Appearance, Event, Interview, News, Rumor

Matthew Lawrence Confirms He Would Love to Have a Baby with Chilli One Day ‘She’d Be An Incredible Mother Again’

Chilli made her first official public appearance with her boyfriend Matthew Lawrence last week at the Lifetime Movie Club event celebrating Female Black Excellence shortly after the announcement of the upcoming ‘TLC Forever’ documentary premiering on Lifetime and A&E simultaneously.

Back on March 3, Matthew revealed to ET that his ultimate ‘game plan’ was to start a family with Chilli, which set the headlines alight with rumors that the couple were trying to have a baby. When asked if children are in the cards in the near future, Matthew said, “That’s the game plan. That’s what we’re trying to do.”

Matthew Lawrence and Chilli with Jackée Harry

“My life is in complete bloom right now. I get to spend time with an amazing woman like Chilli,” he added. “I’ve never gotten to be able to experience that kind of relationship before. She’s really, really special.”

However, this week Matthew cleared up some misconceptions about his previous comments on the subject. In an interview with E! News on March 15, Matthew clarifies that he “didn’t mean to put any pressure” on his TLC queen.

“It’s such an interesting story. Joe and I were commiserating about this plan that we had to have children together … when we were growing up,” he said of older brother Joey Lawrence. “And I missed the first go around and now he’s starting a new family and I was thinking, ‘Man, it’d be great if we could do it again, when I didn’t have the chance to raise a family together.’ “

“So that’s what I meant by that. I didn’t mean to put any pressure on somebody I was dating or anything,” he explained.

Matthew also reiterates that “[Chilli is] already a mother, she has an incredible son. I respect so much as to how she’s raised him,” he said of Chilli’s son Tron, 25, whom she shares with ex Dallas Austin. “She’d be an incredible mother again and I’d be incredibly lucky but that’s way in the future.”

PHOTO CREDITS: CHRISTAL JORDAN FOR ENCHANTED PR / BACKGRID / RANDY SHROPSHIRE FOR LIFETIME

Announcement, Interview, News, Rumor

T-Boz Has Respect For Drake, T.I. and Nelly, But Confirms L.A. Reid Indeed Turned His Back On TLC

Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins spoke with TMZ this week to clear up some things that had made the headlines last week, following her interview with ‘Hollywood Unlocked where she had named some of the people that hadn’t fully supported TLC, following the tragic loss of the beloved Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes.

Tionne says that she was actually referring to the promoters and industry executives in charge that had turned their backs on TLC after the loss of Lisa rather than other artists, most notably their former LaFace Records boss, L.A. Reid. “L.A. didn’t stop rocking with us because he didn’t believe in us anymore, it was something personal which I’ll always keep between us”, Tionne admits. “Whether I agreed with it or not, he out of respect called me, and I’ll just leave it like that”.

“The final decision was to not rock with us, but it wasn’t because he didnt believe in us, so I’ll clear that part up”, Tionne clarifies. “But, he did decide to turn his back and keep on going, and that’s fine, it’s business”.

To recap, TLC had inked a deal with L.A. Reid back in 2013 on Epic Records, the label he was the head of at the time. Fresh after the success of their hit VH1 movie, ‘CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story‘, and the release of it’s soundtrack, ‘20‘, featuring the track “Meant To Be“, TLC were in the studio recording their first studio album since 2002’s ‘3D‘.

However, shortly during the recording process, the deal was mysteriously terminated, leaving fans confused and upset. The girls had said they would reveal what happened but have since decided to keep it personal. L.A. Reid had insisted that he did not drop the girls, saying that they are friends for life.

The following are excerpts from an LA Times article, documenting some of the tracks TLC were working on at the time. ‘TLC recently issued “Meant to Be,” their first single since 2003. The saccharine, Ne-Yo-crafted ballad is the lone new track from the biopic’s soundtrack, “20,” and came from recent sessions that include collaborations with Dallas Austin and Lady Gaga, who penned a track called “P.O.S.H. Life.” They also hope to log studio time with Drake and 2 Chainz.’

After another check on Thomas, Watkins slid into a dimly lit booth to take a stab at another song — an angsty, guitar-driven pop-rock ballad called “Breaking Bad.” “If I die before I wake, at least I know I lived for something,” she sang. “If this breath is the last I take, I don’t want it to be for nothing.”’

The media also spun her comments as an attack on fellow musicians Drake, T.I. and Nelly for pulling out on the girls for their 2014 Super Bowl Blitz on VH1. However, Tionne was glad to clear up that misconception and says there are no hard feelings against any of the rappers.

“I was actually saying it in a good way, because [that show] turned out great for us. Because God always makes things go exactly how it’s supposed to, I’m a believer in that”, Tionne says. “I am happy that they actually didn’t show up, because it showed that we had staying power. That we can still rock on stage without the bells and whistles and other people to save us.”

Tionne also admits that she doesn’t blame the artists for not wanting to rock with them at that time, as no one really knew if continuing without Lisa was going to work out or not. “I’ve got respect for Drake, Nelly and T.I., I don’t want it to sound like it was being messy. They made it sound like I said they turned their back on TLC, child, that’s business”, she says.

“To keep it honest, if I was the artist and I didn’t know the state of the group, I’d be scared too! I’d be like, ‘hell naw, I don’t know what y’all doing’. That’s business, y’all, that’s the way the industry goes. I’m not mad”.

Announcement, News, Rumor, Tribute

Funko To Release TLC Pop! Rocks Vinyl Figures

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Update (Oct 8) — we have been informed that the TLC Pop! Rocks will likely be announced and revealed later this month, with plans for a December 2020 release!

After months of speculation it seems that our TLC girls may finally get their own set of Funko Pop! vinyl figures, according to the Funko fan page Funko POP News!

Rumors began back in June when a list of upcoming Funko Pops! circulated online in the fan community including ‘Chase‘ figures of T-Boz, Left Eye and Chilli. ‘Chase‘ releases are known to be limited edition.

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New releases posted on June 27 / Pop o’clock/fb

Fans have hung onto hope of the rumors becoming a reality, so the news of the TLC figures coming soon is very much welcomed (as soon as September, possibly).

Funko have a very male-dominated roster of Pop! vinyls already, so with last years addition of the hip-hop girl group Salt-N-Pepa being graced with their own figures in the Pop! Rocks line, it was just a matter of time for the legendary TLC to be honored in the same way.

We’ll keep you posted on if and when the TLC Pop! Rocks are going to be released!

In the meantime, have a peep at how the TLC Pop! figures may look, with this amazing fan created version! (Thanks for sharing, Carl)!

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Would you buy the TLC Funko Pop! figures?

News, Poll, Rumor, Tribute

VOTE: Which Group Would Make The Best Verzuz Battle With TLC?

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Verzuz has quickly become one of the most powerful quarantine-friendly entertainment platforms going. Ever since March 2020, music artists have been having a blast taking part in Verzuz challenges, set up by Timbaland and Swizz Beats. In this online series on Instagram, two artists engage in a face off with a selection of their biggest hits for a friendly competition with each other.

In the past, the series has featured some memorable battles, kicking off with The-Dream vs Sean Garrett, Ne-Yo vs Johnta Austin, Ryan Tedder vs Benny Blanco, Scott Storch vs Mannie Fresh, T-Pain vs Lil’ Jon, Erykah Badu vs Jill Scott, Nelly vs Ludacris, Bounty Killer vs Beenie Man, 112 vs Jagged Edge, and most notably the Babyface vs Teddy Riley battle, which was infamously overwhelmed with technical difficulties and over performing on Teddy’s side. Once they rescheduled and ironed out the kinks, the show later ran smoothly, much to the delight of the fans.

The Verzuz Instagram highlighted a comment Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins made this week on a post regarding a TLC Verzuz battle with the girl groups SWV and Xscape, which she co-signed and it went viral on the blogs. Since then, thousands of fans have shown their approval to the suggestion. “Text us at (718) 866 -1775 and tell us“, Verzuz stated on the post.

The suggestion was actually presented to her last month on her 50th birthday (April 26), by her brother Carnoy “Koko” Watkins. He suggested that TLC should do a Verzuz battle with Destiny’s Child, although Tionne initially protested and said there are other groups besides them.

That would be fun“, T-Boz said. “It would have to be in a ‘nice and love’ way, a friendly competition.” The Spice Girls could also be considered, as a battle between the two biggest-selling girl groups in the world would be an iconic moment.

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TLC in 1999 (Photo: Ron Davis)

Girl groups aside, TLC could even battle a male group. With the strength of their solid catalog, they have the capabilities the battle against boy and girl groups. Candidates like Boyz II Men and BBD, who were also considered to be their competition at the peak of their careers.

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Lelee of SWV comments on the Verzuz

Not only is being part of a Verzuz battle great for the culture, it will also give the featured artists a major boost in their music sales and streams. Jill Scott and Erykah Badu saw their streams triple after their battle on May 9, whilst Babyface saw his Instagram followers rocket from a modest 420k to 1.1 million, after his rescheduled battle with Teddy Riley on April 20. This is now known as the Verzuz effect.

A lot of people call it battles — we’re battling enough in the world today“, Swizz Beats said about the Verzuz series. “Let’s flip it around by celebrating each other with these amazing songs that changed the world“.

Who do you think TLC should do a Verzuz battle with? Vote below!