiency.
Independent Women Part I (2000)
"Independent Women Part I" spent 11 weeks at number one, Destiny's Child's longest run at the top. "The shoes on my feet, I've bought it. The clothes I'm wearing, I've bought it." From a group whose manager sacrificed a six-figure salary and a family home to fund their development, the emphasis on financial independence carries a specific weight. The declaration of self-sufficiency from a group that had been entirely dependent on one man's investment is hard to hear as purely coincidental.
Consolidating Control
Something shifted in Mathew after Star Search. He pushed out co-managers, took sole control of all business decisions, and began operating with the focus of someone who had identified a market opportunity and intended to capture it. He cold-called labels, sent demo tapes to every A&R department he could find, and drilled the girls so they could perform at a professional level for any executive willing to give them fifteen minutes.
TAP TO REVEAL: What happened to the woman who first believed in Girl's Tyme?
The Transition Years
Atlanta in the early 1990s was the epicenter of Southern R&B. TLC, OutKast, Usher, and Xscape all came from that scene.
The group cycled through several names: Girl's Tyme, Something Fresh, Cliche, and eventually Destiny's Child.
Mathew self-funded the group's development for years: studio time, choreographers, and travel all came out of pocket.
Bills, Bills, Bills (Destiny's Child)
From The Writing's on the Wall (1999). Destiny's Child's first number-one single. Produced by She'kspere, who also produced TLC's "No Scrubs" the same year. The two biggest girl group singles of 1999 were built by the same person.
What did Mathew do after the Star Search loss to prepare the group for a label deal?
Mathew had the group, the discipline, and the city. What he did not have was a record deal. Next up: the showcase that finally worked, the Bible passage that gave them a name, and the Wyclef Jean remix that made Destiny's Child impossible to ignore.
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