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DESTINY'S CHILD `Survivor' (Columbia) 3 stars

Beyonce Knowles recently said in an MTV behind-the-scenes special that Destiny's Child was not the "best-looking, most intelligent ..." group out there. Her point was that her trio, which for the last year and a half has been playing musical chairs with members, simply is doing what it loves to do. Well, that and the group just wants to get past all of the lineup changes and legal woes of 2000. Those occurred after the release of its seven-times platinum sophomore release "Writing's on the Wall" in 1999.

But Knowles was wrong.

Destiny's Child is one of the most intelligent groups out there. (And its members are pretty cute, too.) They've found a formula, made it work and they're sticking with it. Other entertainers have done a 180 and dramatically moved away from the style that made them stars.

This group knows what its destiny is.

In the trio's latest, the aptly titled "Survivor," the majority of the songs have sticky-sweet sped-up tunes with repetitive hooks that stay in your head. The title track chronicles the turmoil, struggle and eventual success the group had last year. The CD is almost like a hip-hopped version of Helen Reddy; many of the tracks are pro-woman and go against the yesteryear trend of sappy, love-me-don't-leave-me tracks by female singers.

But it's controversy that drives the content of this CD.