Darkchild Talks Destiny's Child's Final AlbumDestiny Fulfilled20 Years After Release: 'Cracked the Code' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Destiny’s Child; Rodney ‘Darkchild’ Jerkins.Photo:FrankMicelotta/ImageDirect; Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty

FrankMicelotta/ImageDirect; Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty

For legendary producer Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins,Destiny’s Child’sDestiny Fulfilledalbum was “really important to me” due to its indelible impact on R&B music for the last two decades.

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

Destiny’s Child.SGranitz/WireImage

SGranitz/WireImage

Darkchild continues, “I literally had a CD on me, and on that CD had the track to ‘Cater 2 U’ on it. I gave her the CD, and then she went into the studio, and I went on my way. And then they called me later and said they wanted me to come back to the studio later on that night… They gave me another room downstairs at Sony, and that’s when I worked on ‘Lose My Breath.’ All that was done in just on the spur of the moment type thing."

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

Destiny Fulfilledwas an undeniable success, having sold over seven million copies worldwide. According to Darkchild, the girls figured out a formula for girl group success that hasn’t been done since.

“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 it since then?” Darkchild says, adding, “I don’t think so. Not on that level at least. There’s been groups, but not on the level of Destiny’s Child. So that lets you know how long it’s been for someone else to crack the code and figure it out.”

JAY-Z and Beyoncé performing at the BET Awards in Los Angeles in June 2006.Frazer Harrison/Getty

Frazer Harrison/Getty

“Destiny’s Child reunion – I would love for that to happen. I would pray that that happens and they would call me because we pick up right where we left off,” Darkchild says.

Michelle Williams, Beyonce Knowles and Kelly Rowland perform at Coachella in April 2018.Kevin Mazur/Getty

Kevin Mazur/Getty

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

“We love where it’s going and where it’s headed to be able to do faith-based music that’s uplifting, inspiring, clean, but still the quality is there, and the innovation is still there, and the elevation of the content that we’re putting out is still there,” Darkchild says of the label founded with his son and daughter.

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

source: people.com