"Say My Name" is a song by American group

Destiny's Child Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final lineup comprised Beyoncé, Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams (singer), Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Hou ...

from their second studio album, '' The Writing's on the Wall'' (1999). It was written by

Beyoncé Knowles Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most culturally significant figu ...

, LeToya Luckett, LaTavia Roberson,

Kelly Rowland Kelendria Trene Rowland (born February 11, 1981) is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's List of best-selling girl groups, best-selling gir ...

, LaShawn Daniels, Fred Jerkins III, and Rodney Jerkins, featuring production by the latter. "Say My Name" was released as the third single from ''The Writing's on the Wall'' on October 14, 1999, by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. While the song features the group's original line-up consisting of Luckett and Roberson, the music video for the single marked the introduction of the group's second line-up with replacement members

Michelle Williams Michelle Williams or Michele Williams may refer to: * Michelle Ann Williams (born circa 1965), American public health scholar * Michelle Williams (singer) (born 1979), American singer, previously a member of Destiny's Child * Michelle Williams (actr ...

and

Farrah Franklin Farrah Laron Franklin (born May 3, 1981) is an American R&B singer and actress. She is also a former member of the girl group Destiny's Child. Along with Michelle Williams, she replaced the group's original members LaTavia Roberson and LeToya ...

. In some territories, including the United States, single artwork for the song features the previous lineup, while releases in other territories such as the United Kingdom and France feature newer images of the second lineup. "Say My Name" was the most successful of the four singles from ''The Writing's on the Wall'', becoming Destiny's Child's second number-one single on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and first in Australia. It also reached the top ten in Belgium, Canada, France, Iceland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, and the United Kingdom. Critically acclaimed, the song won two

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

at the 2001 ceremony for

Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as th ...

and Best R&B Song, while also being nominated for

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without re ...

and Song of the Year. The accompanying

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for "Say My Name" won the 2000 MTV Video Music Award for Best R&B Video. The song also won a Soul Train Lady of Soul Award for Best R&B/Soul Single, Group, Band or Duo and a BMI Pop Award for Most Played Song. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' ranked the song at number seven on their list of the "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time" and named it the best song of 2000. In 2021, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' placed the song at number 285 on its list of the

500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring song ranking compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2 ...

while ''

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'' ranked it at number eight on their 2022 list of "The 250 Best Songs of the 1990s".

Writing and production

"Say My Name" was the group's first collaboration with producer-songwriter Rodney Jerkins, who was one out of several people hired to work with Destiny's Child on their second album. The demo for the track had a different approach and Jerkins said that it was inspired by

2-step garage 2-step garage, or simply 2-step, is a genre of electronic music and a subgenre of UK garage.''A transcription of this article is availablhere as a PDF file.'' One of the primary characteristics of the 2-step sound – the term being coined to de ...

music he heard while in a club in London. When they wrote the song, however, the lead singer

was initially displeased with the track they were working on. She commented that there was "too much stuff" on the track and it sounded like a "jungle". During the photo shoot for the album, Beyoncé's father-manager

Mathew Knowles Mathew Knowles (born January 9, 1952)Knowles in is an American record executive, businessman and university lecturer. He is best known for being the manager of Destiny's Child. He also once managed the solo careers of his daughters Beyoncé a ...

went to the studio informing her that Jerkins reworked on the track she "hated". He told her to "just have to take a listen to it". When the new mix was played to the group, they liked it.

Music and lyrics

Lyrically, "Say My Name" has a female protagonist telephoning her lover and suspecting him of cheating. She asks him to "say her name". The young man hesitates, and the narrator believes it is because he does not want the girl he is cheating with to know who she is. Jerkins supported the song's lyrics with a backing track that shifts back and forth in dynamics, steadily bringing different elements, including

syncopated In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat (music), off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of ...

, 808 drum programming, synthesized strings and 1970s-style wah-wah

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

licks, in and out of the mix. Knowles sings lead on the verses and bridge and leads the melody of the chorus with

adding the second part harmony. LeToya Luckett sings the high harmony on the pre-chorus and second chorus. LaTavia Roberson sings second part harmony with LeToya on the pre-chorus and sings the bottom harmony late in the second chorus.

Release

"Say My Name" was first released in Japan as a maxi-CD on October 14, 1999, containing various mixes of " Bug a Boo" as

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

s. The single was then released in Australia on January 31, 2000, via the same format but with a different track listing that includes the album version of " Bills, Bills, Bills". In the United States, the song began getting radio airplay by select broadcast stations in November 1999. It was later officially sent to urban contemporary radio on January 10, 2000, and was issued physically on February 29, 2000, across four formats: CD, maxi-CD, 12-inch vinyl, and cassette. These "Say My Name" singles have several

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

es that were included alongside the original version, including remixes by

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer and rapper. Born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, he is widely acclaimed for his distinctive production work and "stuttering" rhythm ...

, Maurice Joshua, and Dreem Teem. The Timbaland remix features guest appearances from

Static Major Stephen Ellis Garrett Jr. (November 11, 1974 – February 25, 2008), known professionally as Static Major (and previously as Static), was an American R&B and hip hop producer, singer, rapper, and songwriter from Louisville, Kentucky. He is be ...

and Timbaland himself. Elsewhere, various versions of the single were released in France in March and April 2000, in the United Kingdom on March 27, and in Germany on April 10.

Commercial performance

"Say My Name" debuted at number 83 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. After being released on physical formats, it reached the top of the chart in its 13th week, selling 134,000 copies during its first week of commercial availability. It took longer than any other of Destiny's Child's number-one singles to reach the top. The song spent a total of 32 weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and was one of the top ten best-selling CD singles of 2000 in the United States. It also reached the top of both the Radio Songs and the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

charts for three weeks in 2000. "Say My Name" is the group's third best-selling single in the US after " No, No, No" and "Bills, Bills, Bills", and was also their third single to be certified

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

by the

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(RIAA). In the United Kingdom, it was the group's biggest hit up to that point, peaking at number three on the UK Singles Chart and selling over 190,000 copies. The single enabled the group to break into the Asian market, when R&B music was just beginning to receive strong airplay. In the Philippines, it became the longest number-one single by an R&B girl group, topping the charts for seven weeks. In Australia, it was the second single ever by an R&B girl group to reach number one on the ARIA Singles Chart, after TLC's " No Scrubs", and helped propel ''The Writing's on the Wall'' to multi-platinum status.

Music video

Conflict among members of the group arose in December 1999, following allegations that the group's manager and Knowles' father,

, was withholding group profits from Luckett and Roberson. They then allegedly asked Knowles for more money; they were dismissed from the group in January 2000. That same month, Mathew Knowles recruited Franklin and Williams to replace both without the signed members' consent or knowledge. The video for "Say My Name" was then filmed with little time for the new members to learn the choreography. The video premiered on February 15, 2000, with Franklin and Williams alongside Knowles and Rowland, on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

and BET simultaneously with the publication of a press release announcing the line-up change. Luckett and Roberson's vocals still appear on the song, despite their absence from the video. Franklin and Williams's vocals are not included on the track. The video, directed by Joseph Kahn, shows the four members along with two females and one male dancer singing and dancing in color-coded sets resembling apartment living rooms. Rowland is in blue clothes to match her equally blue room. Knowles is in an orange room, while Franklin is in a red room and Williams in a white room. After the first verse and the chorus, the girls, along with furniture from their respective color-coded sets, switch rapidly between the other members' sets. Soon after the second verse, all girls gather in a garage-like room complete with cars and Destiny's Child in black PVC-pants and orange tops and all of the dancers, dressed in black, from the video.

Legacy

In October 2011, ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' placed it at number 58 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years" and

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

placed it at number 131 on its "The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s". On

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

's list of the 100 best songs of the 1990s, "Say My Name" was ranked at number 17. In 2021, ''Rolling Stone'' placed the song at number 285 on its list of the

, while

, at number 8 on their 2022 list of "The 250 Best Songs of the 1990s".

Jody Rosen Jody Rosen (born June 21, 1969 in New York City) is an American journalist and author. He is a contributing writer for ''The New York Times Magazine''. Career Journalism Rosen served as critic-at-large for '' T: The New York Times Style Magaz ...

from ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' credited Beyoncé's slippery rap-style syncopations in the song with creating a new sound that did not exist in the world before her. He further wrote, "If they sound 'normal' now, it's because Beyoncé, and her many followers, have retrained our ears."

Track listings

US CD and cassette single # "Say My Name" (album version) – 4:28 # "Say My Name" (Timbaland remix) – 5:01 US maxi-CD single # "Say My Name" (album version) – 4:28 # "Say My Name" (Timbaland remix) – 5:01 # "Say My Name" (Maurice's Last Days of Disco Millennium mix) – 7:35 # "Say My Name" (Daddy D Remix with rap) – 4:48 # "Say My Name" (album version featuring

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, spent his entire 20-year career with t ...

) – 4:27 US 12-inch single :A1. "Say My Name" (album version featuring Kobe Bryant) – 4:27 :A2. "Say My Name" (Daddy D Remix with rap) – 4:48 :A3. "Say My Name" (Maurice's Last Days of Disco Millennium mix) – 7:35 :B1. "Say My Name" (album instrumental) – 4:31 :B2. "Say My Name" (Daddy D Remix instrumental) – 4:48 :B3. "Say My Name" (Maurice's Old Skool dub mix) – 7:35 UK CD1 # "Say My Name" – 4:28 # "Say My Name" (Storm Mix by Tariq) – 4:35 # "Say My Name" (Timbaland remix) – 5:01 UK CD2 # "Say My Name" ( Dreem Teem club mix) – 5:45 # "Say My Name" (Noodles mix) – 5:17 # "Say My Name" (Maurice's Bass 2000 mix) – 4:20 European CD1 # "Say My Name" (radio edit) – 3:46 # "Say My Name" (Timbaland remix) – 5:02 European CD2 # "Say My Name" (album version) – 4:28 # "Say My Name" (Timbaland remix) – 5:01 # "Say My Name" (album version featuring Kobe Bryant) – 4:27 # "Say My Name" (Daddy D remix without rap) – 4:48 Australian and New Zealand CD single # "Say My Name" (album version) – 4:31 # "Say My Name" (a cappella) – 4:31 # "Say My Name" (instrumental) – 4:31 # "Bills, Bills, Bills" (album version) – 4:00 # Multimedia Japanese CD single # "Say My Name" (album version) – 4:31 # "Bug a Boo" (Refugee Camp remix featuring

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean ( ; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, singer, and record producer. Born in Haiti, Jean emigrated to the Northeastern United States, United States as a child. He gained fame as a founding member of the Fugees, a Ne ...

) # "Bug a Boo" (Maurice's Xclusive Bug a Boo club mix) # "Bug a Boo" (Maurice's Bug a Dub mix)

Credits and personnel

Credits are taken from '' The Writing's on the Wall'' album booklet. Studio * Recorded and mixed at Pacifique Studio (

North Hollywood North Hollywood is a neighborhood and district in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, El Portal Theater, several art galleries, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Th ...

, California) Personnel * Rodney Jerkins – writing, all music, production * Fred Jerkins III – writing * LaShawn Daniels – writing, vocal production, recording * Beyoncé Knowles – writing * LeToya Luckett – writing * Kelly Rowland – writing * LaTavia Roberson – writing * Brad Gildem – recording * Jean-Marie Horvat – mixing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Cover versions

In 2021, English rapper ArrDee released his third solo single, "Flowers". The song heavily samples the track of the same name by Sweet Female Attitude and interpolates "Say My Name". It peaked at number 5 on the UK's Official Singles Chart Top 100, spending thirteen weeks in the Top 40, seventeen weeks in the Top 100, with seven of those weeks being in the chart's Top 10.

In popular culture

In February 2020, the first trailer for the horror film '' Candyman'' (2021) was released with a slowed-down version of the song.