busta rhymes

Announcement, News

TLC Announce 2024 30th Anniversary of ‘CrazySexyCool’ Tour in Australia and New Zealand with Busta Rhymes and En Vogue

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The best-selling American female group of all time, TLC announce their 2024 CrazySexyCool 30th Anniversary Australia Tour Dates presented by iHeartRadio.

The tour will kick off just after Chilli‘s birthday (February 27th) on February 29th at Trusts Arena Auckland, followed by Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena on March 2nd, Adelaide Entertainment Centre on March 3rd, Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena on March 5th, Brisbane Entertainment Centre on March 7th, concluding with RAC Arena Perth on March 9th.

TLC – Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas – will perform selections from their 1994 Diamond-certified album, 30 years after its release plus additional hits. The ‘90s themed shows will feature fan interaction, 90s fashion, and more surprises. Joining TLC are Busta Rhymes and En Vogue.

General public tickets go on sale on Thursday, December 7th at 1pm (All times local).

Chilli says, “I’m so excited to return to Australia! This is the album that put us on the map with Aussie fans and showed the world who we really are. And to mark 30 years, this will be quite the celebration!”

TLC celebrating 50 years of hip-hop at Atlanta Falcons game (Nov 26, 2023)

‘CrazySexyCool‘ is TLC’s second studio album that featured the #1 singles “Waterfalls” and “Creep” and received a Diamond certification from the RIAA. In Australia, the album was a massive success, reaching the top 5 and remaining in the top 100 for 76 weeks with sales in excess of double platinum.

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 a self-titled album, their first in over fifteen years, which hit #1 on Billboard’s Independent Album Chart.

A two-hour Documentary “TLC Forever” premiered simultaneously on Lifetime and A&E in 2023, chronicling the group’s powerful, emotional journey and their survival against all odds as T-Boz and Chilli revealed their story for the first time in a feature documentary. Directed by Matt Kay, executive-produced by Academy Award-winning and Emmy Award-Winning director Roger Ross Williams (“The Apollo”) and executive producers Tionne Watkins, Rozonda Thomas, and Bill Diggins.


TLC CRAZYSEXYCOOL 30TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR
AUSTRALIA 2024
Presented by iHeartRadio


Tickets available via livenation.com.au or livenation.co.nz

Thursday, February 29th
Trusts Arena, Auckland, NZ

Saturday, March 2nd
Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, VIC

Sunday, March 3rd
Entertainment Centre, Adelaide, SA

Tuesday, March 5th
Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, NSW

Thursday, March 7th
Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, QLD

Saturday, March 9th
RAC Arena, Perth, WA

Live Nation pre-sale: Wednesday, December 6 at 1pm, – Thursday, December 7 at 12pm.

General public tickets go on sale on Thursday, December 7 at 1pm (All times local).

This will also mark the 10th anniversary since TLC first toured in Australia back in 2014. The ladies have been touring consistently ever since due to popular demand.

TLC last performed in Australia in November 2022 as part of Fridayz Live, joining a line-up of artists including Macklemore, Akon, Ashanti, Craig David and more for the event’s return after a two-year absence.

Interview, News, Tribute

Doja Cat Reveals Her Visuals Are Inspired by TLC’s Left Eye, Missy Elliott and Busta Rhymes

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The Grammy award-winning hip-hop rap legend Doja Cat recently stopped by for a chat with the popular US YouTube talk show, ‘Hot Ones‘, to promote her latest album, ‘Scarlet‘, and it’s global number one, the record-breaking single, “Paint The Town Red“.

During the show appearance, Doja Cat was asked by the show host, Sean Evans, question’s about her ‘cartoonish’ animated visuals and what inspired her artistically. Doja Cat then revealed that amongst other greats from hip-hop during the 90’s including Busta Rhymes and Missy Elliott, she was also inspired by the late, great, and often underrated, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes.

Doja Cat ‘Hot Pink’ promo (2019)

Sean praised Doja Cat for returning to her rap roots on her latest album after she received some criticism from critics claiming that she isn’t a rapper, as she effortlessly blends her bars with her singing skills on the majority of her hits, including the number one single, “Say So“, amongst many others.

He then quoted a 2019 interview she did with Elle magazine, in which Doja Cat reveals that her mom is responsible for her TLC inspiration. “My mom loves music and it poured into my childhood”, she recalls. “She played Jamiroquai over and over, the same damn song. What was it? ‘Virtual Insanity?’ She played a lot of Black Eyed Peas, a lot of India Arie, Erykah Badu, a lot of TLC.”

Doja Cat performs at Victoria’s Secret (2023)

In response to her wish to take things back to the 90’s when artists took more of an animated approach to their visuals, Doja Cat said, “Rap back in the day was a lot more [camp] — I don’t even know if it was better then or better now, I just get very excited when I see rappers that are interested in their visuals in a way that they are ready to so something new and twist things, and do something camp”.

Doja Cat then detailed who she found most inspirational from that magical 90’s era. “I feel like Busta [Rhymes] was a pioneer. His fashion back in the day was just ridiculously good and cool. I don’t know if he knows, but he’s cool. I feel like Missy [Elliott] is another big one, Left Eye is a big one — I feel like everyone was doing it really, really well back in the day, those were just a few I could name from the top of my head”.

Doja Cat in ‘Demons’ (2023)

Interestingly enough, Doja Cat’s left eye began to leak, leading her to comment, “I’m crying, and it’s just my left eye, and it had to happen on this day, too — and it’s not the [hot] wings”. Some fans believe this was a sign from Left Eye to signify her appreciation for being identified as one of Doja Cat’s inspirations. Who knows?

Doja Cat has given nods of homage to TLC in the past. She previously gave us “No Scrubs”-styled visuals in her music video, “Get Into It (Yuh)” in 2021. She was also styled like T-Boz in the video, with rhinestones on her face and bright red hair. This similarity was confirmed by her stylist.

Check out Doja Cat’s latest studio album, ‘Scarlet‘ out now!

Tickets to ‘The Scarlet Tour‘ are also on sale now!

Appearance, News, Television, Tribute

Coi Leray Pays Homage to Left Eye and TLC During 2023 BET Awards Performance

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Hip-hop star Coi Leray pulled out all the stops at the 2023 BET Awards on June 25, when she decided to pay homage to some of the most iconic female rappers from past to present day!

Her two-piece custom outfit donned the names of icons and new stars alike, including Left Eye, Queen Latifah, Ice Spice, Doja Cat, Missy Elliott, Lady of Rage, Roxanne Shanté, Saweetie, City Girls, Gangsta Boo, Young M.A, Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, BIA, Dej Loaf, Remy Ma, Trina, Khia, Shawnna, Flo Milli, Lola Brooke, GloRilla, Eve, Nicki Minaj and more.

The salute arrived nearly two weeks after Leray pleaded for her fellow female rappers to unite for a collaboration.

“Ain’t been a [No. 1] rap song at all this year,” she tweeted. “Calling all the female rappers to the front. [Hear] me out. ladies night. Hip hop. Unity. let’s make history with a number 1 … together .. with love. #justanidea.”

The last all female rap collaboration was 1997’s “Not Tonight (Ladies Night)“, featuring Lil’ Kim, Left Eye, Missy Elliott, Da Brat and Angie Martinez.

If you thought the black and white outfits looked familiar, that is largely due to the fact Leray used inspiration from TLC‘s iconic performance at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards, paying homage not only to their fashion but also replicating the choreography they performed during their set.

The outfits were created by the talented fashion designer OtheezY, who has worked with Leray numerous times in the past, and KRONE, who said, “Coi and dancers in everything KRONE (Hand cut, sewn and stoned) and sleepless nights/countless hours of work by myself and my team”.

To celebrate the success of the performance, OtheezY included a fun fact on her Instagram page about how the performance idea first came together.

“Coi was like, I wanna be on some Left Eye shit, woman empowerment vibe, all leather!”, OtheezY recalls. “She was hyped! As soon as she said ‘LEFT EYE’, I said ‘TLC’! and the 1995 VMA iconic TLC performance came to mind. Coi wanted to give homage to old school and new school female MC’s, and I thought that was so freakin’ cool! Anywho, WE DID THAT!”

Watch the Coi Leray performance which was part of a Busta Rhymes tribute to celebrate his Lifetime Achievement Award!