Beyonce knowles settles into the backstage office at Cleveland State University's Convocation Center a few hours before Destiny's Child is due onstage to close tonight's edition of MTV's "TRL'' tour. The soundcheck is done; the meet-and-greet session with fans is looming. What she'd really like is a few minutes to kick back, close her eyes and catch her breath.

Fat chance.

Destiny's Child is on a roll, and any rest would be imprudent when it's rolling this well. The vocal trio from Houston is a crossover sensation, ruling the pop and r&b; roosts with a series of hits such as "Bootylicious,'' "Survivor,'' "Independent Women, Part 1,'' "Say My Name,'' "Jumpin' Jumpin','' "Bills, Bills, Bills'' and a stylized cover of Samantha Sang's 1978 Bee Gees-written hit "Emotion.'' Its three albums are multiplatinum smashes, and the new 8 Days of Christmas, slated for Oct. 30, is sure to join its ranks.

Besides serving as the group's chief songwriter and producer, the blonde-tressed Knowles appeared in MTV's hip-hopera version of Carmen and has become a model for L'Oreal cosmetics, while she and her mates-lifelong pal Kelly Rowland and relative newcomer Michelle Williams-have joined younger sister Solange Knowles to provide the theme song for the new Disney Channel cartoon "The Proud Family.'' The trio performed at Michael Jackson's career-celebrating bash in New York City and has answered his call to be part of "What More Can I Give,'' the all-star single to raise money for disaster relief in the wake of September's terrorist attacks.

There's seemingly no ceiling in sight, but time, the 19-year-old Knowles notes, has become the most precious commodity in Destiny's Child's world-something that became all too clear during the making of 8 Days of Christmas.

"It was really hard,'' she says. "We have, like, three hours to record songs 'cause we're on tour right now, and we have mall tours and meet-and-greets and interviews-all that, every day. So from noon to 3, we would try to get into the studio. It makes you wonder if that's really the way it's supposed to be, y'know?''

Then again, Knowles and company asked for this. Destiny's Child was formed more than a decade ago in Houston, after Knowles' father, Mathew, left his job as a medical equipment salesman to guide the obvious talents of his eldest daughter and her friend Rowland, who moved in with the Knowles family for a time. With LaTavia Roberson and LeToya Luckett filling out the original lineup, Destiny's Child learned from voice and dance coaches and physical trainers, polishing its act at fairs, theme parks and talent shows.

The quartet's self-titled debut album made a modest splash during 1998, but 1999's Writing's On the Wall, powered by "Say My Name,'' took off about the time Roberson and Luckett left the group amid much acrimony during the spring of 2000. "We had a little bit of creative differences,'' Rowland says, "and it was very hard for me and Beyonce to go through the changes. You're not the same at 9 or 10 as you are at 18 or 19.'' The departed duo filed a suit against Mathew Knowles, alleging financial impropriety and seeking unpaid fees. The matter is still pending.

Destiny's Child soldiered on, however, first with Williams and Farrah Franklin-the latter of whom was subsequently dismissed for a reported lack of appropriate work ethic. But with few stumbles-Philadelphia 76ers fans did not appreciate the Los Angeles Lakers jerseys two of the singers wore during a halftime performance at this year's NBA finals- Destiny's Child has only seen its lot improve, from the No. 1 debut of its Survivor album to victories at the Teen Choice and MTV Video Music Award ceremonies. And while there's still a desire for a bit of rest, Knowles says there's also a busy future, which may even include solo albums from each of the group's members.

There are rumors that Destiny's Child's next move will be solo albums. Is that for real? Knowles: Yeah, we probably will. Kelly and I, we've been in Destiny's Child since we were 9 and 10; Destiny's Child has been out for a long time, nonstop. So we need a break, and on our break we probably would do solo projects.

Should we be worried that you might like doing that so much the group won't come back together again? Oh, no. [laughs] Destiny's Child, the three of us...you can't feel that by yourself, the feeling we feel when the three of us are together, the harmony, all of that. There's something about it, a group, that when you truly love the group and your voices sound so good and the chemistry is so great, you know you can't get it by yourself. So [going solo] would never replace what we do together.

What do you think a Beyonce solo album will sound like? I don't know. I want it to be kinda like a Destiny's Child album, but I'm growing every day and listening to different types of music. I'm trying to learn the guitar and stuff like that. I produced the track on the Christmas album I did by myself for the first time, and it really doesn't sound anything like Destiny's Child. It's "Silent Night,'' but it's really different. It's all acoustic guitar, and it's really pretty. But it's different from Destiny's Child.

You're also producing your younger sister Solange's album. What should we expect? Solange is great. She danced for us for awhile. And don't call her Beyonce's little sister; she's Solange. [laughs] She's her own woman. She's only 15, but she's a strong young girl and she's got her own style and she's different.

Does she write as well? Oh, yes. She writes, and she's very good. I'll be collaborating with her, probably starting in March. I know she doesn't want to be the normal young pop artist; she doesn't want to be like Destiny's Child. She has her own thing.

It seems like everybody gets around to making a Christmas album sooner or later. How did you approach 8 Days of Christmas? We have traditional songs, but there's nothing traditional about it. We did "Silent Night,'' "Carol of the Bells''-which is so cool-"Oh Holy Night'' and "This Christmas.'' It's basically four original songs, and the rest are traditional.

Was it easier or harder to write new holiday songs than to come up with stuff like "Survivor'' and "Bootylicious?'' It's super easy. I write songs based on the concept; the first thing I think of is the concept or, like, a title, like "Bootylicious,'' and then it's real easy after that. But you have to find something to write about that's different, so people aren't bored. And when the concept is given to you, it's really easy to write a song. You already know it's a Christmas song, so it's easy.

Was it tough to get into the Christmas spirit during the summer-especially this summer, which was super hot? Oh, yeah, it was hot, burning up, not warm-hot, like heat exhaustion hot. But we just had to get in there and do it. I wish we had the time to put up lights and all that. We had candles up, but that was the most Christmas spirit we got. It was really rushed, but you would never know. The whole album was done over eight months; we would do one song, tour, do another song the next month. It was real pieced together, but that's how we had to do it. Whenever we had the chance, that's when we did it.

You've mentioned the kind of crushing schedule Destiny's Child has been under. Does this band need a break? I think so. I think we're now getting to the point, mentally and physically, where we need a little break, even if it's just for two weeks. That's all I need.

On the other hand, is there a fear that if you do take time off and out of the public eye, they might not say your name anymore? I do think you shouldn't take that much of a break, but I also think that now we can take a break. We didn't want to take a break 'til Survivor came out, 'cause we had the member change and really didn't think we could take a break. We wanted to put Survivor right out, and now I think we can afford to take a break. But then, no, I didn't think we could.

It's interesting that Destiny's Child only became more successful after all of that. Were you surprised? I'm very happy it happened. I think what we were missing was controversy; nobody wanted to put us on the cover of any magazines 'cause we had nothing interesting to talk about. And, unfortunately, you have to have something that people want to read about. The world likes to read drama, and that's terrible, but it's the truth. I think now that we've gone through a lot and accomplished a lot, people will be interested in that. But I'm happy it happened, and Destiny's Child is so happy; we're blissfully happy, and it's amazing how, throughout all the struggles, finally something positive comes out of it. I wouldn't have been able to write "Survivor,'' I wouldn't have been able to grow as much as I've grown and I wouldn't have gotten the drive to succeed as much as I have. We worked our butts off 'cause we had something to prove.

What kind of perspective do you have on the Survivor album now that it's been out awhile? Well, I'm just real proud. The last album I wrote on nine of the songs, and this album I wrote every song except "Emotion,'' which I co-produced. I was nervous; it always makes you nervous, even though I had written and produced "Independent Women,'' 'Jumpin' Jumpin' "and some of that, to do the whole album, that's really a lot, y'know? It's a risk.

Did you have any specific creative goals in mind for what you wanted to do? I was battling with writing commercial songs and writing songs that meant something. 'Cause we're young, we wanted to write about topics that would help people. That's what we did with "Survivor," even "Bootylicious"-but in a fun way. Definitely "Happy Face" and a lot of the other songs on the album, they all have messages behind them. So I'm really proud of what we got on there. I've met so many people; every day at least 20 people tell me that we've inspired them and helped them in situations, so I'm just happy 'cause we've changed some lives. I feel like I've accomplished something.

Did you always want to have that kind of impact, or early on did you just want to sing? Well, the first song I wrote, I was 9 and it was a real corn song 'cause I was 9. But it was talking about the world becoming a better place and all of that. So I think that since I was young, I've always had that in me. But I think more than anything I just wanted to perform, and I took advantage of that. Now that people listen to us and want to know what we have to say, we take advantage of that and try to say some positive stuff.

Are you ever worried that those messages might get confused by the image, particularly the kind of revealing outfits Destiny's Child tends to favor? We just write what we feel. I mean, you can still be positive and be sexy. You can still believe in God and still be a teenager and have fun. You can be positive and still be human.

Was there a lot of pressure in making Survivor with a new lineup? That wasn't a problem at all. Kelly and I were really the vocal people on the other albums; you can't tell the difference between the 11 songs that we all sang on and the two songs that (Roberson and Luckett) didn't sing on. So as far as the sound of the group, we really didn't have to worry about that. But Michelle is, vocally, so strong, and she added so much. It made it much more fun in the studio 'cause her voice is so soulful and raspy, and it has a gospel sound. And Kelly's is so soft and real pretty and clear. We complemented each other and could do some real crazy things, like different runs and harmonies. We were scatting and doing all these crazy minor notes and all this stuff that we just couldn't before. It was just the three of us in the studio, and we didn't have any rules or any boundaries. We could do anything we wanted, and it was so much fun.

Even though you had written and produced some of the group's hits before, was it difficult to get the amount of control you had on Survivor? Yes, and I'm very blessed that our A&R; person (Theresa LaBarbera Whites) believes in us and gave us that opportunity to do whatever we wanted. I know that's hard. I know "Jumpin' Jumpin' "wasn't originally going to be on our last album, but I think once that did so well and once they heard "Independent Women'' and all that, and they saw everything I wrote on went No. 1, some of the people that didn't have faith in me were like, "Gosh, she must know what she's doing.'' I've talked to other artists, and they're like, "Gosh, that's cool. Hopefully we can do that one day.'' And I'm only 19 and I've already written and produced my album.

So, Ms. writer and producer-what is "jelly?'' [laughs] Jelly is like your mojo. Jelly is whatever you have that makes you feel confident. It can be your butt. It can be your hair, whatever. Your eyes. Your mind. Your attitude. Your confidence, whatever. It's whatever you have that makes you feel good.

What's it like having contributed a couple of words-jelly and bootylicious-to the vernacular? It's very strange. I walked in Gadzooks and saw a "Bootylicious'' T-shirt, and I'm like, "Oh my God, this is strange.'' And every magazine I pick up, they have a column that's "bootylicious,'' and it's just like, "Whoa, that's weird...'' [Bootylicious] just popped into my head; I was on a plane, and I was tired but I couldn't sleep, so I went into my bag of tracks and I heard the Stevie Nicks track ["Edge of Seventeen''] and I was like, [sings] "I don't think you're ready, for this jelly...'' I was too embarrassed to tell Michelle and Kelly 'cause I thought they might think it was dumb, but I hummed it to them, and they were like, "That's cool, we should try it.'' So we did, and it became the second single.

And you got a relationship with Stevie Nicks out of it, too. Yeah, that's been wonderful. It was weird how we met her. We were doing Saturday Night Live and she was doing The Rosie O'Donnell Show in the same building. We wanted her to be in the video, and we didn't know she was about to come out with an album, too. We met her, and we were like, "Be in our video!'' and she canceled some stuff and was in it. And she wrote us poems and stuff and was so sweet. Hopefully we'll get to work with her one day, 'cause she is amazing.

Do guys ever throw your song lyrics back at you as pickup lines? It used to be really bad, when we had songs like "Bills, Bills, Bills'' and stuff. I'm not sure how you could do that with "Survivor;'' I guess you could do that with "Bootylicious,'' though. But now, I think, guys are kinda scared of us now-and they should be if they are not respectful. But, you know, no one should really be scared of us; we're just some country girls who like to get out and perform.

How did "Emotion'' get on the album? It was actually my dad's, er, our manager's idea. [laughs] He told us about it and we heard the song, and we were like, "All right, we'll try it.'' It's always scary to do a cover song, 'cause if it's not as good then you shouldn't try it, and if it's not different enough, then you shouldn't try it. But if it's too different, it can mess it up. So it was just scary. Then we tried it, and after we did it we were like, "It's cool, we like it.'' We were nervous [that the Bee Gees] weren't gonna like it, and they said they really liked it. It's cool 'cause you can hear our voice and the harmonies are really pretty. And we needed a ballad out, finally, to get the older people that might not listen to "Survivor'' or "Bootylicious.''

You slipped a second ago in talking about your dad/manager. Do you have to handle it like two separate relationships? It's strange, but it's cool. You would never know we're related when we're in manager/artist mode. How we are at home and how we are when we're discussing business is totally different, but we do a great job at that, and I think that's how it's able to work. We're human; I still know he's my dad and he still knows that I'm his daughter, but it's separate. When it's business, it's business.

But when he's unhappy with you, can he tell you to "Go to your bus!'' (laughs) Oh, no, no, no. Never, never, never, never. I'm a big girl now!

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