The Writing's on the Wall

''The Writing's on the Wall'' is the second studio album by American girl group Destiny's Child, released in Japan on July 14, 1999, and in the US on July 27, 1999, by Columbia Records. The album was produced by Missy Elliott, Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs, Rodney Jerkins, and Beyoncé Knowles among others and included guest appearances from Missy Elliott and R&B trio Next. ''The Writing's on The Wall'' spawned four singles, including the US number one-hits " Bills, Bills, Bills" and " Say My Name" as well as "Bug a Boo" and "Jumpin', Jumpin'". This is the last album with the group's original line-up. The album saw the group taking creative control from writing and producing their own tracks working closely with producer and singer-songwriter Xscape member Kandi Burruss. "Bills, Bills, Bills" and "Bug a Boo" were among the first songs written and produced by the group.

The album debuted at number six on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart on August 14, 1999, with first-week sales of 132,000 units, and later peaked at number five on May 6, 2000. It earned Destiny's Child six Grammy nominations for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals (twice), Best R&B Song (twice), Record of the Year, and Song of the Year. ''The Writing's on the Wall'' was certified 8× Platinum by the RIAA on November 6, 2001, and has sold over 6.4 million copies in the United States alone. ''Billboard'' magazine ranked ''The Writing's on the Wall'' at number 39 on the magazine's Top 200 Albums of the Decade.
''The Writing's on the Wall'' has sold 13 million copies worldwide.

Critical reception

''The Writing's on the Wall'' received generally favorable reviews from music critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic gave the album four out of five stars. Rob Brunner from ''Entertainment Weekly'' gave the album the grade of B. Robert Christgau gave the album the grade of B+. Rob Sheffield from ''Rolling Stone'', however, gave the album negative review, giving it the grade of two out of five stars. However, Nathan Brackett and Christian David Hoard from ''The New Rolling Stone Album Guide'' gave a more positive review and the grade of four out of five stars in 2004, five years after ''The Writing's on the Wall'' was released.

Commercial performance

In the United States, the album debuted at number six on the US ''Billboard'' 200 on August 14, 1999, selling over 132,000 copies in its first week and slipped to number ten the following week with 100,000 copies. It remained in the top forty for most of 1999 and had sold over 1.6 million copies by the end of the year according to Nielsen SoundScan and was certified 2× platinum in January 2000. Nine months after its release, ''The Writing's on the Wall'', following the huge success of third single "Say My Name", returned to the top ten, peaking at number five on May 6, 2000. During its first year on the chart, it spent forty-seven out of fifty-two weeks in the top forty (including eleven weeks in the top ten) or better and was the tenth best-selling album of 2000, selling 3.8 million copies during the year. ''The Writing's on the Wall'' enjoyed its best week of sales more than one year after its release, when it sold over 163,000 units during the Christmas week of 2000, and by the release of the group's third album ''Survivor'', it had scanned 5.8 million in the United States and shipped over seven million copies. ''The Writing's on the Wall'' spent ninety-nine consecutive weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200 (from the summer of 1999 until the spring of 2001) and was certified 8× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on November 8, 2001. To date the album has sold 6,400,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. In 2003 it sold an additional 700,000 through BMG Music Club.

Worldwide ''The Writing's on the Wall'' was a similarly huge hit and became one of the best-selling R&B albums of all-time. It achieved gold, platinum and multi-platinum status across Europe and was certified 2× platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) in early 2001, in recognition of two million albums sold in Europe. In Canada, the album peaked within the top on Canadian Albums Chart and was certified 5× platinum by Music Canada for selling over 500,000 copies. It was certified 3× platinum in the United Kingdom by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), in New Zealand by the Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ) and in Australia by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).

Controversy

In December 1999, Luckett and Roberson attempted to split with their manager, claiming that he kept a disproportionate share of the group's profits and unfairly favored Knowles and Rowland. While they never intended to leave the group, when the video for " Say My Name" surfaced in February 2000, Roberson and Luckett found out that two new members were joining Knowles and Rowland. Prior to the video premiere, Knowles announced on '' TRL'' that original members Luckett and Roberson had left the group. They were replaced by Michelle Williams, a former backup singer to Monica, and Farrah Franklin, an aspiring singer-actress. Shortly after her stint with Monica, Williams was introduced to Destiny's Child by choreographer Braden Larson aka "Peanut Orlando", and was flown to Houston where she stayed with the Knowles family.

In March 2000, Roberson and Luckett filed a lawsuit against Mathew Knowles and their former bandmates for breach of partnership and fiduciary duties. Following the suit, both sides were disparaging towards each other in the media. Five months after joining, Franklin left the group. The remaining members claimed that this was due to missed promotional appearances and concerts. According to Williams, Franklin could not handle stress. Franklin, however, disclosed that she left because of the negativity surrounding the strife and her inability to assert any control in the decision making. Her departure was seen as less controversial. Williams, on the other hand, disclosed that her inclusion in the group resulted in her "battling insecurity": "I was comparing myself to the other members, and the pressure was on me."

Towards the end of 2000, Roberson and Luckett dropped the portion of their lawsuit aimed at Rowland and Knowles in exchange for a settlement, though they continued the action against their manager. As part of the agreement, both sides were prohibited from speaking about each other publicly. Roberson and Luckett formed another girl group named Anjel but also left it due to issues with the record company. Although band members were affected by the turmoil, Destiny's Child's success continued. The following years of their career were seen as the group's most successful stretch, becoming a pop culture phenomenon.

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes

Notes
* signifies a producer and vocal producer
* signifies a vocal producer
* signifies a co-producer
* signifies an additional vocal producer
* signifies the song's lyrics being credited to "public domain"
*Tracks 1–15 end with a short spoken interlude which relates to the following song, spoken by the band members. Each interlude is in the style of the Ten Commandments and are listed on the front of the disc.

Sample Credits
* "Temptation" contains resung elements from:
** " Whatever You Want", performed by Tony! Toni! Toné!, written by Dwayne Wiggins and Carl Wheeler.
** "Posse on Broadway", performed and written by Sir Mix-a-Lot.
* "Sweet Sixteen" contains an uncredited sample from " Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)" by Diana Ross.

Personnel

*Bill Ortiz – trumpet
*Daryl Simmons – drum programming, keyboard programming
*D'Wayne Wiggins – guitar, producer
*Rodney Jerkins – producer
*Claudine Pontier – assistant engineer
*James Hoover – engineer
*Steve Baughman – mixing assistant
*Missy Elliott – performer
* Jimmy Douglass – engineer
*Prince Charles Alexander – mixing
*Vince Lars – saxophone
*Albert Sanchez – photography
*Blake Eiseman – engineer
*Dexter Simmons – mixing
*Brian Springer – engineer
*Joey Swails – engineer
*Destiny's Child – main performer
*Dan Workman – engineer
*LaShawn Daniels – vocal producer
*Anthony Hardy – producer
*Beyoncé Knowles – lead vocals, background vocals
*LeToya Luckett – background vocals, lead vocals
*LaTavia Roberson – background vocals, lead vocals
*Mathew Knowles – executive producer, mixing
*Kelly Rowland – lead vocals, background vocals
*Michelle Williams – background vocals (re-issued version only on UK Limited Edition Bonus CD "Independent Women Part I & II")
*Farrah Franklin – background vocals (re-issued version only on UK Limited Edition Bonus CD "Independent Women Part I & II")
*Kenny Stallworth – assistant engineer
*Donald "Lenny" Holmes – producer
*Nealante – producer
*K-Fam – producer
*Gerard Thomas – producer
*Chris Bell – engineer
*Brad Gildem – engineer
*Jean Marie Horvat – engineer, mixing
*Kevin "Shekspere" Briggs – producer
*Kevin "KD" Davis – mixing
*Tara Geter Tillman – background vocals
*Mike Calderon – engineer
*Jon Gass – engineer
*Thom "TK" Kidd – engineer
*Tony Williams – drum programming
*Vernon J. Mungo – engineer
* Kandi Burruss – producer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Writings On The Wall, The
1999 albums
Albums produced by Rodney Jerkins
Albums produced by Missy Elliott
Columbia Records albums
Destiny's Child albums
Destiny's Child video albums
Albums produced by Beyoncé