Do you feel like Destiny’s Child is that Ivy League name that pushed your résumé? Or do you feel like you’d be in the same position without the group?

Of course, I wouldn’t trade my position for the world, but I still have to work hard. Even if you get success, you gotta work hard to maintain it. I think it’s even harder to maintain it. A lot of people are trying to break into the game. I won’t lie; I think it definitely did help.

Is it harder to maintain relationships with Beyoncé and Kelly than with your other girlfriends since they’re celebrities?

No, it’s the same as my other girlfriends. You know what you have to do to maintain a relationship? You gotta communicate. Even if it’s through the BlackBerry like, “Hey, I’m just thinking about you.”

Check out the rest of the interview

Jay-Z and Beyoncé have been very private about their marriage. If you were in the same situation, would you be as secretive about your wedding?

Just generally, I would. That’s just relationships that are sacred to you. That’s a private thing. Everybody is always wanting to know something. Being in the public eye, that’s the price you gotta pay, but sometimes you have to go through extreme measures to keep things between you and your significant other. But if you wanna Mariah and Nick Cannon it, that’s your business too.

The video for “We Break the Dawn” is not exactly racy, but you are dancing all over half-naked guys. How do you think your gospel fans will react to this?

I don’t think it’s racy. I think because of the [video production] cuts, it probably appears that way, but the stuff that I’m doing is what I’ve seen Fred Astaire do with Cyd Charisse back in the day…the partnering stuff. There was one part, it didn’t make the cut, but I actually get on somebody’s shoulders. I looked like a showgirl and I flipped back. They were basically passing me around from one guy to the next and I end up in this hot pose. But it was something like Ginger Rogers or one of those dance greats would do.

So you don’t think you alienated any of your gospel fans?

No! Trust me, they’re probably like, “Ooh, look at his abs!” You know, my mother paged me this morning and said, “I saw the video and loved it.” That’s all that matters.