1999 Rewind: Remembering TLC’s FanMail

Are y’all ready to party like it’s 1999? We all love the 90s here at Soul In Stereo, so it’s only right to revisit albums that are marking 25 years in 2024. 1999 Rewind looks back at all your old faves and see how well they hold up.

The hype for TLC’s third album FanMail was HUGE in 1999, but we had no idea how important this album would be. From introducing “scrubs” into mainstream conversations to marking the last time all three women would be alive to promote a project together (RIP Left Eye), FanMail has a lasting legacy. Darius Keeton is back to talk about it with me.

What are you memories of your first interaction with FanMail?

Darius: I have so much of an emotional attachment to the year 1999, I vividly remember this FanMail era! It was definitely a big deal and I remember the whole split rumors controversy. If I’m not mistaken, they did a Behind The Music on VH1 during this era (not talking about the remastered one that they showed during the time of the biopic), I definitely watched it with my mom. But I didn’t get a chance to listen to the album as a whole until maybe 4 or 5 years later. My class had a field trip and they allowed us to bring CD players for the bus ride and my cousin Tomaya allowed me to borrow her copy of FanMail. I remember pressing play and being BLOWN AWAY at the opening track.

Edd: If my ancient brain recalls correctly, this was the first album I purchased in 1999, mainly off the strength of “Silly Ho” – a completely ridiculous song that received endless radio play (but no video, oddly) yet became more catchy with every listen. Plus, by 1999, TLC was cemented as the premier girl group of their era (for the kids who will scream “but Beyonceeeeeeee,” this was months before Destiny’s Child would hit the next level later in the year). FanMail was one of the most anticipated albums of the moment and mostly lived up to the hype. I’m just glad we didn’t have Twitter when the “No Scrubs”/”No Pigeons”  debate would pop off down the line. Y’all would be intolerable.

Let’s talk best song!

Darius: “Don’t Pull Out on Me Yet”

It’s crazy that this song was the closing track but I’m a huge closing track person. I definitely judge an album by how it closes. This song embodies what a straight R&B TLC song sounds like. It’s more traditional sounding compared to the other tracks but it fits and it’s really a dope, well done track. It definitely sounds like a song influenced by their earlier works, specifically CrazySexyCool.

Edd: “No Scrubs”

“No Scrubs” wins by an mile. I hate to call things “instant classics” because, in my eyes, classics can only be properly determined months or years after they first land. It’s how you weight their true impact. But this song hit with the impact of an atom bomb in 1999, with “scrubs” being so synonymous in pop culture that even your aunties were calling their men scrubs. But the song itself is great too. She’kspere’s mellow, yet sweeping production, Kandi and Tiny’s vengeful lyrics, Hype Williams’ iconic visuals – it was the perfect anthem for that era. Maybe it was an instant classic after all.

What’s the best video?

Darius: “Unpretty (Full Uncut Version)”

I honestly can’t recall which version I remember first because at this time, I was watching TRL religiously (and you know that they only play 10 seconds of a video) but I am more familiar with the later edited version. I watched the full uncut version many years later and it tackled more stuff like Left Eye driving and witnessing gang violence and T-Boz getting off a school bus and getting attacked by two White racist students. I honestly don’t know why they decided to do an edited version but I guess it makes sense but it really doesn’t. The only way to see the full uncut version on YouTube now is by a fan-made side-by-side comparison video. Which you can see above.

Edd: “No Scrubs”

Yep Dary, I remember the original version of the “Unpretty” video, but we quickly were saddled with the more watered-down version. That’s why I have to, once again, show love to “No Scrubs.” The video kinda makes no sense – the girls dressed like they were playing Lazer Tag while doing Power Ranger moves on each other has little to do with the bad boyfriends they were targeting, but everything from the colors to the futuristic visuals (for 1999, anyway) made it instantly memorable. I assumed the video would look more like what DC would do for “Bug A Boo” months later but Cyber TLC was a lot more fun.

Which track should have been a single?

Darius: “Lovesick”

I always thought this song was extremely dope. Dallas Austin did his thing on the production and I have always said that this era has always felt like it was cut too short way too soon but that’s a different topic for a different day. I can easily envision a music video for this track. I think this could have been a good third single instead of “Dear Lie.”

Edd: “FanMail”

“No Scrubs” and “Unpretty” were both huge records so there’s an argument that TLC didn’t NEED another single. But like Dary said, “Dear Lie” came and went so fast that it felt like a waste. If “Silly Ho” was off the table I would have gone with the title track as a single. TLC were never known as soul-stirring vocalists but there’s something about the way that T-Boz and Chilli blend together that sounds amazing (BTW, give credit to Debra Killings for being the glue in that paring). If we weren’t going to get a Matrix-style video of TLC yelling about Silly Hos while AOL imagery flashes on the screen, they could have at least given us “Fanmail” visual instead.

As you can tell, I REALLY wanted to see what madness a “Silly Ho” video would have brought.

Let’s talk songwriting. Which song resonates the strongest?

Darius: “I Miss You So Much”

This is another favorite of mine off the album. Babyface rarely misses with the pen, and I mean rarely. He made this song sound like a broken-hearted soap opera and Chilli honestly did an amazing job emoting the lyrics. This was one of the songs I used to go back to constantly after I moved away from my hometown of Emporia.

Edd: “Unpretty”

Y’all thought I was gonna say “Silly Ho” again.

But nah, as corny as it may look to some 2024 eyes, I still appreciate the sentiment of “Unpretty.” I remember some criticism at the time, basically claiming it was a watered-down, ahem, “Waterfalls.” But the story of T-Boz writing the song after watching women get demeaned on the Ricki Lake Show (such a 1999 reference) hit me back then, and hits even harder in today’s Instagrammable world of looks over everything. It doesn’t have the immaculate penmanship of a “I Miss You So Much,” but it’s the realest song they ever wrote.

Who was the album MVP?

Darius: T-Boz

T-Boz was more prominent vocally in the group due to her unique singing tone, whether you enjoyed it or not, and of course she’s mainly upfront for most of the album but Chilli showed out on this album to sing lead and/or solo on a few songs and lastly Lisa’s raps were more prominent versus her appearance on their previous album. But shoutout to Debra Killings because TLC weren’t known to be vocalists like SWV but their charm was to bounce their 3 different personalities back and forth off of each other which melted well together within the group and Debra held down the background vocals to make their songs.

Edd: Chilli

Yes, give Debra Killings her flowers! She really was the secret sauce to many of the songs here. But I’d like to give special shoutout to Chilli. T-Boz is perhaps the most recognizable voice of the group, Left Eye obviously had the most recognizable personality, but it was Chilli who was really in the trenches keeping everything above board vocally.

RIP to our girl Left Eye. She came up with the FanMail concept and we’d lose her in just a few years after. How do you think she would have fit into music had she lived through the 2000s into today?

Darius: We all know Lisa was always ahead of the curve! She was a true creative. She definitely would have been strongly present throughout the 2000s and probably would have experimented on some Trap and Drill stuff way before it would have hit the mainstream.

Edd: I talked about “No Scrubs” vs Sporty Thieves’ “No Pigeons” response record and the wars it would cause on modern-day Twitter. But can you IMAGINE Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes going live on IG whenever she had something on her mind? It would be bedlam. But let’s stick to the music – a focused Left Eye would have been a dominant force in the mid to late 2000s. As every genre became more hip-hop centric, he’d have an edge over many of her R&B peers because that was always her style. Plus, even back in 1999, she always thought outside the box and was willing to experiment. When her peers would hesitate, she would find new ways to embrace her creativity. It might not have always worked (see her solo album in 2001) but that wouldn’t have stopped her from trying.

Where does FanMail rank in TLC’s catalog?

Darius: I definitely rank it as their second best. This album has definitely help influence later Electro-R&B sounds that we heard around the tail end of the 2000s and up to even now. Even though this album for sure has its dated moments, this album is probably their most modern sounding album.

Edd: No. 2 for sure. CrazySexyCool will always be the definitive TLC release but this one comes very close in terms of quality and is miles ahead of their other releases. I believe time has been kinder to FanMail than it’s original reception (I remember mixed reviews in my day) but it’s properly remembered as a groundbreaking work in 2024.

In 2000, this was nominated for Best Album at the Grammys. Should it have won?

Darius: The nomination was well deserved. It would have been nice if the girls won but Santana had phenomenal success and acclaim with his album a year prior so I guess it made sense for him to win. Definitely surprised Backstreet Boys or The Chicks (then known as The Dixie Chicks) didn’t grab the trophy as they also had great success. But we know how the Grammys fly.

Edd: Funny you ask, I just wrote about it! With all the recent chatter about Black women being unfairly shut out from the Album of the Year Grammy (and it’s a legit complaint) in this case I don’t think TLC should have won. It’s a great album but Santana’s release is just a bit better. Besides, we really need to stop letting trophies from white folks determine the worth of our music. The song “Silly Ho” taught us better.

Which fan’s mail are you rocking with more, Darius or Edd? Let us know below and share your TLC memories too.