Rodney ‘Darkchild’ Jerkins Breaks Down His Beyoncé Hits
Klaudia//June 24, 2025
Destiny’s Child, “Lose My Breath” (2005)
It was pretty special, presenting it to Beyoncé and her loving it. But then her saying, “I want to put Jay on this.” And then [Jay-Z] coming in the studio the next day, me and him just sitting down, going over it together and him adding his two cents [to the chorus] and then jumping in the booth was like, “Whoa.”
After working with Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston, you start to ask yourself, “Who else, who’s next?” And then Beyoncé starts to become the next face of R&B, pop. So now I’m working with her. And Jay-Z is the face of hip-hop. So, I’m like, “Man, I’m working with the best of the best, the greatest, the top one in that era of their jobs.”
Beyoncé, “Deja Vu” (2006)
When we had “Say My Name” and whatever else, she was of course in the group element. But when I got in the studio with her, it was a different Beyoncé. It was a more mature, it was an adult Beyoncé. A fully focused Beyonce who knew exactly who she was. She knew what she wanted to accomplish and what she wanted to say, the story she wanted to tell. The entertainment factor of it all, how the music needed to have a bigness to it for her to be able to perform in a way. So everything was led by Beyoncé.
Lady Gaga ft. Beyoncé, “Telephone” (2009)
Gaga called me. She was getting ready to master the song, and she called me and was like, “What if we got Beyoncé on this?” I think she said Beyoncé already told her she was willing to work with her or something. They had met or something. I called Beyoncé, and I said, “Hey, I’m finishing up a song with Gaga, and wanted to see if you could jump on it?”
So, I played it for Beyoncé. She was in Japan when I sent it to her, and we only had one day to get it done because we were getting ready to mix and master. At first listen, Beyoncé said, “I can’t do it because it’s not really my style. It’s like a techno-pop style and that’s not really what I’m on.” I said, “Well, give me 30 minutes and let me adjust it a little bit and send it back to you.” So I went back in the studio with our writers. Redid the track to give it a little bit of an R&B, hip-hop thing for the second verse, just changed it to half-time and little things like 808s. And then sent it back to her. Later that day, she recorded all the vocals and sent it back.
I’ve always believed in that song. There’s video footage of me creating that song with Lady Gaga out there. I’ve always believed in it from that creation. But then to have Beyoncé on it is just like … in my mind I start thinking like, “Man, here we go again with the two girls, like Brandy and Monica, now Beyoncé and Gaga,” I start thinking like that. This could be something really magical. I purposely used my harp sound in the beginning of that song. It’s the same harp sound I used on “The Boy is Mine.”
It was pretty special, presenting it to Beyoncé and her loving it. But then her saying, “I want to put Jay on this.” And then [Jay-Z] coming in the studio the next day, me and him just sitting down, going over it together and him adding his two cents [to the chorus] and then jumping in the booth was like, “Whoa.”
After working with Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston, you start to ask yourself, “Who else, who’s next?” And then Beyoncé starts to become the next face of R&B, pop. So now I’m working with her. And Jay-Z is the face of hip-hop. So, I’m like, “Man, I’m working with the best of the best, the greatest, the top one in that era of their jobs.”
Beyoncé, “Deja Vu” (2006)
When we had “Say My Name” and whatever else, she was of course in the group element. But when I got in the studio with her, it was a different Beyoncé. It was a more mature, it was an adult Beyoncé. A fully focused Beyonce who knew exactly who she was. She knew what she wanted to accomplish and what she wanted to say, the story she wanted to tell. The entertainment factor of it all, how the music needed to have a bigness to it for her to be able to perform in a way. So everything was led by Beyoncé.
Lady Gaga ft. Beyoncé, “Telephone” (2009)
Gaga called me. She was getting ready to master the song, and she called me and was like, “What if we got Beyoncé on this?” I think she said Beyoncé already told her she was willing to work with her or something. They had met or something. I called Beyoncé, and I said, “Hey, I’m finishing up a song with Gaga, and wanted to see if you could jump on it?”
So, I played it for Beyoncé. She was in Japan when I sent it to her, and we only had one day to get it done because we were getting ready to mix and master. At first listen, Beyoncé said, “I can’t do it because it’s not really my style. It’s like a techno-pop style and that’s not really what I’m on.” I said, “Well, give me 30 minutes and let me adjust it a little bit and send it back to you.” So I went back in the studio with our writers. Redid the track to give it a little bit of an R&B, hip-hop thing for the second verse, just changed it to half-time and little things like 808s. And then sent it back to her. Later that day, she recorded all the vocals and sent it back.
I’ve always believed in that song. There’s video footage of me creating that song with Lady Gaga out there. I’ve always believed in it from that creation. But then to have Beyoncé on it is just like … in my mind I start thinking like, “Man, here we go again with the two girls, like Brandy and Monica, now Beyoncé and Gaga,” I start thinking like that. This could be something really magical. I purposely used my harp sound in the beginning of that song. It’s the same harp sound I used on “The Boy is Mine.”