TLC’s CrazySexyCool turned 30 this year, and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas has no idea where the time has gone. “Thirty years just seems so ancient!” the singer says over the phone during a break from touring the U.S. with Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins in honor of the record’s anniversary. Yet Thomas mainstains Crazy’s vibrant mix of R&B, pop, hip-hop, and New Jack Swing feels as fresh as ever, especially for those discovering it for the first time. “When people hear the music, they’re jamming to it as if it just came out.”
TLC — Thomas, Watkins, and the late Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes — was always ahead of the curve. Playful and poetic, the trio’s swaggering, tongue-in-cheek 1992 debut Ooooooohhh … On the TLC Tip felt like a breath of fresh air. On their lead single, “Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg,” they rattled off braggadocious rhymes about their raging libidos over a beat sampling Scottish funk rockers the Average White Band, while the song’s neon-splattered video featured the group in condom-adorned clothes — a sign of just how fully they embodied the song’s safe-sex messaging. On their follow-up, CrazySexyCool, TLC stuck to that winning equation but embraced a new musical maturity thanks in part to collaborators like late hip-hop producing pioneer Rico Wade. Fans ate it up; two years after its release, CrazySexyCool reached diamond status and went on to become the best-selling album of all time by a girl group in the United States.
Three decades later, TLC continues to be a source of inspiration for a new generation of R&B stars, from Kehlani to Tinashe. Yet Thomas has a sneaking suspicion younger generations will continue to be on the TLC tip. On the group’s latest tour, which doubled as a tribute to Lopes, who died in 2002 at the age of 30, Thomas spotted more little kids in the crowd than ever before, singing along to every word. “I ain’t gonna lie,” she says, “we’re blessed to have such a great catalogue.”
Craziest, sexiest, and coolest track on CrazySexyCool
The sexiest song is the ballad, “Take Our Time.”
The cool one would be “Creep,” for sure.
And I’d have to say the crazy one would be the interludes — all of them. I mean, those interludes were hilarious. Especially the one with Busta Rhymes. His voice is so funny.
We actually did have a song called “CrazySexyCool” that we never recorded for some strange reason. It didn’t sound like other stuff on the record. It was different from the interlude on the album too. But the name of this song was also “CrazySexyCool.” I think there was an ongoing debate of whether it was going to be an album cut or an interlude, but it just never happened. I’ll have to try and find it to see if we can do anything with it.
Most misunderstood song
Many people didn’t get “Waterfalls” until the video came out. Radio did not get it at all. They kept playing “Creep” and “Red Light Special.” Had it not been for the video, that song would not be the jam that it is today. It’s crazy to think that now, right? But that’s what artists have to understand: A video is so important because it paints a picture. That video brought those lyrics to life. People started to understand the meaning of the song. They started to think about unprotected sex and everything that can come with that. It showed how a waterfall — or whatever isn’t good for you— can be detrimental to your future.
Sharpest Left Eye verse
“Hat 2 da Back” and our Christmas song “Sleigh Ride.” Oh my gosh, I love her rap on “Sleigh Ride.” Her tone, it’s just so good. People don’t know! But “Hat 2 da Back,” I just love the way she breaks it all down. She’s talking about this guy and how he wants her to dress differently. Then she talks about how he was dressed: “Tight pants and two rings in each ear / You know that is dead, but it’s me instead.” She’s like, I have two earrings, why are you starting problems with me? But there are so many little gems in all of her raps, you just have to listen.
TLC track you wish you sang lead on
In all these years, no one’s ever asked me that before. It’s a great question, but I have to say there isn’t a track I wish I sang lead on. The reason why is because we have a system. Tionne, with her raspy voice, makes sense for her to do the verses she does and for me to come in on the hook, the bridge, and the ad-libs on those songs. We harmonize a lot together, that’s kind of our thing. Honestly, I think we were all too happy to be in this group doing what we do to worry about what we weren’t doing.
Weirdest place you’ve heard “Waterfalls”
That movie The Other Guys. Michael Keaton’s character keeps quoting lyrics from TLC songs. I was at the theater just chilling, excited to watch the movie. I’m not expecting anything. I mean, why would I expect that? But when Keaton said, “Don’t go chasing waterfalls,” I was like, Wait a minute … But I’m also thinking, Okay, that was one time. And then he said, “I don’t want no scrubs” and “creep.” When he said, “I ain’t too proud to beg,” I was shocked.
Strangest piece of fan mail you’ve received
Well, you know, you get letters from guys from jail. But you get letters from other guys too. It’s one thing to have a crush, but it can be like an obsession. Those can be a little scary. But, for the most part, our fans are really great and so thoughtful — especially in Japan. They think of everything there. They give us stuff, they give our kids stuff, and it’s all just really, really beautiful. But the best gift? Everybody knows how much I love Michael Jackson, so one of our fans here in the States gave me a Michael Jackson clock. It almost looks like a CD with a picture of him. You have to put batteries in it, and it sits on this little stand. I literally have it in my office. I love that gift.
Most underrated music video
I know a lot of people like “Creep.” Every Halloween, people still wear those silk pajamas. But that video is one of my favorites and is probably even a little underrated for how it showed how much we had grown from our first album. But we were still TLC, you know what I’m saying? We didn’t change. We weren’t all of a sudden wearing some fitted negligee or something. The pajamas were still baggy.
Song you wish you had recorded
I know there are a lot of stories about us being offered songs that we ended up turning down. But you know what? There were only two that we passed up: “… Baby One More Time” and 702’s “Where My Girls At.” Sometimes you can hear other artists’ songs and be like, “Oh, that could have been a TLC record.” But “… Baby One More Time,” I definitely think that was Britney’s.
I will say that there were a couple of Black Eyed Peas songs that definitely could have been TLC records. Pharrell’s “Happy”? I wish we had that record. We would’ve put our TLC spin on it, but we wouldn’t have changed the format of it at all because that is obviously a hit just the way it is. But if it wasn’t meant to be yours, it wasn’t meant to be. And the truth is, it’s just not going to be as big as it could be if the right artist doesn’t get to it. The right artists got to those.
Favorite Whitney Houston memory
Oh my goodness, we had so much fun with Whitney on the “I’m Every Woman” video. She was so pregnant and so beautiful. I just loved watching her do anything. I’m just hanging all over her in the video, hugging her. We were happy to be her backup dancers. If I remember right, when we filmed that video, it was a few months after the release of our first album. Whitney was friends with our manager at the time, and she told them she wanted us in there because of the lyrics of “I’m Every Woman.” She felt that we three represented every woman. That’s why we’ve always felt like CrazySexyCool was our version of “I’m Every Woman” because every woman has a crazy, sexy, and cool side.
Most questionable fashion era
You know what, I’m going to be honest with you — and I hope this does not sound like I am not a humble person, because I am — but I’d have to say every era was the right fit. We were ahead of our time with fashion. Especially when we did FanMail. I mean, I’m seeing some of that right now. Our fashion was as big as our sound because we took that as seriously as we took the music. And we took our time with it. Ninety percent of our stuff is tailor-made for us so we don’t have somebody that’s pulling things from this designer or that designer. It’s original stuff. It’s our stuff.
Song that best embodies the TLC ethos
For sure, “No Scrubs,” because we are all about girl power. We don’t bash the fellas, but we do talk about them — especially the ones that need to be talked about. We’re only educating the ladies out there and also the guys so that they don’t become scrubs in their life. It really is a lesson. When I saw those TikToks where the dads sit their daughters down to talk about boys using “No Scrubs” — oh my gosh, they are so funny! One dad got real creative; he had a Ken doll and a Barbie doll. I saw another one where this lady is explaining what a “scrub” is to her son and telling him, “No, you don’t want to be that!” I thought that was the cutest thing.
Music is so powerful, and you really hope and pray that the music that you create is going to have positive effects on people. I’ve been in the grocery store and had people come up to me and say that “Unpretty” changed their life or “Waterfalls” saved their life. When you hear things like that, it’s just amazing. It lets you know, woo, yes, Lord, we did good and we’re doing good.
More Superlatives
