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TLC's FanMail celebrates its 21st anniversary: This is the Beginning

Roxxy

By Roxxy
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Roxxy

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TLC's iconic third studio album, FanMail is celebrating it's 21st anniversary!

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This is my all time favorite album from the group as well as one of my most favorite girlgroup albums ever. But that's really not why I wanted to discuss this album with y'all. Our fave's debut single ...Baby One More Time was offered to TLC (we all know that) for FanMail but was rejected by the group. They were also offered Heartbreak Hotel by Whitney Houston feat. Faith Evans and Kelly Price (I luuurve) but also turned it down.

Now just think for a second had they hit their head on the pavement and took on Baby would we even be here on Exhale? Would Exhale even exist? That is why I believe we sort of have ties to this album because it kind of... started a butterfly effect that ultimately lead to us all being here. Our fates are intertwined to this album. Now let's discuss FanMail and be thankful they didn't end up with the record.

Rise up, Exhale rise, this is the beginning.
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Released in February 23, 1999 and executive produced by TLC together with LA Reid [see Britney Spears singing Happy Birthday on the X Factor S2, 2012], Babyface, and one of my favorite producers, Dallas Austin. FanMail was a groundbreaking album not only for the group but also for american girl groups in general. The Spice Girls were busy taking over the UK and the entire world, while their equally good and extremely underrated R&B counterpart, All Saints, were also achieving a lot of success, though not in the same level as their pop sisters. No other american girl group at the turn of the millenium achieved the same superstar success as their UK sisters. This album would later pave the way for another legendary girlgroup that eventually outsold TLC, and that is Destiny's Child. The success of FanMail's R&B female empowerment sound would work in DC's favor (and later on, Beyoncé's solo work) as The Writing's On The Wall would debut just 4 months after FanMail and also gave DC their first Hot 100 #1 in Bills, Bills, Bills which shares a very similar theme and message with FanMail lead single, No Scrubs - also a Hot 100 #1. More on the singles later.

It's worth noting that TLC's previous album CrazySexyCool produced 4 Top 5 hits including 2 #1s and achieved monster sales in the US. It was nominated for 6 Grammys, winning 3 awards at the infamous 1996 ceremony where Mariah Carey's Daydream was controversially snubbed and lost all of its 6 nominations. This is also the year that Alanis Morrissette's Jagged Little Pill became the biggest winner of the night with 4 awards. The most iconic Grammy ceremony, if you ask me.

With FanMail, we saw TLC own their superstardom with a more commercial and polished look and sound. Think of it, like, with the case of ...Baby One More Time and Oops!...I Did It Again. Both iconic. Both are monster hits. Both nominated for 2 Grammys. And although B2's singles didn't chart as well as B1's singles and ultimately didn't sell as much copies as B1 in the US and worldwide, I think we can all agree that Oops! really gave us Britney, the pop phenomenon, that we didn't get in the Baby era.🌟 That's exactly the comparison I am making with CrazySexyCool and FanMail. Like with the case of Oops! being sonically the same as Baby, Oops! is more polished. FanMail is their Oops!...I Did It Again.

FanMail was nominated for 8 Grammys at the 2000 ceremony and won 3 awards. The same ceremony where we saw our girl lose both Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best New Artist... to Christina Aguilera.

FanMail gave us three singles - two of which hit #1 on the Hot 100 and became global smashes. The first single, the iconic and forever fresh, No Scrubs - teaches the listener that "a scrub is a guy that thinks he's fine and is also known as a 'buster'". The second single, Unpretty has a strong message about the pressure of looking pretty and outpeaked/outsold Beyoncé's Pretty Hurts. It's controversial music video on plastic surgery particularly breast implants is also iconic. The third and last single, my personal favorite, the criminally underrated, Dear Lie - which stalled at #51 on the Hot 100. Break the Ice outpeaked.

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Dear Lie is my all time favorite track from the group. In 2000, I even bought... well, I asked my mom... to buy this VCD with 16 music videos (most of which i didn't care for) just so I could get Dear Lie and Born to Make You Happy and watch them on repeat. Ugh. Good times.

They also released Silly Ho as a promotional single which peaked at #59 on the Hot 100. I can neither confirm or deny that they actually wrote this for me. The song talks about a woman who isn't a "silly ho" and can buy her own rings and doesn't need a man to buy her stuff because she. owns. everything! Does that sound familiar? Independent Women Part 1 and Love Don't Cost a Thing outpeaked, outsold, outimpacted tho.

The album also has a song called I'm Good at Being Bad that samples "Love to Love You Baby" by Donna Summer which was also sampled by... surprise again [!] Beyoncé, on Naughty Girl.

Fun Fact: For those of you who watch The Necki Menij Show, and if you've heard FanMail, you know and should preach FanMail IMPACT! They were doing it waaay before our faves Necki Menij and Brinty Joan.

Watch the music videos here and give #JUSTICEFORDEARLIE

Spoiler

 

And listen to Independent Women Part 0 here.

Spoiler

 

Listen to Naughty Girl Part 0 here.

Spoiler

 

If you've reached this point, thank you for taking the time to read this thing I wrote out of boredom. Bless you! ❤❤❤

- Roxxy 💋

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