Final album ‘doesn’t mean we’re done’
TLC talks Kickstarter, Left Eye and Beyoncé’s fan-girl moment
For T-Boz and Chilli, TLC is a marriage — and divorce is not an option.
The top-selling girl group released its final album on June 30. Although they don’t plan to record new music, “That doesn’t mean we’re done, though. That doesn’t mean we won’t do a residency in Vegas,” T-Boz said.
TLC, their fifth album and first in 13 years, features Snoop Dogg, a song sampling Earth, Wind & Fire’s September, producer Ron Fair and help from T-Boz’s brother, songwriter-producer Carnoy “Ayo Kayo” Watkins.
FINDING A NEW NORMAL
TLC, which launched a Kickstarter fund in 2015 to raise money for their final album, earned more than $430,000, though they initially asked for $150,000.
“We were in disbelief,” Chilli said. “We were so shocked.”
Katy Perry and thousands of fans donated to the project, which thrilled the band. That was in contrast to the reaction the group received when Left Eye died in 2002, T-Boz said.
“When Lisa first passed, so many people, especially ones you wouldn’t think would turn on us, kind of counted us out, but her passing didn’t really hinder our ability to sing and dance, and our talent didn’t leave, we just lost a group member,” she said. “So you find your new normal and you put it back together and to see that people believed in us touched my heart the most.”
BEYONCÉ THE FAN-GIRL
TLC has big fans in artists like Drake and Lady Gaga, but Beyoncé’s fan-girl moment really surprised T-Boz and Chilli.
The group said Queen Bey showed her love to the veteran girl group at the Season 10 finale of American Idol in 2011.
“This is the first time this ever happened. Like, she just rolled up on us and was like, ‘Thank you for everything,’” Chilli said.
“‘That was some of the best times of my life’ is what she said,” T-Boz added. “We were like, ‘Oh really? Never knew that!’ People said that she said stuff like that in interviews, I just didn’t know ... That was like real humbling and just like, ‘Wow, really? OK girl!’”
TRY AGAIN
TLC has been known for its loud and outspoken videos, from the futuristic outfits in No Scrubs to the condom eye patches in Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg.
But the video for the No. 1 hit Creep — the first single on their 1994 sophomore album, CrazySexyCool — was filmed three times.
“We didn’t like them; scrapped them and started again ... We were like, ‘If we come back out, we need to make a statement,’” T-Boz said. “It wasn’t strong.”
Then the group watched the video for Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue’s Whatta Man.
“And Lisa turned (around) ... and I remember her going, ‘That’s what it should look like,’” recalled T-Boz, imitating Lisa’s squeaky voice. “And then we were like, ‘Yeah!’”
GIRL-GROUP ETIQUETTE
When TLC debuted in the early ’90s, the industry was jam-packed with girl groups. Today, it’s a rarity.
Chilli says one of the keys to a successful girl group is not going “into a group knowing that you want to be a solo artist.”
“If you end up going solo that’s fine, but don’t go in there like, ‘I’m just going to use this as my platform,’” she added.
Chilli also said things work smoothly for her and T-Boz because they “are exactly identical when it comes to morals and values.”
LEFT EYE NEVER LEFT
TLC said Left Eye’s spirit wasn’t just in the studio while recording the new album, she’s around them every day.
“We just incorporate her in everything. The thought is always there, whether you’re recording or not — you can’t forget it,” T-Boz said.
Left Eye’s voice — taken from an old interview — is featured on the track Interlude from the TLC album.
“It’s the essence of what you remember her for,” T-Boz said of Left Eye’s words.
ED SHEERAN IS NO SCRUB
Ed Sheeran’s massive No. 1 hit, Shape of You, recently gave credit to TLC’s No Scrubs because some said the two songs had similar melodies. But Chilli and T-Boz said they initially didn’t hear the similarities.
“I’m going to be honest with you: When I heard the song, I couldn’t hear it. I was like, ‘Let me hear it again,’” Chilli said.
T-Boz and Chilli didn’t write No Scrubs, so they don’t get credit on Sheeran’s track (it went to songwriters Kandi Burruss, Tameka Cottle and Kevin Briggs).