There is a wonderful history of female vocal groups in the music industry. The McGuire Sisters and Andrew Sisters of the 1940’s were popular in an era of the big band. Martha and the Vandellas, the Shirelles and a little later the Supremes ushered in another great time of female groups. The Pointer Sisters and Sister Sledge burst upon the scene in the 1970’s, then came The Bangles, Go-go’s and around the same time Wilson Phillips. R&B powerhouse TLC brought in another slew of female groups, with Destiny’s Child and a few more following closely. The point is that with such a rich history of female vocal groups, it’s hard to imagine a time with very few or none. We are closing in on that era as super group Fifth Harmony recently announced they were taking a hiatus from recording and performing. There are not many female vocal groups left, especially in the R&B and hip hop genres. That leaves us hoping that June’s Diary will be able to deliver to a fan base craving music from any female group. The young women of June’s Diary are very talented, but more than talent is needed to break through. Their story shows us why.
It all started from an idea. Most of the times music groups start with a vision of one or two people, and then more like-minded artists join and form the actual group. Our day and age are somewhat different, as many groups are formed by way of reality television. This is the case with June’s Diary. However, it started with the idea of someone outside of the music group. In fact, it all started with the idea of Destiny’s Child group member Kelly Rowland. During an interview with New York Post Kelly Rowland stated âI felt like there was a void for a girls group in the music industry and this is something that I have wanted to do since Destinyâs Childâs Destiny Fulfilled tour. There were so many girl groups back in the day and now there is only one,â she continues, referring to Fifth Harmony. âI want to show that women can get back to making money together.â
Thus a reality show was born and sold to BET Network. Chasing Destiny was the docu-series in 2016 formed with the help of former Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland and the famous choreographer/director Frank Gatson Jr. To find a new African-American girl group based on talent and sisterhood. Now, think about that last sentence for a moment. Two key words – talent and sisterhood – were at the core of the show. I can understand talent, and talent can be searched out and found. But sisterhood? Needless to say I was a little suspect of finding that kind of cohesiveness from a national talent search.
Rowland held auditions for the girl group in three cities, narrowed down from 600 girls to 15 and later choosing the final five: Gabrielle “Gabby” Carreiro, Kristal Lyn Smith (originally from the girl group RichGirl), Ashly Williams, Brienna DeVlugt and Shyann Roberts. Of course, there was some drama in getting to the final five. Williams was cut during the auditions but was later brought back by Gatson because he thought that talent was lacking among the top 15. Gatson also added Smith later cause he had worked with her in 2004 with BeyoncĂ© during her Grammy Performance. Nevertheless, the group was brought together on live television.
One of the major benefits of forming a group by way of reality television, is that the group gains needed exposure right from the beginning. During the process of the show the girls gained media success in May 2016 after a cover of Drake’s Hotline Bling on the Chasing Destiny went viral. The group also would gain a major recording contract with Epic Records, before the quintet even adopted a name. Another decision that played out on the television show. On June 23, 2016 they announced their official group name as June’s Diary. Smith explained the story behind the name as âEven though we were put together in February, June is the month that we spiritually connected as a group. A lot of great things happened for us in the month of June. We were just having a talk last week, that something just clicked. Something just happened between us, and we were just like âWow.â And diary is just us telling our story and writing a different page every single day.â
Yes, not only were the young women able to find a name, they were able to really find the type of sisterhood that would provide a reason to go on – together. This connection is extremely necessary in order to establish a special working relationship. It’s wonderful that they not only had a name, but a common story to build upon for months and years to come.
As the television show Chasing Destiny approached its end, the time came for June’s Diary to do what they were brought together to accomplish. Yes, the group had to start performing and recording together. That they did right away.
On June 24, 2016, the group released their dĂ©but single “L.A.N.C.E” on iTunes before releasing the video during the red carpet event for the 2016 BET Awards. The group embarked on their first promotional tour in fall 2016, later joining R. Kelly on both the Buffet Tour and 12 Nights of Christmas tour after he was impressed with their performance of the Black National Anthem in the same year. On March 16, 2017, the group released a cover of Stay by Jodeci, which would be one of the songs from their upcoming mixtape. Then on June 30, 2017, the group released their first mixtape titled Male Edition which contains covers from male boy bands. In Late 2017, June’s Diary opened up for Xscape for their reunion tour across America.
The rest of the June’s Diary story is still being written. The show Chasing Destiny was not picked up for a second season, and Kelly Rowland does not appear to be part of any marketing efforts for June’s Diary going forward. Frank Gaston remained and has vowed to make sure the group breaks out with new music.
The young women are getting a crash course in music business. I don’t blame Kelly Rowland, as some do. At the end of the day this is business. At the moment, they still have a recording contract and a team that believes in them and their music. Of course, the fact that June’s Diary is very good is a big help toward any efforts to market their music.
I give June’s Diary a lot of credit for doing only what they can do right now. They have remained together as a group, and continued to perform live dates. According to Frank Gaston June’s Diary has recorded well over 100 songs in preparation for their new EP. The EP is set to be released sometime during 2018.
I remain a fan just waiting for more music. There seems to be a good number of fans out there just wanting this group to succeed. It would be great to have another female vocal group take that next step in music history. We need June’s Diary.