The Commercial Appeal - Go Memphis
‘Crazysexycool’ made TLC the biggest girl group ever
Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas is on the road with Tionne “T-boz” Watkins celebrating 1994’s “Crazysexycool,” the album that established TLC as more than just a fad and put it on the way to becoming the biggest-selling girl-group album in U.S. history.
Thomas, Watkins and Lisa “Left Eye“Lopes were coming off a multi-platinum debut titled “Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip” that had sent their first three singles to the Top 10 on the Hot 100.
They were told a sophomore album is the hardest one to make. And they were well aware that people had been saying their success was just a fluke. But Thomas and her bandmates didn’t get caught up in proving anything to anyone.
They just went in and focused on the music.
“If you have that kind of stuff in your head, you can go in and not make great music,” Thomas says.
“So we just blocked all of that out and did our thing.”
It was all about the title, ‘Crazysexycool’
To Thomas, the success of “Crazysexycool” all started with the title.
She remembers telling LA Reid and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, the producers who ran Laface Records, the name of the album and how that title would determine the direction of the music.
“And they loved it,” Thomas says. “Everyone we worked with – Dallas Austin and Jermaine Dupri, even when we did the interludes with Puffy – they knew the direction.”
The sessions weren’t nearly as crazy as the ones for their first album, during which they almost got tossed out of Doppler Studios in Atlanta for flooding the hallways with water guns and other wild shenanigans.
“It was so bad because that was our first album,” Thomas says.
“We didn’t know anything. We’re up there messing up studios, not even thinking hey, we can get kicked out and get charged for this. We was just happy to be in the studio.”
TLC learned a lot making ‘Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip’
They didn’t spend as much time in the studio together making “CrazysexyCool,” which “kind of cut down on a lot of horrible shenanigans that can happen,” Thomas says.
This was in part because they realized there was no real need to be there when it wasn’t time to actually record their vo
cals and in part because Lopes was in court-mandated rehab after burning down her boyfriend, (then Atlanta Falcons wide receiver) Andre Rison’s house.
The judge allowed her out on day release to work on “Crazysexycool.”
“But I can tell you, she was definitely focused,” Thomas recalls, with a laugh.
“Because she didn’t have anything else to do. Which is why I think some of her best work was the rap she wrote for ‘Waterfalls.’ Just the state of mind that she was in. The lyrical content was amazing.”
They knew ‘Waterfalls’ would be a hit
“Waterfalls” was one of two charttopping singles from the album, despite a cool reaction, at first, from Reid and radio.
“But we knew,” Thomas says. “We were like, ‘Man, I’m telling you, this is the song.’ ”
Thomas feels the lyrics may have been the sticking point.
“If you just listen to what it says – “please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you’re used to” – if you’re not really
into lyrics, that can totally go over your head. It definitely went over radio’s head. “They’re like, ‘Err, what are y’all talking about?’ ”
It was the video that ultimately made the song a hit.
“We begged L.A. to approve the budget for the video and I’m so glad he did because that was a fight, I’m sure, between Laface Records and Arista,” Thomas says,
“And then, once people saw the visual, it helps bring those lyrics to life. It’s like the a-ha moment. Had it not been for the video, I’m telling you, it wouldn’t have worked.”
The meaning behind ‘chasing waterfalls’
To Thomas, chasing waterfalls can mean what you need it to mean in your own life. “A waterfall can be anything,” she says.
“It can be you hanging with the wrong crowd, chasing something that’s a crashand-burn kind of thing. Once people saw that you could apply it to anything in
your life that is not good, then they got it.”
That appeal of the first single, “Creep,” was more obvious. That’s why it opens the album (after a short introduction from Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest).
To Thomas, it’s a combination of the horns, the beat and the contagious melody that made that song an instant classic.
“When we’re getting ready to perform and people hear that horn, it’s such a signature sound,” she says. “And then it’s a real easy singalong kind of record. Those are the records I feel really pop.”
Their cover of the Prince song, ‘If I Was Your Girlfriend’
The album also features a cover of the Prince song “If I Was Your Girlfriend.”
“I remember Tionne really wanted to do that song,” Thomas says.
“But honestly, we didn’t think we were gonna be able to because Prince never cleared records like that. He would always say ‘No.’ I don’t know if we got him on a good day. But he said yes. That meant a lot to us.”
As much as TLC had grown since the recording of their first release, Thomas says she felt it was important to display that growth while staying true to who they were.
“That’s the part that’s tricky for an artist because people fall in love when they first see you with whatever that thing is,” she says.
“Then you make your second album and obviously you should grow and improve. But whatever that main ingredient is that people love about you, that has to remain. Because if it doesn’t, you’ve alienated those fans.”
They knew the album would be something special
From her first listen to the finished product, Thomas knew they had come up with something special.
She remembers the night of the listening party in New York City, one of the record executives told her he thought “Crazysexycool” could sell 5 million copies.
“I told him, ‘It’s gonna sell more than that,’ ” she recalls, with a laugh. “I didn’t say it in a way like I was being arrogant. I just felt it. It’s one of those albums.”
As confident as Thomas was, she “almost had a heart attack” when “CrazySexycool” blew up the way it did.
“I couldn’t believe that what I felt was actually happening,” she says.
“I was just so thankful to the Lord. But it was a combination of everything. The producers. The timing. The label we were on at the time. L.A. and Babyface had something to prove and all the stars aligned.”
In late 2019, the album was certified for U.S. sales of 12 million.
Thomas remembers the first time she knew they were destined to be successful.
It was at a photo shoot.
“Before we even thought about doing a second album, I was looking at a proof and I just saw the chemistry,” she says.
“It just jumped off the photo, like, ‘Yo, this is crazy.’ I said, ‘Y’all, we’re gonna be the biggest girl group ever.’ They’re looking at me like I’m crazy. I said, ‘I’m telling you. Watch and see.’ ”
Thomas laughs at the memory. “Maybe the Lord was giving me a little insight or something,” she says. “It wasn’t coming from a narcissistic place. It was just like a feeling.”
“Crazysexycool” was followed by another multi-platinum triumph, 1999’s chart-topping “Fanmail.”
The remaining bandmates still miss Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes
Then, as they were starting work on their next album in April 2002, Lopes was killed when she swerved off the road to avoid another vehicle while organizing charity work in Honduras.
“I always thought the three of us would live to be old and grey together,” Thomas says.
“To get a very devastating phone call like that from my manager telling me my sister has passed away, it was like a stab not only in your stomach but your heart.”
She still refers to Lopes in the present tense nearly 20 years later.
“You know how people are like ‘I loved her’ in the past tense? I still love her. I still miss her. And I know she would’ve wanted us to carry on her legacy forever as long as we’re living and able to carry it out. So that’s exactly what we’re gonna do.”