Author: Leon@TLCArmy

Announcement, News, Tribute

Funko Release Second Line Of TLC Pop Vinyls From Their 1992 Debut Album

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Funko received so much praise for the first set of TLC Pop! Rocks vinyl figures, they have now commissioned a second set of TLC Pops, which they announced this week (July 1)!

The first TLC Pops that were released earlier this year, were based on their look in the “Waterfalls” music video, taken from the 1994 album, ‘CrazySexyCool‘. They even came with limited edition ‘Chase’ variants, which were translucent to represent the scenes of the video where the girls transformed into water figures!

Funko are now releasing a set based on TLC’s earlier, more colorful look from their debut single, “Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg“, taken from the album, 1992’s ‘Ooooooohhh… on the TLC tip‘, set for release on August 26, 2021!

Funko revealed a huge assortment of upcoming Pop Vinyls, as part of their new Popapalooza event, some of your favorite artists, bands, and albums are coming to life in glorious Pop Vinyl format. Popapalooza is a first-time event for fans to enjoy!

Inspired by the Lollapalooza music festival that began in the early ’90s and continues to this day, you can expect to see many more Pop Rocks figures based on musicians from the past and present which launched on June 30th and July 1st.

funko-popapalooza-top

Popapalooza Day 1 Releases for June 30th

Popapalooza Day 2 Releases for July 1st

It would be great if Funko make this a hat trick and give us a look from the ‘FanMail‘ era! TLC Pops in “No Scrubs” mode, or the mystical looks from the “Unpretty” video.

Will you be getting the new set of TLC Pops?

Interview, News, Television, Tribute

Kiely Williams Star of ‘BET Presents The Encore’: “3LW Were Inspired By TLC”

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Kiely Williams is a founding member of the R&B girl group 3LW, whose platinum self-titled debut album, ‘3LW‘, was released in 2000, with hits such as “Playas Gon Play“, “No More (Baby I’ma Do Right)”, and “I Do (Wanna Get Close To You)”, taken from the follow-up album, 2002’s ‘A Girl Can Mack’.

After Kiely ended her time with 3LW, which also consisted of members Naturi Naughton, Adrienne Bailon, and Jessica Benson (replacing Naturi in 2003), she took the opportunity to join another girl group in 2002 with Adrienne — The Cheetah Girls — along with Raven-Symoné and Sabrina Bryan — for the Disney franchise, until 2008.

Kiely has been most notably quiet since the groups ended, focusing on family life, but she has finally broken her silence this year, as she is one of the stars of ‘BET Presents The Encore‘, an experimental reality show to see how nine former R&B stars can come together to form a super girl group!

She spoke with BET’s Noteworthy this week to talk all things girl groups, and admits that she has a real passion for 90’s R&B. When the hosts asked Kiely about the 3LW influences from other girl groups before hers, Kiely proudly reveals that her group was very inspired by the style and the individual characteristics of the legendary TLC!

“We modeled ourselves after, I guess more TLC, with the idea that each person had their own individual style, and not having like, one main lead singer”, Kiely states about the magical formula that helped TLC stand out from the crowd. “People sung, people rap, people danced, people did everything”.

“We did it that way, rather than like with The Supremes model, where there is a lead singer and back up singers”, Kiely continues. “So, we definitely modeled ourselves after TLC, but still in our own little way. The idea for 3LW was little women, that we are — we might be small, but we are mighty! We know our business”.

TLC have always been supportive and open to other girl groups doing their thing, as they never saw girl groups as competition — they would rather compare themselves to guy groups like Bell Biv Devoe and Boyz II Men!

Back in 2001, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes told MTV News that she indeed was a fan of 3LW. “Let’s see, I like 3LW. The first time I saw the ad, I did think it looked like a JCPenney ad”, Lisa jokes. “But, it took me to watch the video of the girls in action, and they are adorable. They are doing their [thing]”.

“Look, this is how it is”, Lisa concludes. “Anybody can copy TLC — either you got it, or you don’t.”

Kiely reveals why she loves girl groups so much. “For me personally, growing up, I was always a fan of Total, Xscape, Brownstone, the list can go on and on. But I love R&B girl groups. I love 90’s R&B in general. I think it was the best era”.

Watch ‘BET Presents The Encore’ every Wednesday 10/9c on BET

Announcement, Appearance, Television, Tribute

Spice Girls’ Mel B Takes On TLC Classic “Waterfalls” For Spain’s ‘Masked Singer’

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The Spice Girls have always been vocal about being huge fans of TLC and were inspired by them. Their influence could be heard on many of the tracks on the debut Spice Girls album, ‘Spice‘, in 1996.

Scary Spice Mel B was unmasked this week on the Spanish version of the popular television show, ‘The Masked Singer‘ (titled ‘Mask Singer Adivina Quién Canta’), where she performed for five weeks as Medusa the Jellyfish.

Melanie B decided to step it up a notch during week 5, and performed a notable TLC classic, 1995’s “Waterfalls“, from the Diamond-certified ‘CrazySexyCool‘ album. Mel even added a portion of Left Eye‘s iconic rap to her performance!

The judges on the panel initially thought that it was Australian star Kylie Minogue under the mask and even thought that it could be Mel’s Spice Girl bandmate, Geri Halliwell!

The British singer assured after being unmasked during her time at the Spanish ‘Mask Singer’ that although she had a bad time due to the tremendous weight of her mask, it was one of the fun things she has done. Mel previously took part in the British version of the show last year.

Mel B’s bandmate, Melanie C, previously worked with TLC member Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes in 2000, where they both scored their first ever UK number one on the single, “Never Be The Same Again“.

Last year, she tweeted about her fond memories of Lisa, saying “Never Be The Same Again, my 1st UK No1 & my collaboration w/ the wonderful Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes. Myself & the @spicegirls were huge @OfficialTLC fans. Couldn’t believe my luck when I had the opportunity to work w/ her. And she was perfect”.

Melanie C finally met T-Boz and Chilli in 2018 for the first time in London, and admitted that she found it very emotional. “I was so excited to meet them and I just burst into tears because it made me think of Lisa”.

What did you think of Mel B’s performance of “Waterfalls”?

Announcement, News

TLC Announce ‘Celebration of CrazySexyCool’ 2021 Tour With Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

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It’s been a crazy couple of years for us all, with countless months of uncertainty due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, which forced us to slow down and practice a more sedentary lifestyle, free from crowds and become more conscious about social distancing.

One thing that suffered most was the live touring industry. However, the end of extreme social isolation is finally drawing closer to becoming a reality!

Today (June 23), TLC revealed that they intend to return to the stage later this year, with the announcement of the ‘Celebration of CrazySexyCool Tour‘, kicking off on September 3, 2021 in Albertville, AL at the Sand Mountain Amphitheater!

Sony recently released artists from their pre-2000 debt, allowing them to benefit from streaming profits.

The ladies will be joined by special guests, the legendary rap group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony on the tour, adding their unique blend of harmonious hip-hop to the live shows to open for TLC on the 18 dates of the tour. Additional dates will be announced in due course.

Chilli states, “I’m so excited for this tour because we’ve been talking about doing something special for ‘CrazySexyCool’ for years and FINALLY, we get to do it! This is the album that truly put us on the map and showed the world who we really are. So, this will be quite the celebration!”

RIAA Diamond certified ‘CrazySexyCool’

‘CrazySexyCool‘ is TLC’s second studio album that featured the #1 singles “Waterfalls” and “Creep” and received a Diamond certification from the RIAA.

With over 85 million records sold worldwide, TLC is not only the best-selling American girl group of all time; with 4 Grammy Awards, 4 multi-platinum albums (two of which went Diamond), four number one singles and ten Top 10 singles, theirs is an influence – across pop, hip-hop, R&B, fashion and female empowerment – which defines generations.

In 2017, TLC released their self-titled album, their first in over fifteen years which hit #1 on Billboard’s Independent Album Chart. It funded exclusively by the fans via the crowd funding site, Kickstarter.

A two-hour documentary special “Biography: TLC” will premiere on A&E in 2022. The special will chronicle the group’s powerful, emotional journey and their survival against all odds as T-Boz and Chilli tell their story for the first time in a feature documentary. The special will be directed by Matt Kay.

TLC is represented by Lucia Media Group.

What songs are you hoping to see TLC perform on the ‘Celebration of CrazySexyCool Tour’?