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
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”?
Sony Music will pay royalties from streaming and other revenue streams to thousands of artists who signed deals with the label before 2000 and have yet to recoup their advances.
The major label reportedly sent out a letter to artists on June 11, announcing the new policy change, which is part of a new initiative called “Artists Forward”.
While the acts’ existing contracts will not be modified, Sony will instead “pay through on existing unrecouped balances to increase the ability of those who qualify to receive more money from uses of their music”.
It means that many will now, for the first time, earn money when their songs are streamed on services like Spotify and Amazon Music.
Sony said it could not name the eligible acts due to confidentiality agreements, but a source said it would “include household names”.
It said some artists stood to receive “many thousands of dollars per year”.
BBC explained how artists end up in debt in the first place: Musicians typically take on debt when they first sign to a record label. They are given a lump sum, known as an advance, to pay for recording studios, video shoots, distribution and other expenses. The money is then paid back when they sell their music.
However, many artists never earn enough to repay their advances, often because they get unfavourable royalty rates from their own record companies. Heritage black artists have been particularly affected.
And until the debt to their label is repaid, those artists are not eligible to receive income from streaming, and other royalty payments.
That’s how an act like TLC, who were signed to Sony subsidiary LaFace Records, ended up declaring bankruptcy in 1995.
The R&B stars declared debts of $3.5m, despite having one of the decade’s best selling albums, ‘CrazySexyCool’. TLC were even forced to re-record some of their major hits because of the Sony-imposed royalty restrictions.
But why now? Sony’s initative comes amid mounting pressure on the record industry to be more transparent about the way it distributes money, particularly from streaming services.
A parliamentary inquiry is currently looking into the streaming economy, prompted by the vocal #BrokenRecord campaign, which seeks to address the imbalance in how profits are shared between record labels, musicians and the streaming services themselves.
Gomez musician Tom Gray, who founded the campaign, said Sony’s move was “incredibly welcome”.
“From the perspective of somebody who’s been running a campaign to try and get these companies to behave more ethically and transparently, it feels like a win,” he told the BBC.
Sony’s announcement came in a letter to artists on Friday, a copy of which has been shared with the BBC.
“We are not modifying existing contracts, but choosing to pay through on existing unrecouped balances to increase the ability of those who qualify to receive more money from uses of their music,” it said.
In other words, the debt hasn’t been explicitly wiped out – but Sony will ignore it and pay royalties to affected acts, backdated to January 1st, 2021.
Music industry lawyer Aurelia Butler-Ball said the scheme would “unlock” streaming revenues that artists were not previously entitled to, under contracts signed during the CD and cassette era.
“Many of the record deals [made] before 2000 didn’t recognise that streaming platforms would ever exist,” she said. “Therefore, artists didn’t have the right mechanisms in place to see those revenues.”
Sony Music’s letter appears in full below:
June 11, 2021
Artists Forward
Dear Sony Music Partner:
Today Sony Music Entertainment is announcing an expansion of the comprehensive support we provide to thousands of our artists around the world, with the launch of a new initiative called Artists Forward, prioritizing transparency with creators in all aspects of their development.
Legacy Unrecouped Balance Program
To enhance our level of service under Artists Forward, we are unveiling a Legacy Unrecouped Balance Program, creating more payment opportunities for our long-standing artists and participants around the world.
As part of our continuing focus on developing new financial opportunities for creators, we will no longer apply existing unrecouped balances to artist and participant earnings generated on or after January 1, 2021 for eligible artists and participants globally who signed to SME prior to the year 2000 and have not received an advance from the year 2000 forward.
Through this program, we are not modifying existing contracts, but choosing to pay through on existing unrecouped balances to increase the ability of those who qualify to receive more money from uses of their music.
In addition, those eligible for the Legacy Unrecouped Balance Program can join other qualifying Sony Music artists in being able to receive advances on projected earnings using Real Time Advances, a new feature available through the Sony Music Artist Portal enabling instant account advances. It is currently available in the U.S. and U.K. and will be rolling out in additional markets around the world later this year. Qualifying artists and participants who use the Sony Music Artist Portal will also be able to request a withdrawal of all or part of their payable balance each month as soon as it becomes available using our industry-leading Cash Out feature.
Artists and participants who qualify for the Legacy Unrecouped Balance Program will be notified of their eligibility separately in the weeks ahead.
A Continuing Commitment to Artists
We’re driven by our mission to provide artists with the best levels of service. The program we are announcing today is part of that continuing work and further builds on our initiatives and investments in modernized contracts, flexible deal options, advanced data and analytics insights for creators and more.
For more information, please speak to your local label representative or visit the Sony Music Artist Portal (sme-artistportal.com).
Best,
Sony Music Entertainment
It’s been a long, long time coming!
What are your thoughts on Sony wiping old debts from it’s legacy artists?
For Apple Music’s Juneteenth-inspired ‘Freedom Songs’, a collection of covers and originals, sisterly duo Chloe x Halle covered TLC’s “Waterfalls,” a track that conquered the pop charts of its day while staying true to TLC’s signature ’90s R&B-defining “around the way girl” aesthetic.
“This song speaks so much to who we are as artists and human beings,” the duo protegé’s of Beyoncé said. “We always say music is therapy to us because the lyrics are healing. There’s something about singing these words to yourself—it turns into an encouraging mantra that makes you feel inspired after listening.”
Back in June of 2020, Chloe x Halle shared a medley of covers to their YouTube page featuring songs by Lauryn Hill, Aaliyah, and TLC, saying they are three artists who have “inspired” their style.
Check out the full version of their rendition of “Waterfalls”, available exclusively on Apple Music and iTunes.
What are your thoughts on Chloe x Halle’s cover of “Waterfalls”?
Leon@TLCArmy
TLC-Army.com 