Following that phenomenal video Chilli went viral with last month, dancing to her son, Tron Austin‘s latest single, “Captions“, the mother and son made an appearance on Good Day Atlanta to talk about everything from Tron’s expectations as a new artist to Chilli’s life on tour with TLC!
Music comes as second nature to Tron, with his dad being the super producer Dallas Austin, and of course his mom being a member of the super group TLC. Tron has been itching to get his creativity out in the world, and now that he has graduated from college, it’s the perfect time to make it happen.
“Ever since I got out of college it’s been so surreal for me”, Tron exclaims. “I need to get to that next level — I need to make a name for myself now, too. So, after I had my records done and I was able to bring it to my mom, and she even volunteered and said she wants to dance to my song, it makes me feel good because it feels like I’m really doing it”.
Tron feels that having a mom that is a member of the biggest-selling girl group of all time has it’s advantages and disadvantages, as the stakes are super high now. “Some people would say it’s more pressure added because of that reason”, Tron admits. “I think all that stuff is true, but it’s all in good terms. It’s good pressure in the advantages. She can help guide me, and make sure my path is clear, too”.
Chilli co-signs Tron, announcing how proud she is of her son and although she didn’t want him to be in the music industry, as she knows how hard it can be, but he is passionate about his craft so she is fully supportive of him. “He has what it takes, and he’s very humble! We don’t play those games!”, Chilli laughs.
Tron opens up about how close he his to his mom, and gives Chilli props for being able to perfectly balance being a parent and a friend at the same time. “Obviously the respect is always there, it’s not like she was just my friend”, Tron says. “But at the same time I think my mom has managed a good balance between being a great parent and know how to be a good friend to your child from a young age and now that I’m an adult, it’s still the same type of way”.
Tron explains that he would like his music to reflect his originality and his love for all of the genres that he grew up with. “My sound is more like pop, mixed with hip-hop and R&B, because I sing too”, Tron says. “I try and do as much as possible and fuse things together, because the more you fuse things together, the more ears that you can please”.
Chilli gushes about the recent TLC ‘Whole Lotta Hits‘ tour that wrapped last month across North America with rappers Nelly and Flo Rida. “We did the tour with Live Nation. It was amazing. We’ve always been on tour, but some tours are a lot more fun than others, and this was one of them, for sure”, Chilli admits.
Chilli remains humble and gives all of the praises of her success to God, after 27 years in the business and still loving what she does. “We’re always so thankful and we’re still hungry for it”, Chilli says. “I’m 48 and I can’t tell the difference, energy-wise, from when I was 21!”.
Tron reveals that his favorite TLC song is actually a song that doesn’t feature his mom on the lead vocals. “She’s gonna give me heat for it, but “Creep” is my favorite”, Tron laughs. “It’s the melody — I started out as a drummer and a producer too, and a lot of the sounds and the instruments that are incorporated kinda resonated, so it’s always been — and “No Scrubs“, obviously”, Tron adds with a smile.
Tron Austin’s smash hit single, “Captions“, is available on all digital formats right now!
