#379 - TLC - CrazySexyCool (1994)
MUSIC HISTORY WRITTEN BY HEAD WRITER DJ MORTY COYLE:
Released on November 15th of 1994 on LaFace and Arista Records and produced by Dallas Austin, Babyface, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Jermaine Dupri, Jon-John, Organized Noize, and Chucky Thompson this is the second album by the American R&B, Soul, Hip Hop, Pop, Funk, Girl Group.
In 1990 Des Moines, Iowa native vocalist Tionne Watkins and rapper Lisa Lopes of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania were recruited in Decatur, Georgia near Atlanta by vocalist Crystal Jones for a New Jack/R&B girl group called 2nd Nature that was sort of a female Bell Biv DeVoe.
Soon they were signed by manager/producer and former R&B singer Pebbles Reid who renamed them TLC, an acronym of their first names. She got them an audition with her husband L.A. Reid and his partner Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds for their label, LaFace.
They liked Tionne and Lisa but passed on Crystal so the girls did some recorded appearances as a duo before Pebbles added former back-up dancer Rozonda Thomas of Columbus, Georgia. To keep the acronymic name TLC the girls got nicknames: Tionne became “T-Boz”, Lisa became “Left Eye”, and Rozonda became “Chilli.”
Their vibrant and colorful image was perfect for videos and their fun songs with female-empowering lyrics, especially Left Eye’s raps, really connected with the public. A year later they had four hit singles from a debut album that sold six million copies worldwide.
Shortly thereafter Left Eye, who was also struggling with alcoholism began a tumultuous relationship with Atlanta Falcons football player Andre Rison. More about that in a minute.
While touring T-Boz got extremely ill from her sickle-cell anemia that she’d had since childhood and when they came off the road the group split with Pebbles over money issues although they were still signed to her production company.
Then they began working on their follow-up record with the same production and writing team and a few notable additions. The new songs were going to move away from their earlier playful Hip Hop sound into smoother R&B with beats and more coming-of-age and grown-up subject matter, including social and emotional issues they felt strongly about.
However a few months into recording Left Eye had an argument with her boyfriend Andre and in a drunken rage set fire to his shoes in the bathtub which accidentally burned down his mansion. She was arrested, got five years probation, and to avoid jail she ended up in rehab where she was only released a couple times to work on the record.
Now despite her notably diminished involvement her contributions were substantial to the album’s success. And let’s talk about its success…
Named for a personality trait of each member, “CrazySexyCool” became the best-selling album by a female group in the United States and was the first by a female group to reach diamond status which is ten times platinum. It’s since sold twelve million copies in the U.S.
But despite making their record company a gang of money their terrible contracts that literally charged them for all of their expenses saw each member only get $50,000 a year. And while T-Boz had accrued sizable hospital bills Left Eye still owed $1.3 million for the damages to Andre Rison’s mansion.
So check this out…
She grabs some ladies from the rehab she was in so they can go rob Arista Records and steal all their albums and merch. They also plan to hold up the legendary label head Clive Davis at gunpoint until he pays them a better royalty rate… which actually works. But it’s still not enough and a year after they scored the biggest R&B album in music history TLC filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1995.
“CrazySexyCool” won them two Grammys including Best R&B Album. They also received multiple wins and nominations at the American Music Awards and Soul Train Music Awards, and won Artist of the Year at the Billboard Music Awards. And they won four MTV Video Music Awards including Video of the Year and Viewer’s Choice.
Although they eventually renegotiated their contracts it took them a few years of legal hassles to put out their follow up record. While it was another huge hit the group was fracturing with Left Eye wanting more to do than her short raps.
They all pursued solo projects with varying success but tragically in 2002 Left Eye was killed in a car accident in Honduras.
T-Boz and Chilli carried on as a duo on and off with tours, new records, come back tours, reality shows, a biopic, and this year there’s going to be a new A&E Biography documentary special chronicling their story. They remain one of the most influential female groups of all time and are still the best-selling American girl group with over 85 million records sold.