LaTavia Roberson

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LaTavia Roberson
LaTavia Roberson
LaTavia Roberson
Background information
Birth name LaTavia Marie Roberson
Born November 01, 1981 (age 25)
Origin Houston, Texas
Genre(s) R&B, Pop
Years active 1993—2003 (groups)
Label(s) Now Inactive
Associated
acts		 Destiny's Child, Anjel

LaTavia Marie Roberson (born November 1, 1981 in Houston, Texas) is a Grammy Award-winning American R&B singer and songwriter, as well as an original member of female group Destiny's Child. Since parting ways with the group, she has ventured into the realm of acting and is currently recording solo material for a possible solo career. She currently resides in Houston, Texas.

Contents

[edit] Destiny's Child

Main article: Destiny's Child

At the age of nine, LaTavia and former best friend Beyoncé Knowles formed a group with other local girls, which eventually became Destiny's Child. After singing at local events, they got their break when they entered Star Search. The group, then named "Girl's Tyme", were heartbroken after losing the competition. The group then developed in to a quartet, the members being Beyoncé Knowles, LeToya Luckett, Kelly Rowland, and LaTavia. They also underwent several name changes—Girl's Tyme, the Dolls, Something Fresh, and Cliché—before sticking with Destiny's Child (a phrase that appears in the Book of Isaiah in the Bible). Graduating from the Houston club scene, the group began opening for such acts as Dru Hill, SWV, and Immature. They were shortly signed to Elektra Records inwhich LaTavia and Beyoncé made a video for the song "One Time". They were later dropped but Columbia Records signed Destiny's Child again in 1997.

In 1998, Destiny's Child released their self-titled debut album Destiny's Child, which includes the singles "No, No, No" featuring Wyclef Jean and "With Me". They were also featured on the Why Do Fools Fall In Love soundtrack with the song "Get on the Bus" featuring Timbaland, which was released as a single in Europe. Destiny's Child toured as an opening act on TLC's Fanmail Tour and Christina Aguilera's debut tour.

In 1999, Destiny's Child released their sophomore album, The Writing's on the Wall. It became one of the biggest selling albums released by a female group and was certified eight-times platinum in the U.S. The album includes four hit singles, "Bills, Bills, Bills", "Bug a Boo", "Say My Name", and "Jumpin' Jumpin'".

During 2000, in the midst of the success of The Writing's on the Wall, Roberson and member LeToya Luckett tried to make a break with manager Mathew Knowles (Beyoncé Knowles' father) as they believed that he favored Knowles and was retaining too much of the group's profits. The pair said at the time they were only looking to secure outside management, but they soon found themselves on the outs with Knowles. [1] When the "Say My Name" video debuted in February 2000, they were shocked to find themselves replaced by two new members, Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin.

Roberson (top) on the cover of Destiny's Child's sophomore album The Writing's on the Wall
Enlarge
Roberson (top) on the cover of Destiny's Child's sophomore album The Writing's on the Wall

Roberson and Luckett filed a lawsuit in March 2000 against Mathew Knowles and the group. This began a media battle in which the two sides exchanged barbs in magazine and newspaper interviews. Near the end of 2000, they agreed to a settlement that required them to drop the part of their lawsuit that targeted their former group members (though they retained the suit against Mathew Knowles) and required both sides to stop disparaging each other in public.

When it seemed as if the drama had subsided, shortly following the release of Destiny's Child remix album This Is the Remix in March 2002, Roberson and Lucket filed another suit against Destiny's Child. They claimed that the first single, "Survivor", from Destiny's Child's 2001 album Survivor violated their previous settlement due to its lyrics which they believed to reference the ugly split. The song featured such lyrics as "Now that you out of my life, I'm so much better, You thought that I'd be weak without you, But I'm stronger, You thought that I'd be broke without you, But I'm richer, You thought I wouldn't grow without you, Now I'm wiser, Thought that I'd be helpless without you, But I'm smarter, You thought that I'd be stressed without you, But I'm chillin', You thought I wouldn't sell without you, Sold 9 million".

[edit] Anjel

Main article: Anjel

After several months of media speculation, LeToya and LaTavia began auditioning young women for a new female R&B quartet. Naty Quinones and Tiffany Beaudoin made the cut. The group, Anjel, recorded a 22 song demo in Atlanta with the help of Jagged Edge. Unfortunately the production company which handled the group fell through and all the girls from Anjel went their separate ways. However most of the recorded tracks leaked onto the Internet.

[edit] Solo Career

In July of 2006 it was confirmed by LaTavia herself said that she has been secretly recording her debut album on and off since March. So far she has collaborated with producers such as Scott Storch and hopes to work with Houston rappers Mike Jones and Slim Thug in the future, but was quick to point out this is in no way an attempt to recreate the success of former bandmate LeToya Luckett.

[edit] Voice

LaTavia is a spinto contralto vocalist, noted for her thick, husky lower register. Her voice has been compared to T-Boz of TLC. It has been said that she has a 4 octave range, but due to the unfortunate circumstances of Matthew Knowles placing only Beyoncé as lead, LaTavia never got to showcase her real voice. However she had sang verse 1 of the songs "Sweet Sixteen" and "Can't Help Myself," that appeared on the Houstonian Edition of The Writing's on the Wall. However, she did sing lead on a good number of Anjel songs, but singing only alto.

[edit] Trivia

  • LaTavia was also the spokesmodel for ProLine's Just For Me African American children relaxer line from 1989 to 1998.
  • She declined to replace Kandi Burruss and be the Lead singer in the group Xscape because she stated the time wasn't right because she was taking care of a ill family member.
  • While in Destiny's Child LaTavia was known as 'the sassy one'
  • While in Destiny's Child she was the youngest member.
  • She is the ex-girlfriend of Brandon Casey of Jagged Edge.
  • LaTavia aims to develop a shoe and accessory line and has goals of launching a lingerie line as well.
  • LaTavia is currenty writing a book, due out 2007.

[edit] Discography (With Destiny's Child)

[edit] Albums

Year Album Label US Chart Position UK Chart Position Certfication US Sales Worldwide Sales
1998 Destiny's Child Columbia
Sony		 #67 #45 Platinum 1,000,000 3,000,000
1999 The Writing's On The Wall Columbia
Sony		 #5 #10 8x Platinum 8,000,000
    		12,000,000
    2002 This Is the Remix Columbia
    Sony    		 #29 #25 Uncertified 250,000 500,000
    2003 Heavenly 581 Entertainment
    So So Def    		 Not Released N/A N/A N/A N/A
    2005 #1's Columbia
    SonyBMG    		 #1 #6 Platinum 1,000,000 3,000,000

    [edit] Solo Career

    2007 TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA

    [edit] Singles & Videos

    [edit] As Destiny's Child

    Year Single Album US Hot 100 UK Singles Video Director Source DVD
    1997 "No, No, No (Part II)"
    (featuring Wyclef Jean)    		 Destiny's Child #3 #5 Darren Grant The Platinum's On The Wall
    1997 "No, No, No (Part I)" Destiny's Child Airplay only Airplay only Darren Grant The Platinum's On The Wall
    1998 "With Me" Part 1
    (featuring Jermaine Dupri)    		 Destiny's Child Airplay only #19 Darren Grant N/A
    1998 "Get on the Bus"
    (featuring Timbaland)    		 Why Do Fools
    Fall In Love (OST)
    & The Writing's On The Wall (Intl' Edition)    		 Airplay only #15 Earle Sebastian N/A
    1999 "Bills Bills Bills" The Writing's On The Wall #1 #6 Darren Grant The Platinum's On The Wall
    1999 "Bug a Boo" The Writing's On The Wall #33 #9 Darren Grant The Platinum's On The Wall
    1999 "Bug A Boo (Refugee Camp Remix)"
    (featuring Wyclef Jean)    		 This Is The Remix Airplay only Airplay only Darren Grant
    2000 "Say My Name" The Writing's On The Wall #1 #3 N/A N/A
    2007 "TBA" TBR TBA TBA TBA

    [edit] Guest vocals

    [edit] Album Appearances

    Year Song Album Label
    1998 ”She’s Gone”¹ with Matthew Marsden N/A Sony Music
    1999 ”Woman In Me”¹ with Jessica Simpson ”Sweet Kisses” Sony Music
    2000 ”Good To Me”¹ with Mary Mary ”Thankful” Sony Music

    [edit] Soundtrack Appearances

    Year Song Album Label
    1997 ”Killing Time”¹ ”Men In Black” Soundtrack Sony Music
    1999 ”Get On The Bus”¹ ”Why Do Fools Fall In Love” Soundtrack Warner Music
    1999 ”No More Rainy Days”¹ “The PJ's” Soundtrack Hollywood Records
    2000 ”Perfect Man”¹ ”Romeo Must Die Soundtrack” Virgin Records

    [edit] DVD

    Year Artist Title Label
    2001 Destiny’s Child The Platinum's On The Wall Sony Music


    [edit] External links


    Destiny's Child
    Beyoncé Knowles • Kelly Rowland • Michelle Williams
    LeToya Luckett • LaTavia Roberson • Farrah Franklin
    Albums: Destiny's Child • The Writing's on the Wall • Survivor
    8 Days of Christmas • This Is the Remix • Destiny Fulfilled • #1's
    Discography • Awards and accolades
    Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../l/a/t/LaTavia_Roberson_5f40.html"
    In other languages