R&B trio TLC’s second album CrazySexyCool from 1994 was just about the coolest thing to sound from my teenaged cousin’s stereo when I was just a kid. Instantly crazy and cool, and just how sexy it was I would realize later on when having a closer listen to ’Red Light Special’. Even without the lyrics and subject matter, the gripping mood of the ballad is instantly felt. And for those mature enough, the charging, empowering vocals of T-Boz and Chilli remind us just how low the bar has been taken in pop lyrics. Add a spell-binding chorus and competent guitar solos and it’s a wrap. Intense!

CrazySexyCool sat just right in its time: a bridge between classic soul, the pop tunes of Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson with the attitude and a lot of the groove of hip-hop music. ’Creep’ tells the tale of a betrayed and scheming woman getting back at her man over a beat that wholly captures the essence of 1990’s hip-hop. And then ’Waterfalls’, probably the most evident sign that the group had matured from their 1992 debut Ooooooohhh… On the TLC Tip. The funky track, complete with horns and all, is coupled by socially conscious lyrics that instill confidence in the groups young listeners. And we shouldn’t forget the trademark rap verse by the late Lisa ’Left-Eye’ Lopes.

It was only later that I would realize what an incredible team put together this album. ’Waterfalls’ by Organized Noize, who would later come to build Outkast’s sound from the Dungeons of Atlanta. Speaking of Outkast, Andre 3000 opens ’Sumthin’ Wicked This Way Comes’ with an uncredited cameo verse. Add the fact that CrazySexyCool launched the careers of Babyface and Jermaine Dupri and we can begin to appreciate the impact of the album. The negative impact of Sean ’Puff Daddy’ Combs’ voice on the album’s interludes becomes negligible.

Words Sven Carlsson