Destiny's Child Tackles Bee Gees, Booty, 'Nasty Girl'

March 15, 2001 -- "Bootylicious," a Bee Gees cover, and plenty of Beyoncé are what you can expect on Destiny's Child's third CD, Survivor, due out on May 1.

"Bootylicious," which the Grammy-winning trio is likely to be performing on its current Midwestern concert tour, is "rated G," says singer Michelle Williams on a break from a rehearsal for MTV's recent tribute to Janet Jackson. "It's a tasteful song — I know it's called 'Bootylicious'— that parents can let their children listen to. It's about having confidence and just knowing that you are beautiful."

"Survivor," the group's current single, is also part of the tour. Yes, it was inspired by the TV series of the same name, Williams says. It also came from a joke about the hitmaking Houston group's revolving door (three members left last year). "People say, 'Oh, Destiny's Child, let's see who's going to be the last one on the island,'" Williams says. "So Beyoncé turned that joke into something positive."

Beyoncé Knowles wrote all but four of the songs on the CD, according to Williams. Several producers worked on the project, including Dwayne Wiggins (formerly of Tony!Toni!Tone!), Rodney Jerkins, and newcomers Dent and Rod Sufari.

Williams says the album will show a growth in various aspects of the lives of the three members of Destiny's Child — spiritual, personal and romantic. "It's very conceptual, just like The Writing's on the Wall."

Vocally, the new album features all three singers — Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Williams — switching off on lead vocals on almost every selection. Previously, Beyoncé took most of the leads.

The new disc includes a version of the Bee Gees-penned "Emotion," which was a 1978 hit from Saturday Night Fever for Samantha Sang, and a love ballad, "Brown Eyes." The latter is about a guy's actions speaking louder than his words, Williams says. "When you look into his brown eyes, his eyes tell you that he loves you."

And there are a couple of songs on Survivor that could prove to be controversial — "Nasty Girl" and "Story of Beauty."

"Nasty Girl" is about "a not-so-classy girl," as Williams puts it. "She walks out of the house with hardly no clothes on. She has on these hot pants and her butt is all out, and cleavage is all the way down south." The song is about letting young women know that "there's nothing wrong with being sexy, but it should be done in a tasteful way.

"Some stuff shouldn't be let out of the house. We wear hot pants. As a matter of fact, we wore some on the Soul Train Awards, but they covered our behinds and they came down a little longer than normal hot pants. We love to wear shorts and skirts, but it's got to be tasteful. It shouldn't be to the point to where you don't even hardly bend over and somebody sees your business. The song is saying how a real man is not going to want you dressed like that."

"Story of Beauty" was inspired by a letter from fan who had been sexually abused, according to Williams. "The song is letting a woman know that you are beautiful no matter what has happened to you and that it's not your fault what has happened to you. It's an encouraging song to let young women know to go and get help. It's a very deep song, it's a touching song."

Williams says the rest of the songs are not as deep. But they are positive. She calls Survivor the kind of album you can put in your car stereo and "ride down the street with the top to your car down and just feel that you're free. With this album, we want to make people feel they are free and loose from the problems of the world."