Say my name

"Say My Name" is a song by American R&B group Destiny's Child. The song was the third single from the group's 1999 album The Writing's on the Wall, released through Columbia label in 2000 (see 2000 in music). The single is the most successful of the four releases from the album and is considered to be one of their signature songs. The song won awards for "Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals" and "Best R&B Song" and two was nominated for "Record of the Year" and "Song of the Year" at the 2001 Grammy Awards and an MTV Video Music Award.

Vocals

Lead vocals: Beyoncé Knowles (2 verses) and Letoya Luckett (echos 2 verses, and Chorus) LaTavia Roberson
Background vocals: Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson

Background and writing

American producer-songwriter Rodney Jerkins was one of the hired people to work on Destiny's Child's second album, The Writing's on the Wall, and was the group's first collaboration with him. When they wrote "Say My Name", however, Beyoncé was displeased with the track they were working on. She commented that there was "too much stuff" on the track and it sounded like a "jungle".[1]

During the photo shoot for the album, Beyoncé's father-manager Mathew Knowles went to the studio informing her that Jerkins reworked on the track she "hated". Her dad told her to "just have to take a listen to it". When the new mix was played to them, they liked it to the extent they could not "focus on anything".[1]

About the song

"Say My Name" features Destiny's Child lead singer Beyoncé Knowles's character calling her lover on the phone, and suspecting him of cheating. She asks him to "say her name". The young man hesitates, and the narrator believes it's because he doesn't want the girl he's cheating on her with to know who she is. Rodney Jerkins supports the song's lyrics with a backing track that shifts back and forth in dynamics, steadily bringing different elements (syncopated, 808 drum programming, synthesized strings, and 1970s-style wah-wah guitar licks) in and out of the mix. In the song, Beyoncé sings lead on the verses and bridge. She leads the melody in the first singing of the chorus, and sings over the chorus. Former Member LeToya Luckett leads the second singing of the chorus. Kelly Rowland sings background saying "around you", "love you", "shady", and "baby" underneath LeToya. LaTavia Roberson sings the melody underneath LeToya. Although she is not in the video, this is one of the two songs by Destiny's Child that LeToya Luckett has lead vocals on.

Music video

In December 1999, there were questions about money, because allegedly Knowles was keeping a disproportionate share of the groups profits while favoring his daughter Beyonce and Kelly Rowland. Luckett and Roberson asked manager Mathew Knowles to pay them more money. They were unknowingly fired and Mathew Knowles hired Farrah Franklin and Michelle Williams to replace members LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson in the group without signed members consent or knowledge. The video was then filmed in January 2000 with little time for the new members to learn the choreography. When the "Say My Name" music video debuted on February 15, 2000, audiences were shocked[attribution needed] to see the absence of Luckett and Roberson, who had been replaced by Franklin and Williams. The video featured Franklin and Williams alongside Knowles and Rowland, and debuted on MTV and BET at the same time a press release announcing the lineup change was released.

The video featured the veterans and the rookie members along with two female dancers and one male dancer each in different colored rooms that were designed to look like living rooms in an apartment. Beyoncé was featured in orange clothes to match her equally orange room. Kelly was in a blue room, newcomer Farrah was featured in a red room and Michelle was in a white room. The original video idea had more choreography in it but due to the abrupt group change the new girls were unable to dance in stiletto heels like their veteran counterparts. Instead the directors had the girls sit and stand in various positions around their rooms and pose with the beat of the song. After the first verse and the chorus the girls switched rooms but kept their respective color couches and clothes. Soon after the second verse during the "break down", Beyonce, Kelly, Michelle and Farrah all gathered in a garage-like room that was complete with cars and Destiny's Child in black leather pants and orange tops and all of the dancers, dressed in black, from the video. The dancers did a rotating dance which later became part of the live routine until their comeback in 2005. After this scene it was back to the colorful rooms in which the girls had now switched couches and continued the song until the end of the video where the final pose was back in the garage.

The music video is featured on the video compilation The Platinum's on the Wall and the DualDisc edition of the album #1's.

Lawsuit

Luckett and Roberson stated they did not know they were out of the group until seeing the "Say My Name" video, and filed suit against Knowles, Rowland, and Destiny's Child manager Mathew Knowles for what they saw as a plot to ruin Luckett and Roberson's careers. By the end of the year, Luckett and Roberson decided to drop their former bandmates as co-defendants, but continued to pursue action against Mathew Knowles.

A year later, after several months of media speculation, it was announced via the MTV News website that Luckett and Roberson had created a new group called Anjel. After several auditions, Naty Quinones and Tiffany Beaudoin were selected as members. The group recorded a twenty-two-song demo in Atlanta, Georgia, with the help of R&B group Jagged Edge. Their production company (581 Entertainment) which handled the group fell through, and all the members of Anjel went on to pursue solo projects. However, the recorded tracks were leaked onto the Internet.

Track lisitings

US Promo CD Single
"Say My Name" (Album Version) - 4:28
"Say My Name" (Timbaland Remix) - 5:02

US Maxi CD Single
"Say My Name" (Album Version) - 4:28
"Say My Name" (Timbaland Remix) - 5:02
"Say My Name" (Maurice's Last Days Of Disco Millennium Mix) - 7:35
"Say My Name" (Daddy D Remix w/ Rap) - 4:48
"Say My Name" (Album Version) (featuring Kobe Bryant) - 4:27

UK CD Single Part 1
"Say My Name" (Single Mix)
"Say My Name" (Storm Mix by Tariq)
"Say My Name" (Timbaland Remix) - 5:02

European CD Single Part 1 COL 668851 5[3]
"Say My Name" (Radio Edit) - 3:46
"Say My Name" (Album Version) - 4:28
"Say My Name" (Timbaland Remix) - 5:02
"Say My Name" (Album Version) (featuring Kobe Bryant) - 4:27
"Say My Name" (Daddy D Remix w/o Rap) - 4:48

European CD Single Part 2 COL 668851 2[4]
"Say My Name" (Album Version) - 4:28
"Say My Name" (Timbaland Remix) - 5:01
"Say My Name" (Album Version) (featuring Kobe Bryant) - 4:27
"Say My Name" (Daddy D Remix w/o Rap) - 4:48

Australian Enhanced CD Single[5]
"Say My Name" (Album Version) - 4:28
"Say My Name" (A Capella) - 4:00
"Say My Name" (Instrumental) - 4:27
"Bills Bills Bills" (Album Version) - 4:14

Remixes

Several remixes of "Say My Name" were issued alongside the original version. The two most notable alternate versions are a remix by Timbaland, which features different vocals (Kelly on first verse and lead vocals on chorus), lyrics and a guest appearance from Static Major; and the "Nitro Remix" (featuring Nitro and Chief, with production by Mista Maze), which uses the original vocals over a bass music-styled backing track. There is another remix featuring Los Angeles Lakers player-rapper Kobe Bryant. The "Maurice" Remixes contain additional re-recorded vocals by Beyoncé (on verses, ad-libs) and by Kelly, LeToya and Latavia (bridge), arranged by Maurice Joshua.

Cover versions

In 2002, Australian nu metal band Sick Puppies made a cover version of "Say My Name". Characterized by turntable samples and heavy Flea-esque bass lines, this song was planned to be featured on their 2001 debut album Welcome to the Real World. The band uses the song "Brain Stew" by Green Day as the background music. However, due to a lawsuit threat from Destiny's Child's label, this song was excluded from the album.

The melody of the song was changed to the minor version of the original, which only has several repetitions of the chorus. This version contains additional lyrics with coarse language; for example, the chorus invariably ends with "You're acting kinda shady, ain't callin' me baby/So what the fuck?"

The band performed the song live on their 2009-2010 tour.

In 2007, the Chapel Hill indie rock band, Superchunk, released a cover of "Say My Name" on the album Guilt By Association. The album is a compilation of many artists playing covers of their favorite guilty pleasure songs.

Awards

"Say My Name" won two Grammy Awards in 2001: "Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals" and "Best R&B Song". The song's music video won the 2000 MTV Video Music Award for Best R&B Video. It also captured a Soul Train Lady of Soul Award for "Best R&B/Soul Single, Group, Band or Duo" ("Say My Name") along with a BMI Pop Award for "Most Played Song".

Chart performance

"Say My Name" debuted at #83 on the Hot 100 on December 25, 1999, and reached its peak position twelve weeks later after scanning 134,000 physical singles during its first week at retail, taking longer than any other Destiny's Child number one single to reach the summit. It went onto become the group's international breakthrough hit far exceeding the popularity of "No, No, No" which prior to this release was their only true international hit.

Produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins and written by Jerkins, his brother Fred, LaShawn Daniels, and the members of Destiny's Child, "Say My Name" peaked at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100, Hot 100 Airplay chart and the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks in the United States for three weeks in 2000, from March 11, 2000 to April 1. The song was also a number-one hit in Australia. In the United Kingdom it was at that point the group's biggest hit to date peaking at #3 and sold over 190,000 copies. "Say My Name" was the second Destiny's Child single to become a number-one hit in the United States, following the previous year's "Bills, Bills, Bills".