CD Unboxing: TLC - Ooooooohhh... On The TLC Tip (1992)

This is the unboxing of the debut album by the Atlanta's girlgroup TLC, released in 1993 by LaFace Records. The album includes the hits "Ain't To Proud Too Beg", "What About Your Friends" and "Baby-Baby-Baby".

Tracklist:

01. Intro
02. Ain't To Proud Too Beg
03. Shock Dat Monkey
04. Intermission I (Skit)
05. Hat 2 Da Back
06. Das Da Way We Like 'Em
07. What About Your Friends
08. His Story
09. Intermission II (Skit)
10. Bad By Myself
11. Somethin' You Wanna Know
12. Baby-Baby-Baby
13. This Is How It Should Be Done
14. Depend On Myself
15. Conclusion (Skit)

[allanmhanson]

I want to buy this CD so bad. Just today I discovered What About Your Friends on Spotify and I was blown away.
This is the coolest albums I’ve heard this year 😍
I discovered New Jack Swing in the pandemic, I can’t believe I was living without it hahaha

[terryallen]

My all time favorite album by TLC plus it was TLC that I learned of music at 5 years old.

[susanfit]

Imagine the early '90s R&B group Bell Biv Devoe as a girl group - and TLC is what you get. Little did we know we had legends in the making!! They had a unique look and style, and they weren't like ANYONE else out there - and this is why people are STILL talking about this group. We will never forget the almost cartoonish Day-Glo clothes that were baggy as all get out, and condoms worn as the "must-have" fashion accessory.

THE TLC TIP grabs you right from the start - yes, even the intro makes you interested in what you are about to hear. (And yes, the interludes between the songs will crack you up, too.) One of the things that made it that way was TLC who debuted with this classic gem that was a hybrid between a Public Enemy album, a BBD album and a whatever was going on in Hiphop at that moment. Exploding with the sounds of New Jack Swing, funk, rap, hip-hop, catchy pop hooks, and crazy, frenetic Public Enemy-like samples all over it, this CD is an instant injection of fun and youthful energy. The material sounds just as good now as it did back in the day. It kicks off with the Grammy-nominated hit "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg", goes right into the red-hot "Shock Dat Monkey" and keeps the momentum going with "Hat 2 Da Back". The CD sort of hits a bump with "Das The Way We Like 'Em" - all I can say is I prefer that Left Eye do the rapping, and let T-Boz and Chilli stick to singing. However, it picks right up again with the hit "What About Your Friends" and "His Story", an amazing song that showed that TLC had a serious side to them as well. This tune caused a bit of controversy back then because Left Eye mentioned the name of a prominent rape victim in the intro. (For those who don't know, this was a huge story in the late 1980s in New York and the news spread nationwide. The teenage girl, who was black, accused six white men, some of them police officers in Duchess County, NY of kidnapping and raping her but when it came down to it, she was accused of lying about the attack. She continued to stand by her story. It's been said that the song "His Story" is loosely based on that event.) "This Is How It Should Be Done" loops a sample of The Impressions "We're A Winner", a vocal sample of Eric B. & Rakim "I Know You Got Soul", and a drum sample of Rufus Thomas "Do the Funky Penguin" for a sprightly hip-hop/funk dance number before Left Eye concludes the album with a message about safe sex. What I loved so much about this group is they almost always had important messages in their songs, subjects we all need to pay attention to - as we see with their later smashes, "Waterfalls" and "Unpretty".

The CD keeps up the pace with the hyped-up girl-power anthem "Bad By Myself", and segues into the smoother ballads "Something You Wanna Know" and the # 1 R&B hit, "Baby-Baby-Baby". Another misstep here is "This Is How It Should Be Done" - don't really like this much even though it does feature Left Eye. But a perfect closer to this is MY personal anthem - "Depend On Myself", words I truly live by and take to heart. However, their debut is representative of humble beginnings. It is one of the most entertaining albums of the early '90s, and ranks right up there with En Vogue's Funky Divas and SWV's It's About Time as the top girl group record of 1992, and during 1991-1992. That being said, you must pick up this album not only for TLC's catalog, but for nostalgia purposes as to how innocent and fun R&B music used to be. Ladies, if you ever need a dose of confidence and something to lift your spirits, this is the CD to listen to! Energetic, lively and positive, if you are a TLC fan then there is no reason for you to own this. Put it on, dance and have a good time - I know Lisa would want it that way.