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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Is the town of Salem ready for the return of it’s most loved former-felon?
Soap fans as well as TLC fans can breathe a sigh of relief, after having a hint of hope that Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins will be reprising her role as Sheila Watkins in the hit soap, ‘Days Of Our Lives’.
The great news was broke via a brief report on the soap website SheKnows on Nov 1. T-Boz last graced our television screens as Sheila back in May, when she voluntarily quit her role as Mayor Abe Carver‘s (James Reynolds) secretary to save his political campaign, following the kiss they shared together!
T-Boz as Sheila Watkins with Abe Carver
Although there are no concrete dates yet announced for her return, it is expected that she will be back on the show approximately in March.
As fans of the show know, ‘Days Of Our Lives’ is filmed 6 months in advance to the air date. With T-Boz expected to return in March 2020 means she will have began filming scenes for the show in September 2019.
T-Boz in ‘Growing Up Hip Hop: Atlanta’
Sheila has come a long way since her arrival on the show back in 2016, when she first appeared as a bad girl prisoner who gave Hope (Kristian Alfonso) hell when they were in jail together. Sheila wasn’t keen on having a cop as a roomie and gave Hope a couple of beat downs!
She returned to our screens in 2017 to assist Bonnie Lockhart (Judi Evans) in a doppelganger plotline, assisting her convict buddy in maintaining a false life living as Adrienne Kiriakis in her mansion. Sheila posed as a laidback maid until the truth was exposed and they both fled town.
The world still can not get enough of that R&B power couple we know as Chilli & Usher, who dated for two years in 2001.
Which is why, when Chilli made an Instagram post about soulmates, allegedly tagging her former beau in the post initially, fans went crazy!
Posting a quote from writer Zack Grey, her post said: ‘our souls are so in love, but our humans keep getting in the way’. She captioned it, saying “Dumb humans #soulmates super rare to find one… but consider yourself lucky if you haven’t”.
Leon@TLCArmy
