Tag: TLC

Left Eye

Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, an African American singer, writer and entertainer, was born on this date in 1971.
She was Born in Philadelphia, PA, and first learned how to play songs on a toy piano she received at the age of 5. Lopes moved to Atlanta in 1992, forming the super singing group TLC with Tionne Watkins and Rozonda Thomas. As talented as She was with the group, she was very extroverted and outspoken regarding business dealings with TLC and her own career aspirations. She was also often in the news with her personal life too.
She even went so far as to burn the house down of her on-again off-again football star boyfriend, Andre’ Rison. Lopes was fined and sentenced to five years probation, then entered an alcohol rehab program. Her brother said his sister’s life had its share of turmoil, but that the changes she underwent in the last few years made her a better person. On March 20, 2002, Lopes traveled to Honduras where she visited often. She was volunteering at a children’s development center and The Usha Herbal Resource Institute, an herbal healing center.
Lopes was driving a rented SUV, a spokesperson said, when the vehicle tipped over while were traveling from La Ceiba to San Pedro Sula. Lopes died from a head injury. A capacity crowd of about 10,000 people filled New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in the Atlanta suburb of Lithonia, and hundreds more waited outside the church during the 30-year-old singer’s funeral.
A host of music industry VIPs attended, including singers Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Keith Sweat, and producer Kenneth “Baby Face” Edmonds.

Written by Dianne Washington

Kenny “Baby Face” Edmonds

Kenneth Brian Edmonds (born April 10, 1959), known professionally as Babyface, is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He has written and produced over 26 number-one R&B hits throughout his career, and has won 11 Grammy Awards.
Edmonds was born on April 10, 1959, in Indianapolis, Indiana, to Marvin and Barbara Edmonds. Barbara was a production operator at a pharmaceutical plant. Edmonds, who is the fifth of six brothers (including future After 7 band members Melvin and Kevon Edmonds, the latter of whom went on to have a modestly successful solo career), attended North Central High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, and as a shy youth, wrote songs to express his emotions. When he was in eighth grade, Edmonds’ father died of lung cancer, leaving his mother to raise her sons alone. At this stage, Edmonds became determined to have a career in music.
Edmonds later played with funk performer Bootsy Collins, who tagged him “Babyface” because of his youthful look. He also performed in the group Manchild (which had a 1977 hit “Especially for You” with band member Daryl Simmons) as a guitarist. He played keyboards in the light-funk and R&B group the Deele (which also included drummer Antonio “L.A.” Reid, with whom he would later form a successful writing and producing partnership). One of his first major credits as a songwriter for outside artists came when he wrote the tune “Slow Jam” for the R&B band Midnight Star in 1983. The tune was on Midnight Star’s 1983 double-platinum No Parking on the Dance Floor album, and while it never was a single, it received massive radio airplay and the song is still played on quiet storm radio stations. Babyface remained in the Deele until 1988, when both he and Reid left the group.
His album Playlist consists of eight cover songs and two original works. It was released on September 18, 2007. It was the first album on the newly re-launched Mercury Records label.
On February 4, 2014, he released a Grammy Award-winning duet album with Toni Braxton titled Love, Marriage & Divorce on Motown Records.
In the late 1980s, he contributed to the creation of new jack swing, writing and producing music for the likes of Bobby Brown, Karyn White, Pebbles, Paula Abdul and Sheena Easton.
In 1989, Edmonds co-founded LaFace Records with Reid. Three of the label’s early artists TLC, Usher, and Toni Braxton were very successful. TLC’s second album CrazySexyCool, for which he wrote and produced some of the hits, became the best selling album of all time by an American girl group. Under his direction, TLC was able to sell more than 60 million albums worldwide, and a combined total of 75 million records. Toni Braxton’s first two albums, Toni Braxton (1993) and Secrets (1996), for which he wrote the majority of the songs, went on to sell a combined total of over 10 million copies in America alone.
Babyface helped form the popular late-1990s R&B group Az Yet. Edmonds also helped to mold and work with some of his then-wife Tracey Edmonds’ acts, such as Jon B and producer Jon-John Robinson.
Edmonds has worked with many successful performers in contemporary music. “I’m Your Baby Tonight” (1990), produced for Whitney Houston, was his first No. 1 Top 40 hit in the US. He also wrote and produced Boyz II Men’s 1992 “End of the Road” and 1994 “I’ll Make Love to You”, both of which established records for the longest stay at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He co-wrote, co-produced, and provided backing vocals on Madonna’s 1994 Bedtime Stories, which featured the seven-week No. 1 hit “Take a Bow”, and shared billing with Eric Clapton on the chart-topping Grammy winner “Change the World” from the Phenomenon soundtrack. He also wrote and produced the No. 1 hit “Exhale (Shoop Shoop)” for Whitney Houston as well as the rest of the critically acclaimed 10 million-selling Waiting to Exhale soundtrack in 1995, which spawned additional hits for Houston, Brandy and Mary J. Blige.
Additionally, Edmonds has produced and written music for many artists including Carole King, Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Faith Evans, Al Green, Beyoncé, Diana Ross, Sheena Easton, Toni Braxton, Michael Jackson, Michael Bolton, Paula Abdul, Eric Clapton, Pebbles, Tevin Campbell, Bobby Brown, Whitney Houston, Brandy, Mary J. Blige, Tamia, Shola Ama, 3T, Sisqó, Dru Hill, Fall Out Boy, Céline Dion, Samantha Jade, Backstreet Boys, Honeyz, Katharine McPhee, Mariah Carey, Vanessa L. Williams, Chanté Moore, En Vogue, Zendaya, Kenny G, Kristinia DeBarge, Lil Wayne, Japanese singer Ken Hirai, P!nk, Colbie Caillat, Marc Nelson, TLC, Ariana Grande, Ella Henderson, Jessica Mauboy, Xscape, K-Ci & JoJo, NSYNC, Jordin Sparks and Phil Collins among others. He received three consecutive Grammy Awards for Producer of the Year from 1995 to 1997.
Babyface was in the studio for about two years with Ashanti to produce her album The Declaration (2008).
He worked on the Lil Wayne album Tha Carter III (2008), on the Kanye West-produced “Comfortable”. He also worked with R&B singer Monica for her sixth studio album Still Standing (2010).
In 2013, Babyface served as producer for Ariana Grande’s debut album Yours Truly, producing the majority of her songs, including her second single, “Baby I”.
In September 2014, Babyface collaborated with Barbra Streisand on her album Partners, performing a duet on the track “Evergreen” and background vocals for other album tracks.
Babyface also collaborated with Foxes on her sophomore album, All I Need (2016), producing and co-writing “Scar”.
In July 2016, Babyface along with Bruce Roberts and Carole Bayer Sager helped write the song, “Stronger Together” sung by Jessica Sanchez. The song was played after Hillary Clinton’s speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. The song’s title is named after the slogan that the Clinton campaign uses as a show of uniting behind the Democratic nominee. The song was one of the top trending songs on Shazam that week. The song was widely perceived as positive by the listeners, and even received praise by celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and Kim Kardashian.
In 1994, he appeared and performed on an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 entitled “Mr. Walsh Goes to Washington (Part 2)”.
In the mid-1990s, Edmonds and his then-wife Tracey Edmonds expanded into the business of motion pictures, setting up Edmonds Entertainment Group and producing films such as Soul Food (1997), Josie and the Pussycats (2001), and also the soundtrack for the film The Prince of Egypt (1998), which included contributions from numerous artists, including Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. They also executive produced the BET reality series College Hill (2004-2009). Edmonds also worked with David Foster to compose “The Power of the Dream”, the official song of the 1996 Summer Olympics, performed by superstar Céline Dion. Linda Thompson provided the lyrics.
Babyface also participated as a duet partner on the Fox reality show Celebrity Duets (2006).
He was portrayed by Wesley Jonathan in the 2015 Lifetime biopic Whitney and is portrayed by actor Gavin Houston in the Lifetime biopic based on Toni Braxton entitled Un-Break My Heart, which premiered on the network in early 2016.
On August 30, 2016, Babyface was revealed as one of the celebrities who will compete on season 23 of Dancing with the Stars. He was partnered with professional dancer Allison Holker. He and Holker were eliminated on the fourth week of competition and finished in 11th place along with Vanilla Ice and Witney Carson.
Edmonds founded his record label Soda Pop Records in 2009. Since founding the label he has signed R&B icons K-Ci & JoJo, releasing their first album for the label entitled My Brother’s Keeper. In 2013 Babyface secured a distribution deal with E1 Music for the label.
Babyface married his first wife, Denise during his young adult years. In 1990, Babyface met Tracey Edmonds when she auditioned for the music video for his song “Whip Appeal”. They married on September 5, 1992, and have two sons, Brandon and Dylan. On January 7, 2005, Tracey filed for divorce in Los Angeles County Superior Court, citing irreconcilable differences. In October 2005, Babyface and Tracey announced that they were ending their marriage of thirteen years.
In 2007, Babyface began dating his backup dancer Nicole “Nikki” Pantenburg (former backup dancer for and personal friend of Janet Jackson). In 2008, Babyface and Nicole welcomed a daughter. The pair married on May 17, 2014.
In 2015, Babyface donated money to the presidential campaign of Republican Senator Marco Rubio.
In 1999, a 25-mile (40-km) stretch of Interstate 65 that runs through Indianapolis was renamed Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds Highway.
Written by Dianne Washington

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!