THE UNTOLD STORY OF HOW Tina & Mathew Knowles Created The Destiny's Child Gold Mine - Interview

Ebony, Sept, 2001 by Lynn Norment

Mathew, what is your management style? You have a reputation for being a tough taskmaster.

"I believe in setting goals and getting the job done, and having everybody understand that this is where we've got to go. If there are some issues that need to be addressed, then I'll put them on the table. They always know where I'm coming from."

Mathew, it has been said that you are heavy-handed and that perhaps that is why the girls left.

"The way you manage a 10-year-old is different from the way you manage a 20-year-old. A 12-year-old kid is not going to tell me that she is going to do something that is detrimental and I just say `okay.' I remember when I had Columbia Records come in to see them audition when they were 12. The day before, I told the girls not to get in the swimming pool, that they would get congested. They didn't listen to me. In the middle of the audition, I stopped and told them: `This is exactly what I was talking about. You guys decided to go swimming, and now you are not sounding good.' That's one of the reasons the label signed them. They liked knowing that the girls had guidance."

It is also said that you work them too hard.

Mathew: "If your father is the No. 1 sales representative, and your mother owns a salon, who's going to be your role model? Where are you going to get your work ethic from? We are very focused. Any company or sports team or any individual who is successful will have the same kind of work ethic. We know what our goals are. We show up and we suit up, and we do whatever it takes to get the job done. We understand the word `practice,' because practice prepares you. I manage the No. 1 girl group in the world. Now, if they weren't successful, then maybe people could knock the fact that we work hard."

Tina: "I don't know what they mean by saying we work them too hard, like slaves, or whatever it is that people say. I don't understand that because anybody who is successful in this business works very hard ... Sometimes you have a performer with the attitude, `Well, I'm an artist, so I should enjoy the parties.' For some of the girls in the group in the past, that was important to them. The girls today are focused enough that they realize they can't stay at a party until 2 o'clock in the morning and then get up at 6 o'clock for a radio interview. Now that they are 19 and 20, we can't stop them from going to a party. They can go anywhere and do anything they want to. We can't `slave drive' them. So why are they working so hard? Because they understand what goes into being successful."

Is it true that you do not want the girls to date, and that you insist that Beyonce live with you?

"What mother wouldn't want her daughter to have a boyfriend? I'm no different from any other mother," says Tina. "I want my kids to be happy, I don't want them to be lonely. And when I say `my kids,' I mean all three of them. I want them to have a life. I want them to be happy. If I were saying to them, `No, you don't need a boyfriend. You need to concentrate on your career,' how long do you think they would put up with that?