Announcement, Interview

Vengaboys Tribute TLC in 90’s Throwback Single ‘1999 (I Wanna Go Back)’

Leon@TLCArmy's avatarLeon@TLCArmy Leave a comment

Dutch pop superstars Vengaboys took the world by storm back in 1999, when they released back-to-back hits such as “We’re Going To Ibiza!”, “We Like To Party! (The Vengabus)” and “Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!”.

The energetic quartet, who are made up of D-Nice, Captain Kim, Sailor Robin and Cowboy Donny, have now taken a trip down memory lane and decided to release an ode to the 90’s in the form of the new single, “1999 (I Wanna Go Back)“, which is a cover of the 2019 Charli XCX single, “1999”, which also paid homage to the TLC “Waterfalls” video.

The music video makes the most of the WOMBO AI app technology to help bring some of the most notable and iconic album covers from the 90’s to life, such as TLC‘s ‘CrazySexyCool‘, Madonna’s ‘Bedtime Stories’, Janet Jackson‘s ‘janet.’, and Mariah Carey‘s ‘Rainbow’.

Other releases that are included in the video are by Britney Spears, Nirvana, Notorious B.I.G, Bjork, Will Smith, Justin Timberlake, Eminem, Dr. Dre and many others.

“We never stopped spreading love and fun. But this new century is not exactly cooperative. We feel a responsibility to bring the good times back!”, Robin said in a press statement.

“For us, the 90’s never stopped anyway. But we do notice that a lot of people are weighed down by a heavy mood, and it is kind of striking that this is so since the new millennium. I’m just saying…”, Donny adds.

“With this new single we hope to make up for the lost fun, and we’re ready to party like it’s 1999!”, says D-Nice.

“1999 (I Wanna Go Back)” is out now!

Announcement, News, Tribute

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

Leon@TLCArmy's avatarLeon@TLCArmy 2 Comments

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”

Leon@TLCArmy's avatarLeon@TLCArmy Leave a comment

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’

Leon@TLCArmy's avatarLeon@TLCArmy Leave a comment

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”?