Since the news of MTV downsizing its music channels and basically phasing out the foundation on which it was based, I’ve been thinking about all of us who were raised on the cable channel and the cultural impact it has had. From the moment MTV aired the music video “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles on August 1, 1981, the pop culture landscape was entering a new era — so much so that there was a whole group of kids that would become known as “The MTV Generation”.
MTV not only gave us history-making music videos, but it also gave us all forms of multimedia and off-center ideas presented in new, fresh, and provocative ways. From Remote Control to Headbanger’s Ball to Yo! MTV Raps to House of Style to The Real World to Club MTV to Total Request Live, MTV was an epicenter of pop culture for Generation X and would later be inherited by millennials.
An iconic TV show that came from the channel was Making the Band, a show that combined a reality music competition with the on-camera drama of The Real World. After the first iteration of Making the Band on ABC, we were gifted the boy band O-Town and their “Liquid Dreams”.
Making the Band migrated to MTV and “he-who-shall-not-be-named” took ownership of the franchise with a new season that gave us Chopper, E. Ness, Babs, Sara, Freddy P, and, of course, Dylan Dilinjah — aka Da Band. As much as I would love to wax poetic about walking to Brooklyn to get cheesecake (I’ll save my discourse about Da Band for another post), I want to talk about the second season on MTV — the season that gave us Danity Kane.
It was 2006 (ish). I was a young, bright-eyed, and busy-tailed journalist working at the Oakland Tribune. It was an era when I was trying to find any and every way to immerse myself in the world of TV, film, and pop culture. Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, I wasn’t necessarily void of Hollywood-like opportunities but they didn’t as often as I would like. Because San Francisco was a major market, press tours and junkets came through more often than not, and I was afforded access to concert tours that came through town. One of those tours was Christina Aguilera’s “Back to Basics” tour. And guess who was their opening act?
Danity thee Kane.
The musical treasure that was introduced to us via Making the Band season 3 was coming to Oracle Arena in Oakland, so this was my moment. This was my opportunity to interview Aundrea, Aubrey, Dawn, Shannon Bex, and D. Woods. I was elated.
I made the proper arrangements to meet the group at Oracle Arena (which is now called Oakland Arena). The publicist asked if it would be OK if I interviewed them on the tour bus.
I immediately said “Yes!” like a thirsty-ass fanatic.
I was all ready to live out my Almost Famous fantasy with Danity Kane. I arrived at Oracle Arena at the designated time, and I waited. I waited. I waited… I waited an acceptable amount of time and then received a call saying that they were still on their tour bus on their way to Oakland and that the interview wasn’t going to happen.
<cue collective “AWWWWWWW”>
I was a baby journo and I took it personally. I was devastated. My dreams came crashing down. I didn’t play my Danity Kane CD for a while after that.
My Danity Kane protest didn’t last long because I needed “Show Stopper” in my life.
If I could edit out you-know-who, I would. He is just so ew.
I know Danity Kane is often seen as a footnote in the annals of pop culture history. They are also often seen as the butt of the joke. Some “fans” love to be cute and have an ironic affection for the reality show girl group, while others are diehard fanatics. I am firmly planted at the intersection of all these Danity Kane opinions. I see their musical worth, but I also understand that their reality show presence automatically made them something other than musicians. They became tropey TV show characters rather than an almighty all-female group. Therefore, the elements of reality show craziness and behind-the-scenes drama make them an easy target for ridicule.
Despite all this and the baby oil Baron, I am here to say that I am a sincere fan of Danity Kane and that will never change. And when Danity Kane reached the heights of Insecure (specifically, season 1, episode 5) — that’s when you know Danity Kane has made a significant impact on pop culture than we thought.
Danity Kane hit the scene at a time when the girl group era of the late ‘90s and early 00’s was coming to a close. Groups like The Pussycat Dolls, Blaque, All Saints, 3LW, Nina Sky, Dream (who was also part of the Bad Boy family at the time), and the iconic Destiny’s Child were taking their final bows.
Beyoncé’s “Deja Vu” and Rihanna’s “SOS” were songs of the summer, while R&B and hip hop crossovers from names like Ne-Yo and Chris Brown were dominating pop music alongside them. T.I., Kanye West, and Lil Wayne were huge, and Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” was playing everywhere. All the while, Justin Timberlake was trying to bring SexyBack.
Danity Kane fit right into the moment, reviving the girl group era (a bit too soon, IMO. If it were five years later, I think Danity Kane would have slayed more) amidst reality show-hungry audiences. This gave them a built-in audience, and their self-titled album skyrocketed to number one on the Billboard 200 when it was released on August 22, 2006. Debuting at number one is a rare occurrence for a girl group — specifically one that comes from an MTV reality show. There hasn’t been an all-female group to accomplish this until 2022, when Blackpink released their sophomore album Born Pink.
In 2008, Danity Kane released their second album, Welcome to the Dollhouse, and it debuted at number one as well. Danity Kane made history as the first all-female group in Billboard history to have their first two albums debut at number one — and that landed them in the Guinness Book of World Records. This feat is definitely something Danity Kane does not get enough credit for.
“Bad Girl” is the second single from Welcome to the Dollhouse after the unforgettable bop “Damaged”. It is a personal fave of mine that doesn’t get enough love.
And I just waned to include this song because it is a mid-tempo bop and the music video has that brand of pop culture corny that we saw on TRL on the daily:
The ladies of Danity Kane are actually talented. They can sing and perform better than some of the acts we’re seeing today. All thanks to the artist development we saw right before our eyes on Making the Band. It really feels like artist development no longer exists, and musical artists just jump from TikTok to iTunes to Coachella with no moment to let the talent breathe.
One of the most memorable moments in Danity Kane’s season of Making the Band was before the final members were announced. The remaining ladies in the running for the yet-to-be-named girl group were split up into two groups.
The first group clad in booty shorts and gold called themselves S.H.E. (She Has Everything) while the second group, Chain 6, dressed very of the time, meaning, it was the era when people just wore a necktie with a tank top and a paperboy cap. It was very obvious which group won.
I hope you are singing “Touching My Body” for the rest of the day.
Dominique Young was a member of the group Chain 6, and I just happened to stumble upon a video series she did about her time on Making the Band. She was one of my personal faves on the show, and I thought she was a shoo-in to make the band, but she ended up getting cut.
Making the Band was the gift that kept on giving. Not only did it serve up some enjoyable pop music, but there were moments in each episode that will forever be tattooed on my soul. I can write a whole dissertation about how choreographer Laurieann “Boom Kack” Gibson is the best thing on the show.
And if you remember this “Too much neck!” moment Laurieann shared with Taquita (who didn’t make the band, unfortunately) before the big Chain 6 performance, then we will get along splendidly.
Lest we forget the vocals that Danity Kane gave us. They had that strong and poppy girl group sound that was candy for the ears. It’s a sound we don’t get anymore. In fact, we hardly get any all-female groups these days.
And I want to take a moment to give a shout-out to Danity Kane member Shannon Bex because she was not only on Making the Band, she was also on the short-lived reality competition show Fame. Like the movie and TV series it was named after and following the American Idol model, Fame was a search for the country’s best triple-threat performer. It was produced by Debbie Allen (who starred in the original TV series) and hosted by the one and only Joey Fatone of *NSYNC fame.
Shannon Bex appeared on the show before Making the Band and went pretty far in the competition. I specifically remember her and all that choreo in this “Hot Lunch” routine:
And would argue that of the ladies in Danity Kane, Shannon had the most musicality. Just soak in her vibes through this stripped-down version of “Damaged”.
Danity Kane slowly started to dismantle after Welcome to the Dollhouse. It became a game of musical chairs in the group as members started to quit or were fired by you-know-who. He ended up firing everyone except for Dawn on an episode of Making the Band, which, in retrospect, is a huge reflection on his character.
By 2009, Danity Kane was no more… but in 2013, they reunited! Well, all of them except Aundrea and D. Woods, who both went on to live their best lives.
Shannon, Dawn, and Aubrey recorded their third album, DK3, as a trio without him… but due to tensions between Aubrey and Dawn (apparently Dawn clocked Aubrey during an argument), they broke up again before the album was released.
I love mess, and this all echoes the glorious dysfunction we have seen in music groups from the past like Fleetwood Mac, The Fugees, and Guns N’ Roses. There’s an allure that surrounds music groups and their drama. It humanizes them. We hear that emotion in their music. Danity Kane isn’t exactly like the relationship turmoil we saw between Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. I mean, “Damaged” and “Silver Springs” aren’t exactly on the same level, but the Danity Kane’s sensationalized drama was a hit of dopamine as we watched their career unfold and unravel every week.
At the same time, Danity Kane delivered a brand of pop music that spoke to the time and culture. They tried to revive the girl group genre, but instead of giving us the next En Vogue, they gave us a wonderful musical version of Bad Girls Club.
Even so, I can’t help but wonder what Danity Kane’s journey would have been like if their trajectory wasn’t so hyper-documented. Would they have gone the way of Destiny’s Child, or were they destined to be a mess of a pop group?
Danity Kane is on tour again. The group announced “The Untold Chapter Tour” via their Instagram account, but with one caveat:
“Now, in a moment that no one saw coming, three voices from one of the most iconic girl groups of the 21st century are stepping back onto the stage together,” the post reads. “Which three? That’s the mystery. And it’s part of the fire that has fans and critics buzzing: who will it be, and what will they reveal?”
We don’t even know which Danity Kane members are going to be on this tour — and that is so cunt.
As commercially chaotic as they have been, Danity Kane is a significant part of pop culture history. They came up during a formative time of pop music when MySpace was the internet hot spot; streaming didn’t exist and iTunes downloads were booming, and tabloid culture was headlined by Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. Danity Kane is the perfect amalgamation of all of this — and I love them for that.
