No, No, No (Destiny's Child song)

"No, No, No" was written by Calvin Gaines, former Abstrac member Mary Brown, Rob Fusari and Vincent Herbert.[1] On Part 2, Barry White is also credited as songwriter due to the inclusion of a sample from "Strange Games & Things" by The Love Unlimited Orchestra.[1] The original track was based on an idea from and produced by Fusari.[2] Heavily influenced by R&B, he was inspired to start writing "No, No, No" on one of his synthesizers after listening to "Stroke You Up" (1994), written by singer R. Kelly for R&B duo Changing Faces.[3] A few weeks later, Gaines, a songwriter and friend of Fusari's, brought producer and entrepreneur Herbert to Fusari's studio in his mother's basement in Livingston, New Jersey.[4]

Upon listening to several demos, Herbert liked the track and asked for a cassette copy, taking it to Columbia A&R executive Teresa LaBarbera-Whites.[5] The same night, Herbert called Fusari to tell him that LaBarbera-Whites wanted them to record the song with Columbia's then-new signees, Destiny's Child, after Herbert had told her that he would be giving the song to singer Brandy, one of his artists, had she not let Destiny's Child record "No, No, No" for their debut album.[3] The next day, Fusari was called into their studio to arrange a production deal.[5] After finishing writing the song with Gaines and Brown, Fusari and Herbert met with the group at the Chung King Studios in Manhattan, New York City to record "No, No, No".[2]

As with the single, two videos were made to promote both versions of the song, directed by Darren Grant and shot in November 1997.

In the video for "Part 1", the group performs a choreographed dance at a nightclub. Marques Houston, along with his Immature bandmates Romeo and LDB, make cameo appearances in the video.

In the video for "Part 2", Wyclef Jean plays his guitar as Destiny's Child sings the chorus. Beyoncé stops Wyclef, saying, "That ain't right." Wyclef says to the group, "Nah, nah, it's phat; all we need to do is drop a phat beat for the clubs. I'm tellin' you, they gon' lose their minds; I can see it right now." The group begins a choreographed dance with black outfits in a large gold room alongside four male background dancers. Wyclef Jean also makes an appearance in a blue room next to the room where the group is. Later, the house where the group and Wyclef are singing in front of opens its door to a meadow with the girls, with long hair, swinging on two long swing sets and Wyclef playing his guitar on a rock in front of them as feathers are falling in the background.

Both versions are included in the video compilation The Platinum's on the Wall. Part 2 is in the DualDisc edition of the album #1's, Part 1 as an enhanced video is in the Australian edition of The Writing's on the Wall.

In the United States, "No, No, No" was a commercial success. The song was officially sent to urban contemporary radio on October 27, 1997. On November 29, 1997, "No, No, No" debuted at number 69 on the Billboard Hot 100.[6] After the song's contemporary hit radio debut in January 1998, eventual heavy airplay and high sales propelled the song into the top ten of the US Billboard Hot 100. Eventually, it peaked at number three on the chart, becoming their first single to do so.[7] The single is the group's longest charting Hot 100 hit, spending 35 weeks on the chart. A year following its release, the single had sold over 1,300,000 copies in the US, being the ninth best-selling single of the year, and had been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[8]

"No, No, No" entered the UK Singles Chart at number five, and spent eight weeks within the top 75.[9] In Europe, the single experienced modest success, entering the top 40 in several countries; it did, however, reach the top ten in Norway and the Netherlands.[10]