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LaTavia Roberson was one of the quartet along with Kelly Rowland, LeToya Luckett and Beyonce Knowles, who formed Destiny’s Child until the group blew up due to problems with Knowles’s father and the group’s manager, Mathew.

While Beyonce’s destiny was to become a global superstar, the rest of the group struggled to maintain their relevancy. Roberson has perhaps been the one with the lowest post-Destiny profile until recently when she was featured on R&B Divas: Atlanta. She grew up in Houston and was an original member of Destiny’s Child.

“I met Beyonce on the first day of audition for Girl’s Tyme,” says Roberson. “I was 7 about to be 8 and I think Beyonce was 8,” Roberson says.

Roberson says growing up in Houston was wonderful. Miss Tina took the girls to AstroWorld, a popular amusement park for kids at the time. She says she learned to cook with her mother and grandmother and loved going to teen parties that existed back then.

While most people know the story of Destiny’s Child, they don’t know if from Roberson’s perspective. As the story goes, she and Luckett were replaced in 1999, something they learned about from seeing the two new members in the “Say My Name” video when it premiered on TV.

“We were aware that the video had been done,” says Roberson. “We immediately knew when we saw Farrah and Michelle that we were replaced. We were expecting a phone call to sit down and talk about what happened but it didn’t go that way.”

Roberson says she performed on both Destiny’s Child albums and co-wrote six songs, including the massive hit “Say My Name.” Now, Roberson is working on a web series called The Real LaTavia which she says will help people get to know her better. But on the R&B Divas show, she once said she wouldn’t sing on the show.

“It wasn’t that at all. I’ve been trying to figure out whether or not I even want to be in the music industry. The music industry has changed a lot since I been in it. It’s totally different. I haven’t been on a stage in 12 years so I didn’t feel it was appropriate for me to jump up on a stage within two weeks and do a performance. I hadn’t been in a studio, I had no material, it was just not the right time.”

Roberson, the mother of an 18-month-old daughter, says that she will support her daughter in anything that she wants to do, including becoming a singer if that’s where her interest lies. As for her own experiences in the industry, Roberson says that she’s working on a book, but that she’s fine with the way things worked out.

“Even with all the adversity I wouldn’t change anything. But clearly God orders steps for everybody’s lives and I’ve tried to learn in my growing up that I can’t control everything. It’s hard of course, but I’m just trying to be faithful and I stick by my decisions. I own everything that I’ve been through.”

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LaTavia Roberson On Being Replaced In Destiny’s Child, Growing Up In Houston  was originally published on blackamericaweb.com