Ooooooohhh… On the TLC Tip: The 25th Anniversary!

It all started with three young women from Atlanta and Philly. These three young women were totally different but when they came together, they were magic. This magic then made them into the greatest female group of all time. It was a cool, deep throated singer with a swag that was ahead of her time by the name of Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, a crazy, energetic, creative, free spirited and outspoken one with the nasally raps whose no longer with us but is deeply loved and missed by the name of Lisa “Left-Eye” Lopes and a sexy, sultry, with the R&B vocals and smooth dance moves who goes by the name Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, together they are the hip hop, R&B and pop group also known as the “crazysexycool” ones, also known as TLC. It was 25 years ago when the world got its first taste of what and how different girl groups can be without the typical glamour and perfect harmonies with dresses and high heeled shoes, instead we got baggy, colorful clothes with condoms pinned all over and heavy Doc Marten boots with at least 4 layers of thick colorful socks, crazy but fun dance moves and lots of powerful and positive statements made in the music that represented female empowerment. Way before Lauryn Hill’s “The Miseducation” or Beyoncé’s “Lemonade”, there was “Ooooooohhh… On the TLC Tip.” With 7 O’s and 3 H’s, the O’s represented the days of the week, the H’s represented the three members, “on the tip” was 90’s slang for “on my jock”, “flow”, “vibe”, or “mood.” The title lets you know that you were on the TLC vibe and we fell in love with it. The open starts with a short but simple skit of what sounds like a Caucasian male on the phone giving his opinion about the girls’ look and how he thinks it’s “just a fad” and “it must be a black thing!” but in the same breathe compliments them by saying “but they’re pretty cute!” That intro was a perfect representation of how different TLC appeared to the eye. The next track and debut single from the group “Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg” is a catchy hip hop/new jack or “new jill swing” joint about safe sex, hence why they wore condoms pinned to their clothes. They heavily promoted the importance of safe sex. They also talk about not being ashamed or don’t mind begging their significant other for sex. The next joint “Shock Dat Monkey” is a joint I personally always skip. I just never cared for the song but it’s not bad song at all. The intermissions on the album are pretty hilarious too. On the first one, the girls sing a catchy but hilarious song about getting “rid of a ho” that a male friend they’re hanging out with admires for wearing tight clothes and the girls are against the whole wearing tight clothes and exposing body parts to get attention. The intermission was a perfect one before “Hat 2 Da Back” comes on. The final single released from this album but this song is about being a woman whose comfortable with wearing baggy clothes and not always showing off your body for attention. “Das Da Way We Like ‘Em” is one of my favorite joints on the album. Not only is the production so dope but it’s another “Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg” type of joint to me. Something you can definitely dance to. It’s a catchy joint about being accepted for who you are what you’re not. Speaking of acceptance, “What About Your Friends” is the third single released from this album and joint about the importance of friendships and whether or not should you keep them around based on circumstances. “His Story” is another favorite of mine. A song about the story of a woman named Tawana Brawley, who was a woman that made accusations about being raped and nobody taking her side and instead taking the men’s side of the story. The song touched a wider scale of how the world always brush aside women’s issues and take up for men and quick to defend a man. It’s a song about calling out male privilege. The second intermission comes on about T-Boz and her man fighting over whether or not she will be going out for a night of fun. She slaps him for lying about taking her, after changing his mind, and then let’s him know that she’s going. The perfect transition into the next joint “Bad By Myself”, which is another favorite of mine on the album. Crazy ass beat, another banger on the album but the song is about the encouragement of women being able to do what she wants and take care of herself without depending on a man to do so. “Somethin’ You Wanna Know” is a cool, laid back joint you enjoy while wiping the sweat off of you from dancing throughout majority of the album and then another laid back love joint “Baby-Baby-Baby” kicks in. This joint was the second single released from the album. It’s the song that caught the attention of older folk who don’t usually listen to what “the kids” are listening to but sometimes, what “the kids” are listening to can definitely do something that’s relatable for all audiences to enjoy. The album concludes with another Marley Marl joint “This Is How It Should Be Done”, which is my second favorite album and followed by my first favorite “Depend On Myself”, another uplifting joint about not depending on a man. Left-Eye finishes off the album with a final important message about safe sex and the girls finish with a classic trademark chant of theirs “Ooooooohhh on the TLC tip!” The album is not only a great debut for the group and their legacy but to come right out the gate so impactful and positive like that was something different and never before seen like that from any other girl groups. TLC’s legacy continues with 3 more albums including, “CrazySexyCool” in 1994, “FanMail” in 1999, and “3D” in 2002. It’s unfortunate that Left-Eye is no longer here to see the fruits of her labor 25 years later. T-Boz and Chilli are both still doing the damn thing and still got us, the TLC Army behind them the whole ride through. As the girls once said and did in a chant “I’m the T, tiggity, tiggity, tiggity, T-BOZ, I’m the liggy, liggy, *CLAP CLAP* LEFT-EYE, I’m the C, and It be the chills, CHILL-LAYYYY, and that is Ooooooohhh on the TLC TIP!” This one was definitely for Lisa. Rest In Peace beautiful. Peace and love to T-Boz, Chilli, the TLC Army and their families. 25 Years later, and the party still don’t stop when a TLC song comes on. Let’s do it like it’s 1992 again!