Episode Summary
On this episode, we are talking about an R&B trio from New York City. Peers and contemporaries of groups like Xscape, Jade, Total, Destiny's Child, 702. You know, all the '90s girls. One of the biggest selling girl groups of all time, and that's globally. They've sold 30 million records. We're talking about Taj, Lelee, and Coko and her long ass nails, Sisters With Voices, SWV. We discuss their albums, our favorite songs and some of the things that they've been involved with outside of music. 90's R&B heads, this is for you.
Transcript
Miguel: Hi kids. Do you like fun?
Christina: Yeah.
Miguel: And bookmarking a bunch of articles you'll probably never read? We're starting a monthly newsletter called Liner Notes. We'll be sharing what we're watching, what we're listening to, throwback YouTube videos, updates on our upcoming projects, random shit you may have missed on the internets, you know, stuff like that. The link is in the show notes or you can go to troypodcast.com/newsletter. Do it.
Christina: Now.
Miguel: It's good for you.
Christina: It'll make your teeth whiter.
Miguel: [Laughs] And back to the show.
--
Christina: Welcome back to They Reminisce Over You I'm Christina.
Miguel: And I'm Miguel. On this episode, we are talking about an R&B trio from New York City. Peers and contemporaries of groups like Xscape, Jade, Total, Destiny's Child, 702. You know, all the '90's girls.
Christina: Yes. Technically peers and contemporaries, although they were part of the earlier flock.
Miguel: Yeah, but still, they were there throughout the '90s.
Christina: They were.
Miguel: One of the biggest selling girl groups of all time, and that's globally. They've sold 30 million records. We're talking about Taj, Lelee, and Coko and her long ass nails, Sisters With Voices.
Christina: Not TLC.
Miguel: Not TLC. SWV.
Christina: You just happened to say it in the order though. Taj, Lelee and Coko.
Miguel: Yes. And for those of you who don't know, they were originally called TLC until they got that cease and desist from Pebbles.
Christina: Who was like, uh uh.
Miguel: Because she had a group called TLC coming out around the same time, which you may have heard of.
Christina: Yes.
Miguel: So, they became—
Christina: You may have heard of another little group called TLC.
Miguel: They became Sisters With Voices.
Christina: Yes.
Miguel: So, you just wanna get into it?
Christina: Let's do it.
Miguel: So, when we did the Where My Girls At?[1] episode, and if you haven't heard it, I suggest you go back and listen to it. We ranked all of the '90s girls groups. And we had SWV in the top tier.
Christina: We did.
Miguel: Although we both felt that they should have been bigger than they were, which sounds weird when we say that because they sold 30 million albums.
Christina: Right.
Miguel: But they still should have been bigger, in my opinion.
Christina: Yeah. Like I was actually surprised to see that number. Sometimes I see 25 million, but 25, 30, I mean, it's a lot.
Miguel: It's a lot. Yeah, it's a lot more than a lot of the other people I listed.
Christina: Right. Even though I'm a huge fan, like I'm surprised by those numbers.
Miguel: Me too.
Christina: I'm like, really? They did?
Miguel: Exactly. But we're gonna get into their discography and talk about our favorite songs from it. So, what was the first thing you remember hearing from SWV?
Christina: I feel like I remember "I'm So Into You" first.
Miguel: Okay.
Christina: Turns out "Right Here" was your first single. Not the remix, the original version, and I do know that song, but I don't know if maybe I heard it after or maybe "I'm So Into You" just left a bigger impression on me. But I feel like that was the first thing I heard.
Miguel: I don't remember at all which one it was. So, it was one of those songs "Right Here," "I'm So Into You," but something definitely from the first album, 'cause I remember them when they first came out.
Christina: One of the songs before "Weak."
Miguel: Yeah. Exactly. So, it was something in that realm. So since we're talking about these songs, let's just get into the first album.
Christina: Okay.
Miguel: It's About Time.
Christina: It's about time for what? For love? As one of the songs goes.
Miguel: It depends on what you're looking for. There's a lot going on with these song titles and lyrics, so, it just depends on what you're looking for. They got something for everybody.
Christina: They do.
Miguel: And I always forget this and I don't know why, I think I mentioned it when we did the Where My Girls At? episode. I always forget that the album version of "Anything" is so slow.
Christina: It's slow. Yes.
Miguel: I don't know why I can't seem to remember that.
Christina: It's slow. It's the first song and it has like, little like, water dripping noises.
Miguel: Yeah, so every time I hear this song, it's like the first time I've ever heard it.
Christina: Right.
Miguel: And I'm like, this is great.
Christina: And it almost feels like an interlude. So, I think it works, even though we're so used to the remix, it works as a first song for the album 'cause it kind of eases you in.
Miguel: And I really like it, even though they're just singing the chorus five times.
Christina: Yeah. With some water dripping noises just.
Miguel: Yeah, I, I really like it. And after not listening to it like I did last week and a couple times this week. Two years from now, when I listen to it again, I'm gonna forget that this song exists.
Christina: Right.
Miguel: So, we'll see how that goes.
Christina: Okay.
Miguel: So, what songs do you like off of this album?
Christina: Well, I liked the entire album and it was hard for me to, when I was re-listening to all the albums, to get to the second album because I kept going back and listening to songs and like, which one do I like? Oh, I wanna hear this one again. La la la.
Miguel: Right.
Christina: Like, to me, this is like the perfect early '90s album. I think the, the easiest ones is "I'm So Into You" and "Weak." If you gave me two seconds, I would just spit those two out. But, they have some like, album cuts that I really like too, so I like "That's What I Need." If you like "Weak," you'll like, "That's What I Need." And "Give It To Me" is, like I said, it's like the perfect early 90s song. It's up tempo. They got their little rap so, that one I really like, it's actually on my running playlist.
Miguel: Okay. You know what? I think one of these days you're gonna have to actually post—
Christina: My running playlist?
Miguel: Your running playlist, because you mention it all the time.
Christina: The songs are all over the place.
Miguel: So, we're gonna have to put that on the website.
Christina: Yeah, like the songs are all over the place. I have this song, I have "Pin The Tail On The Donkey" from Naughty by Nature.
Miguel: Oh damn.
Christina: And then I have like Durand Bernarr, like, it's all over the place.
Miguel: Wow.
Christina: Basically anything that has it, it just has to have that bpm.
Miguel: Okay.
Christina: Anyway. Yeah, so those are I guess the, the standouts for me. But I listen to the entire album.
Miguel: Yeah. For me, I'm gonna go with, "You're Always On My Mind."
Christina: Mm-hmm.
Miguel: I don't know why that's my favorite one on the album.
Christina: Yeah, that's a close second to "Weak" I would say. Yeah. I really like that one too.
Miguel: And like I said, "Anything."
Christina: The, the slow version.
Miguel: The slow version. I don't count the remix as part of this album, even though they've—
Christina: ‘Cause it's not on this album.
Miguel: Yeah, they've tacked it on since we've gone into the streaming era.
Christina: That doesn't count.
Miguel: Yeah. It's on the Above The Rim soundtrack, so I'm gonna leave that separate from this.
Christina: Yeah. I was rewatching some of the videos too and I was just like, of course I love these girls because I love Mary J., and they're basically just like the group version of Mary J.
Miguel: Right.
Christina: Like, that sort of hiphop style and swag, but still singing R&B, and since it's '92, there's some of the New Jack Swing, so I'm like, of course I like them. It's everything I liked at that time.
Miguel: This is right up your alley.
Christina: Yeah. And when I was rewatching the "I'm So Into You" video[2] I was like, oh yeah, I used to try to copy their hairstyles like that little half up with the little bump. Kind of like a, like an updated bouffant.
Miguel: There was a lot going on with the hairstyles in these videos.
Christina: I remember that little—
Miguel: But specifically that one, that video has some wild ass hairstyles.
Christina: What about those crispy curls in the first… uh, why did I….
Miguel: Oh, "Right here?"
Christina: That little crispy ponytail.
Miguel: Oh yeah. Yes.
Christina: What are they? Like pin curls?
Miguel: I don't know what you call that.
Christina: What do you call ‘em?
Miguel: They look like ribbons. Look like they had ribbons in their hair, but probably—
Christina: And they're wearing the fencing outfits.
Miguel: Yeah, which was so random. These videos were all over the place.
Christina: I thought it was weird back then too, though.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: I liked all the outfits except for the fencing outfit. I was like, I don't know, that's weird.
Miguel: Like what does this have to do with anything? Uh, I was just gonna say, this probably wasn't the case for you, but just looking at them, these were girls that I saw on the streets in LA.
Christina: Right.
Miguel: So, they were really relatable in that sense.
Christina: Yeah.
Miguel: They didn't have like, the shine of a lot of other groups.
Christina: Yeah.
Miguel: Which kind of fit their personalities and the songs that they were singing. Like, they weren't too polished.
Christina: Right.
Miguel: They weren't Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. But they weren't gutter either. So, I don't want to make—
Christina: They don't look like they smell.
Miguel: Yeah, I don't wanna make 'em sound bad, but they just look like around the way girls that you would see walking down the street.
Christina: Yeah. Cute around the way girls.
Miguel: Yeah, exactly.
Christina: The ones you'd be trying to holler at.
Miguel: Right. Exactly.
Christina: Yeah. I think that was the appeal too, and I'm kind of getting ahead of myself here, but just, watching how they are today, like, they're still the same. I mean there's growth obviously.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: But they're still like, they're so down to earth. They just seem like people you wanna hang out with, people you do hang out with and like, they're just regular degular.
Miguel: Exactly.
Christina: But they're still SWV, but at the same time they're just...regular.
Miguel: Yeah, just three girls from New York.
Christina: Right.
Miguel: And they are very New York too.
Christina: Very New York, especially Lelee.
Miguel: Yes, she is quintessential Bronx.
Christina: She is.
Miguel: When you think girl from the Bronx, her picture should pop up. I love it. What else did they do around this time? Well, first of all, there was the "Right Here" remix. That was on the Free Willy soundtrack of all things.
Christina: Yeah.
Miguel: But that kinda helped them take off basically around that time as well.
Christina: I think that the um, Michael Jackson sample, which he gave to them for free.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: I think that helped with uh, crossover appeal.
Miguel: Yeah, it, it's funny that they got that for free because Teddy Riley was working with Michael at the time and he did the remix, and I guess Teddy put in a good word for 'em. And Mike's just like, they can have it.
Christina: These girls are cute. Give it to them.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: Well, I remember watching the "Right Here (Human Nature)" video and, they're like, riding horses except Lelee had to get a pony 'cause she said she couldn't ride the horse. So, you'll see her in this tiny little pony right at the end of the video.[3] They're like, fishing and just kind of like, doing outdoorsy things. I remember I was just watching the video and my dad just happened to be in the room. He's like, those girls are cute. And I was like, oh, okay Dad.
Miguel: That's funny. He has taste.
Christina: He does. Who knew that my dad liked around the way Bronx girls?
Miguel: Hey, you learn things about your parents every day.
Christina: Yep. Crossover appeal.
Miguel: Exactly. That song also gave us, I don't know if it was the first, but it was definitely one of the first appearances of a young Pharrell Williams.
Christina: Mm-hmm. I read on Wikipedia, that the UK remix[4] was, he performed a little rap solo.
Miguel: I'm gonna have to look that up.
Christina: I did look it up.
Miguel: ‘Cause I've never heard that.
Christina: Yeah, I found it on YouTube.
Miguel: Okay.
Christina: I mean, it's, it's early Pharrell.
Miguel: Right.
Christina: It wasn't anything like, wow, my mind's blown. But you're like, oh, okay.
Miguel: Okay. I'm gonna have to check this out.
Christina: I don't even really remember much, so. But it wasn't terrible, but I don't remember it.
Miguel: Okay.
Christina: That's all I can say about that.
Miguel: And it's funny that that's one of his earliest credits and that's what people refer to them as, no matter what you're saying about them, they always bring up "The S, double, U to the V," and that came from Pharrell.
Christina: Okay.
Miguel: I think that's very interesting.
Christina: Mm-hmm. Interesting. Yeah. See, I didn't realize he did that 'cause when you look at the UK remix, he does like a little rap.
Miguel: Okay.
Christina: But maybe he said it in the rap[5] and I just wasn't paying attention. But I mean, obviously it's in the, the remix.
Miguel: Yeah, that is Pharrell with the—
Christina: Ah, S, double U. Okay. I didn't realize that was him saying that.
Miguel: Yep, that is him. And since we're talking about Pharrell, how about we just move on to the next album?
Christina: Sure.
Miguel: New Beginning, which came out four years later. It actually has the first production credits from The Neptunes. So, his first vocal credit was on their first album, and him and Chad's first production credit was on their second album. Fun facts for you guys.
Christina: Fun facts. We like fun facts.
Miguel: But like I mentioned, the album came out in 1996, so there was a four year gap between their intro and this album.
Christina: Right.
Miguel: So, there was a lot going on within the group. Coko had a kid.
Christina: Yep.
Miguel: They're having internal issues. But they were still able to crank out a very good album.
Christina: And they did a couple things in between. They did the "Anything" remix[6], but they also did "All Night Long" on the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack. They took over Tammy Lucas' part on "Tonight's the Night" with Blackstreet[7].
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: And Craig Mack.
Miguel: We need to have some justice for Tammy Lucas because she's always getting taken off of like, remixes, and then—
Christina: She has a really pretty voice.
Miguel: She really didn't get her shine, that she should have, but hey.
Christina: We'll save that for another episode. Justice for "x."
Miguel: Yeah, exactly. Unsung heroes of the '90s. Book it.
Christina: All right, I'll pencil it in.
Miguel: And I always forget that "You're The One" is on this album. I always think it's on the first album.
Christina: Oh, not me.
Miguel: I know you don't, but I always associate that with the first album, this cheating anthem.
Christina: Well, because "I'm So Into You" is...
Miguel: Another cheating anthem.
Christina: That's why "you're not mine." And then "You're The One," you know my favorite line. "If she finds out I don't know nothing."
Miguel: Yes. Yeah, that, that's a bit much.
Christina: Well.
Miguel: It works though.
Christina: It does.
Miguel: It works.
Christina: It's a cute song, still.
Miguel: It is.
Christina: Even if it is chasing down someone else's man.
Miguel: So, on this album, you got more vocals from Taj and Lelee. They got to sing lead on a couple songs, which we didn't get to see much of on the first album. What songs stand out to you on this album other than "You're The One?"
Christina: I actually, speaking of, Taj taking lead, I really like "It's All About You." Another one I like is "On and On" with Erick Sermon. That one's an album cut, but actually, no, I think, I can't remember if that one's a single or not.
Miguel: I don't know.
Christina: Yeah, so those ones, "Use Your Heart."
Miguel: Yeah, that's probably favorite.
Christina: You gotta get a ballad from them as well.
Miguel: Yeah, that's my—
Christina: They do a pretty good mix of ballads and uptempos.
Miguel: Yeah, which a lot of other groups couldn't strike a balance like that around this time. They were either really good at the uptempo, dance-y stuff or the ballads.
Christina: Right.
Miguel: And that was the case with like, solo singers as well.
Christina: Right.
Miguel: But they seemed to be able to balance the two.
Christina: Yeah, I think maybe just because, like I was saying, they kind of had that hip hop swagger, even though they sang R&B, so I think maybe that helps, jumping in and out of slow, fast, or at least more up tempo. And even though they were a girl group, I imagine they have a lot of male fans as well. Like they didn't—like Destiny's Child to me, feels like—you wouldn't, you don't listen to Destiny's Child.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: But you listen to SWV.
Miguel: Right. Like, I never owned a Destiny's Child album, but I have—
Christina: Not to stereotype too much but…
Miguel: Right, exactly. But I have—
Christina: Hey, If you like Destiny's Child, and you're a man. That's, ain't nothing wrong with that.
Miguel: I have like, SWV CDs, but I've never owned a Destiny's Child album.
Christina: Right.
Miguel: So, what you're saying makes perfect sense to me.
Christina: Kind of like Mary J., where she has that appeal to like, everybody.
Miguel: Yeah. Or Jodeci.
Christina: Right.
Miguel: They're the opposite side of the coin of a Jodeci.
Christina: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. That's a better comparison.
Miguel: So, let's move on to their third album, which came out a year later. So, we went four years in between the first two albums, or, yeah, the first two albums. And then less than a year, I believe, for the third album. I saw in an interview they did that, the reason that this third album was so quick was twofold. One, the regime that was working with them, like the A&R, the VP of whatever record label they were signed to, uh, RCA. A lot of them got let go, and they brought in a new staff. So, you have this new staff who wants to do things their way and wants them to do this type of music. So, they were pushing them to do more hip hop based stuff because this is when the song with Missy came out and became a hit.
Christina: So, they're like more of that please.
Miguel: Yes. So, give us more of that, because that's what the people want.
Christina: Also, this was, released in '97. But around this time, I think that sound was also pretty popular with Diddy and all that stuff blowing up. So, it was just like they had all the rap cameos.
Miguel: Exactly. I read a quote from Lelee where she said something about how it was a rap album featuring SWV.
Christina: Yeah, because you know what's funny, the last song is with Snoop and another interview Coko's like, I ain't doing it. And it's literally Snoop featuring SWV.
Miguel: Right.
Christina: I'm like, on their own album. Like, they sang no verses. They sang hooks. They sang hooks on their own song. And I couldn't even hear Coko in the background vocal. So, I think when she said, I ain't doing this, she really meant I ain't doing it.
Miguel: Probably. Yeah, everything that I saw them say about this album, they can't stand it for that reason. And I don't know if I should say this, but that's the reason why I like it.
Christina: Well, I mean, you like it because…
Miguel: There's a lot of hip hop in it.
Christina: And it's stuff that you like.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: But I can see why they didn't like it 'cause they're like, this is not SWV and rapper's album.
Miguel: Right.
Christina: Like, maybe a couple songs, but it was like, half the album.
Miguel: More than half probably.
Christina: I don't know. It was a lot.
Miguel: Yeah. Like I said, I liked them singing, but I liked the rap features on it as well. Which sucks for me to say.
Christina: Yeah, I think it, I think it would be, I think it would, they would probably feel different if, like, say that song was on Snoop's album.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: This song was on Redman's album, you know?
Miguel: Right.
Christina:: ‘Cause they do features with rapper—like "Anything" featuring Wu-Tang, they love that song.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: We love that song. But this is their album.
Miguel: Right. And more than half of it is rap.
Christina: And they're like featured artists. It sounds like they're featured artists. And the Snoop song was so out of place too. As we mentioned, they're like New York girls through and through, so it kind of threw me off to hear such a West Coast style song too. So, you could just tell that they weren't really in it.
Miguel: And it's a song that I should like, but I don't.
Christina: Mm-hmm. I like it, but I don't know if I'm gonna go outta my way to listen to again but, yeah.
Miguel: Yeah. Well, you know that the E-40 song that I'm always singing to you, that's one of my favorites. And the Redman song, especially when he starts crooning at the end along with them.
Christina: Singing badly. I don't know if you noticed, 'cause I watched the video, I mentioned this before, I think it might have been in that, Where My Girls At? episode. I don't know why they decided to go with this video treatment, but they're all vampires.[8]
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: But anyways, when I watched the video. That's when I, 'cause you pointed out to me that he's singing really badly at the end of the song. So, I was watching the video and then I was like, oh, is this on the album too? Maybe I just don't remember or just never listened all the way to the end. So, on the album version, him singing is only on the right side of the, like the channel.
Miguel: Okay.
Christina: And then on the left side is his ad libs. So, you can just hear him singing badly just on your right side.
Miguel: Okay. Let's, let's check this out. I'm curious now.
Christina: And then the left side is him doing like the vocal ad libs, like, "uh, huh," whatever, stuff like that.
Miguel: Okay. I hear it now.
Christina: So, that makes it even weirder that he's just, just in one ear.
Miguel: "Thank you. Thank you." Yeah, he's singing that terribly. But at the same time, I was in the car yesterday and I was coming back and I was singing it just as badly as he was.
Christina: I mean, at that point you kind of have to just like, with Jay-Z singing off key. "I wish..." You're not supposed to sing that good. Like that's the whole point is to sing it badly.
Miguel: So, even though this album was covered in hip hop stars like Missy and E-40 and Redman and Diddy, it also gave us "Rain," which is probably my favorite song on the album.
Christina: And I think it is for a lot of people too.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: Because it is the one ballad that they let them do.
Miguel: Right. It's the one ballad that they let them do, and it was produced by Brian Alexander Morgan, who basically did the majority of their first album as well.
Christina: So, he came back and sprinkled his magic on it.
Miguel: Yeah, he came in, gave ‘em that, and then he was out. Which kind of sucks considering the way they were working together and how smoothly things were going for the label to say, nah, let's get some other people in here. Let's bring Timbaland in, and—
Christina: Diddy.
Miguel: Diddy and all these other people. And you could have just stuck with the formula that works. But it wasn't a bad album though. I liked it on on the whole, I liked it.
Christina: Yeah. It just wasn't an album that they wanted to make.
Miguel: So, I think this is a good time for us to take a break and we will be back.
[Break]
Christina: Are you enjoying this podcast?
Miguel: Hell yeah.
Christina: If you are as much as he is, there's a couple things that you can do. You can feel free to drop some coins into our collection plate at ko-fi.com/troypodcast . And that's "ko-fi" K O dash F I .com. Link is also in the show notes. We're self-funded, so any support would be appreciated. And if you don't have any extra coins to spare, just leave us a 5 star rating or review. Like JLo's love, it won't cost you a thing.
Miguel: You just sitting at home on the couch anyhow.
Christina: Alright, thanks.
Miguel: Back to the show.
Miguel: Okay. So, we are back and now we're gonna get into, you know, the stuff they got into during their quote unquote breakup. Coko did a solo album. She did two gospel albums and then their two albums after they got back together. So, let's just start with "Hot Coko," which came out in 1999.
Christina: I remember "Sunshine." But only after I heard it. I was like, oh, yeah, have heard this song.
Miguel: Yeah, the same. I remember that one. And then they did the remake of "If This World Were Mine" with Tyrese. So, I remembered those two, but I didn't remember anything else from the album.
Christina: I didn't even remember that one. Only "Sunshine."
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: Eh, it's okay. But I mean, Coko will tell you herself that it didn't do very well.
Miguel: Right. And I forgot that she was also on "Men in Black" with Will Smith during this time. She was on the Booty Call soundtrack with Johnny Gill. They remade that Rick James, Teena Marie classic, "Fire and Desire.[9]"
Christina: I don't remember now. I will have to look it up.
Miguel: It's not on Tidal, so you're gonna have to go to YouTube to catch it. ‘Cause there's a couple songs from the soundtrack that are missing, and that's one of them. Also, around this time she did two solo albums or uh, two gospel albums. I skimmed them. She sounds good on 'em.
Christina: Right.
Miguel: Her voice sounds good, but I'm a heathen, so, these gospel albums did absolutely nothing for me.
Christina: Right. You need a little "Stomp!"
Miguel: Yeah, if, if you going do some gospel, you gonna have to pull me in like Kirk Franklin. So, these didn't really do much for me.
Christina: You gotta make it sound kind of secular.
Miguel: Yeah, exactly. Did you listen to them?
Christina: Nope.
Miguel: All right.
Christina: I just didn't get to it. But I, I don't, I don't listen to gospel. Excuse my voice. See, this is what happens when we finally go outside. I didn't catch the covid, but I did get somebody's cold at the Beyonce concert, so I sound a little raspy, that's why.
Miguel: Like Tone Loc.
Christina: But somebody was screaming in my, well, I think it's the person who was standing behind me, but anyways. Just a little cold.
Miguel: So, in 2012, they got back together, after they kind of settled their differences and ironed out all the issues that they had going on previously—
Christina: Eh, for the most part.
Miguel: They were able to work together at this point. And they did an album called, I Missed Us. Did you listen to that one?
Christina: I did.
Miguel: Okay.
Christina: Um, so this album is like 15 years after their last album. And, you know, to take a big break like that, it's gonna be different. But I think with Lelee and Taj doing a lot more leads, the songs just sounded so unfamiliar. Like, the sound sounded so unfamiliar to me.
Miguel: Okay.
Christina: Because I'm just not used to hearing their voices that much. Like, even though they had started to do some more leads in the previous album, it just sounded different. And I was like, this doesn't feel like SWV. Like, it wasn't a bad album. There was some catchy songs and I would want to listen to it again. But yeah, it just didn't feel like SWV to me. I think they liked the album.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: From what I saw in like, interviews and stuff, but, it was a too much of a change for me to like get into it in a first listen.
Miguel: I like it because we've mentioned this before, Whenever you have groups and singers that we love disappear for a while and they come back, it's usually pretty shitty.
Christina: Yeah, so that, I will agree with that it wasn't a bad album.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: It wasn't just like, ugh, like, trying to get that old thing back or whatever, or trying to be too current. It was just unfamiliar.
Miguel: Yeah, and it didn't really stand out in terms of like the rest of their catalog. Like some people do whenever they come back. So, for that reason, I liked it. It wasn't a New Beginning or It's About Time, but it wasn't redacted's album. I'm not gonna say who, but you know who I'm talking about.
Christina: I don't.
Miguel: Yeah. You do.
Christina: I'm gonna have, think about this.
Miguel: No you don't. Who is someone that you love, that release an album 15 years or so after? No, maybe 20. And it was ass.
Christina: Is it a group?
Miguel: I'm not gonna say.
Christina: Okay, we'll take this offline.
Miguel: You know what? No, no. I'm gonna say who it is. I'm just gonna beep it out.
Christina: Okay.
Miguel: It was [redacted].
Christina: They had like two songs that were good.
Miguel: Yeah. Out of 15 or 18 or whatever it is.
Christina: Meh. I'm grateful for the one song that I like.
Miguel: So, that's what I'm talking about, that you get a, an album so long after the fact and there's one song you like on it.
Christina: I'll take it.
Miguel: Like, I didn't I didn't have that with the SWV album.
Christina: Right.
Miguel: It was like, okay, this is not what they were doing before, but it's not terrible.
Christina: Yeah. I do wanna just listen to it again 'cause this was my first listen.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: And I just skimmed through it.
Miguel: Yeah. I listened to it a couple times. It's pretty good. I say give it a chance.
Christina: Yeah. I think I would feel different if I had no preconceived notions, but I was like, ooh, SWV album. Then it's like, hmm, this sounds…different.
Miguel: Yeah. it's pretty good. I like it. Unlike [redacted].
Christina: Enough with the slander.
Miguel: It's not slander, it's just a heartbreaking feeling. That's all.
Christina: Yeah. But eh, what can you do? Like I said, I'm grateful for that one song.
Miguel: Oh man. So, they followed that album up in 2016 with another album called "Still."
Christina: This one I didn't like as much.
Miguel: Yeah. This one, again, it wasn't as bad as…
Christina: Don't say it again.
Miguel: Who we're talking about, but it wasn't the first four.
Christina: Right.
Miguel: But I'll allow it. You know, you can't bat a hundred percent.
Christina: Right.
Miguel: Like when you playing baseball, you hit .350, that's good. So for me, they're batting like .800.
Christina: I don't know baseball things.
Miguel: Yeah. That doesn't make any sense to you, but it's really good.
Christina: Sports!
Miguel: Yeah, exactly. So, I'll allow somebody who's had a career as long as they have to throw me a dud. Like, it had maybe one or two songs that I liked, but for the most part, I didn't really get into this one.
Christina: Yeah. Same.
Miguel: So, during this time, between 1997 and 2023…
Christina: That's a lot of ground to cover.
Miguel: That's 26 years of stuff that they've been involved in outside of music. Some of them that we saw when it happened, some we saw just last week.
Christina: Right.
Miguel: So, the first thing was Taj and her husband Eddie George, NFL player, or former NFL Player, had a show called, I Married a Baller[10].
Christina: Didn't even know, or maybe I just forgot. I don't know.
Miguel: I didn't know until last week, so, I completely missed this show. I watched a little bit of the first episode, but because it's so old, the quality was terrible and I just couldn't watch it. I couldn't sit through it, so I made it through like, the first five minutes.
Christina: Oh, I watched like, the first episode.
Miguel: Yeah, I tried. I couldn't get through it. So, I will let you talk about this then.
Christina: Well, just from the first episode, it's like, there's no like, real drama. And I think that this is kind of the, theme of the ladies. Like, they have drama, but they don't really have drama, you know? So, the first episode is just, they're like, going, not on tour. I don't know.
Miguel: I think they, they were doing like some, public speaking for--
Christina: Yeah. That's what it is.
Miguel: Their charitable foundation that they were doing.
Christina: They had like, you know, those buses, tour buses and stuff.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: And he was just like, I'm too tall for this. I'm getting a hotel. They stopped for snacks. So, it's just like silly little things that happen, but it's like, it's cute and it's funny, but it's not like, you know, reality TV show drama. It's more if you're just like, nosy and you just wanna see how they live.
Miguel: Yeah. Well, I did notice in the first five minutes that I did watch that he was irritated with loading the bus. He's like, what do you want on the bus? What's going under the bus? Who's packing this? Is the driver packing it or are we packing it? So, that made me laugh, but the quality of the video was just so bad on YouTube that I couldn't do it.
Christina: So, it's, it's cute if you just kind of wanna see, what they're like or whatever, but there's nothing too crazy or anything.
Miguel: Right.
Christina: I don't remember anything like, oh, I can't believe this happened.
Miguel: A couple years later, she was on Survivor as well, and she almost won it. She came in fourth place.
Christina: See, I knew about this, but I never watched it. Cause I was like, that's random.
Miguel: It is, and I remember when she was on, but I just don't like Survivor really, so—
Christina: I only watched the first season and that was it.
Miguel: I like it when there's like, an asshole Black person on it. Like, I don't remember his name, but the guy that was—
Christina: Ol' red shorts.
Miguel: He had on these red, tighty underwear and they kept calling ‘em panties. So, when they have people like him on, I might get into it, but for the most part, I can't do it. But I watched like, a recap video[11] earlier today.
Christina: Yep. I did too.
Miguel: And yeah, she played the game pretty good and she almost came out on top.
Christina: Even though they kept sending her off to whatever this Exile Island is.
Miguel: The Exile Island.
Christina: But somehow she came through.
Miguel: Yeah, she used that to her advantage to make alliances with other people. And she came in 4th. She probably could have pulled it off or got at least gotten second if she wasn't back stabbed by the two dudes she made the alliance with.
Christina: Ahh.
Miguel: So, they sold her out.
Christina: She looked like she was a fan favorite from the comments and the person doing the recap. And just from watching her on these different shows and interviews it seems very much her personality, that she's just very, like, she's very calm and measured and friendly when she needs to be.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: She's very like, easygoing.
Miguel: Right.
Christina: But if there's a problem, she doesn't have a problem telling you what's on her mind as well.
Miguel: Exactly.
Christina: She seems very genuine and real, so, I think that's probably why fans liked her and people on the show liked her enough to at least be able to build these alliances.
Miguel: Yeah, I saw in a lot of the comments people are like, why hasn't she come back for one of the all-star seasons and stuff like that.
Christina: I saw all these people begging for her to come back and she's like, hell no. ‘Cause there's this other interview where she was like, I'd never watched the show before or after. I thought it was fake. I thought we'd go outside and do these little challenges and then go back to the hotel.
Miguel: She's thinking it's like MTV's The Challenge or something.
Christina: And then she's like, no, I was really out there.
Miguel: With bugs in her hair[12].
Christina: Bugs in her hair and stinking and stuff. She said, her husband popped up on one of the episodes and she said she just really wanted to like hug and kiss him and he wanted to too, but he was like, eww. She's like, I know I smelled bad. I know he loves me because he gave her a kiss anyways.
Miguel: Oh man. They also had a show of their own called SWV Reunited[13]. I never even knew that show existed until last week.
Christina: Um, you know what? I think I may have heard about it.
Miguel: Okay.
Christina: I never watched it, but I think I may have seen murmurings.
Miguel: Yeah. I watched the first episode and they had gotten back together. It wasn't as smooth as things are with them now. They were still working those issues out amongst themselves, but it was a glimpse into what we see them as now because it was like a long time after they had been on the scene basically.
Christina: Yeah.
Miguel: So, it was probably good at the time to see it, but since I didn't see it at the time, it really holds no place in my heart.
Christina: What year was it? I think this was around the time that they were working on the I Missed Us album. Or like they were—
Miguel: Yeah, I think it was after.
Christina: I think that's what it was chronicling.
Miguel: I don't remember. Like I said, I only watched the first episode, so I don't know. They also had an Unsung episode,[14] which basically chronicled their history. And that was very entertaining for me.
Christina: From their own voices.
Miguel: Yeah. So, it was them telling their own story.
Christina: Plus some friends and colleagues.
Miguel: Yeah. So if you haven't seen that, you should check that out.
Christina: The three of them are so entertaining.
Miguel: Yeah, they really are.
Christina: I love Lelee.
Miguel: They are hilarious.
Christina: I mean, they're all, I wanna be their friends. Like they're all, they're funny and like down to earth and just like, they just seem like, real cool.
Miguel: Yeah, people that you would not have a problem hanging out with at a cookout or at a party or something.
Christina: Yeah.
Miguel: The thing that really brought them back into the spotlight recently was the Verzuz[15] they did in 2021 with Xscape. I re-watched it a little bit yesterday.
Christina: I re-watched it a little bit just now, actually, just before we started recording.
Miguel: And this has nothing to do with them or Xscape, but Verzuz. By the time it got to them doing it wasn't what Verzuz was at the beginning.
Christina: It was awkward because they tried to make like a big production out of it.
Miguel: But there was no one there.
Christina: And they were seated so far apart.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: So, they really couldn't have that little, you know, the little banter.
Miguel: Yeah, so that made it bad for me. But the singing, when they actually got a chance to sing, that part was fine, but the production just wasn't there. So, like I said, I can't blame that on them.
Christina: Right.
Miguel: They did what they needed to do, but the Verzuz production itself, someone really needs to write an article about the rise and fall of Verzuz. Because—
Christina: I'm sure it's already been written.
Miguel: It probably has, but yeah, that's all I got.
Christina: Yeah. I can't remember exactly when it happened in terms of this rise of the Verzuz, but it's like, they didn't know how to make it a production yet.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: So, it's, it just kind of fell flat. Anyways. Yeah, I don't know what I'm saying. But there was some awkward vibes.
Miguel: Right. But that Verzuz led to them doing a reality show with Xscape called Queens of R&B, which was supposed to lead into them kicking off a tour.
Christina: Together.
Miguel: Yeah, tour together with Xscape. And it was not that.
Christina: Yeah. It was like the trials and tribulations of Xscape. Featuring SWV.
Miguel: Like, there's so much drama going on with Xscape, and then you cut over to the SWV stuff and the only thing that they're worried about is whether or not Coko's son was gonna go back to dental school.
Christina: Yeah, that was the biggest drama, was him wanting to drop out of dental school. And Taj missing her kids.
Miguel: Right. Like, you cut over to them. They're having good times with their children, they're having good times with each other, with their friends, their families. And then you cut back the Xscape and they were trying to murder each other.
Christina: Yeah. I couldn't stop looking up stuff about Xscape because so much of the show ended up being like, which group is bigger? Because they were arguing about like, headlining and who should close and what song. And so I got so obsessed with looking up album sales and concert venues and Billboard numbers and all that stuff, and I'm like, okay, let's focus on SWV. That's the focus for this episode.
Miguel: Yeah, it, it seemed like they are actually friends now and in a good place. And when you put that up against the drama of Xscape.
Christina: Yeah.
Miguel: It's like, man, it's night and day.
Christina: I think what we were seeing with Xscape was them back in the '90s.
Miguel: Yeah, probably. But the problem is Xscape has been doing this since the '90s too.
Christina: They were out shortly after.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: Their first album came out, like, a year after SWV's album.
Miguel: You would think at this point you would be able to get into a room together and be okay, but I guess not.
Christina: Yeah. But SWV was just like, ooh, this is not what we signed up for.
Miguel: Right.
Christina: But it was really fun watching them though.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: Like, I love their personalities and also their dynamic with each other and then with like the people in their lives. Like, their kids and stuff is so cute. Like, Lelee's dynamic with her kids 'cause she's, as the other two say she's the freaky one, with her...what's that book that she's writing?
Miguel: I don't know the name of the book, but the character is Sista HottPussy.
Christina: So, she wants to write an erotic novel.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: And she's telling her son about it and he's like, grossed out, yet supportive at the same time. And it's just really, weirdly, it's like, weird, but it's also very cute to see this dynamic.
Miguel: Right.
Christina: And this was actually in—they had another reality show with Salt-N-Pepa[16].
Miguel: Oh yeah, I forgot about that one.
Christina: But yeah, she had, there was another thing with her kids and she was telling them, you need to get outta my house. And they're like, why? She's like, I wanna date, I wanna have people over. I don't want you coming into my room. And her son was like, ain't nobody wanna come into your room to see your legs up in the air.
Christina: And then she's like, it'd be his legs up in the air. And I was like, damn, you talk, I mean, these kids are grown.
Miguel: They were, but they were both disgusted by it at the same time.
Christina: They're like, disgusted but like, laughing at the same time.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: Like, here she goes.
Miguel: Exactly.
Christina: And then Coko with her son who looks like her with a little mustache.
Miguel: Yeah. He looks just like her.
Christina: They're really cute together too. They are truly little besties.
Miguel: Yeah. So, with that said, with their entire discography, the TV shows that we've seen, which one piece of art from SWV would you suggest that someone listen to or check out?
Christina: First album.
Miguel: First album.
Christina: First album, and the Unsung episode just to hear the story from their point of view. And also just watch like, all the interviews and videos because they're so funny. Like, I just, I just love them. You know how we say that sometimes these days with like, social media and more access to celebrities. It's like we find out things about them when we don't want to, and you're just like, ooh, like, I wish I didn't know so much about you. But the more I see of them, the more I love them.
Miguel: So, we'll link to all the stuff that we're talking abouts so you can check it out on the website.
Christina: Like, they did, a hair story[17] with, this YouTube channel, Cocoa Butter, and they just go through their different looks and stuff. And Lelee was explaining how she came up with that bob with one, one side short and one side long. And it was because Taj had taken all the hair pieces.
Miguel: There was nothing left.
Christina: And she was the last to get ready and there was just enough to cover one side. And that's how they ended up with the short bob and started a trend.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: Or the angled bob.
Miguel: An accidental trend.
Christina: Yeah.
Miguel: Yeah, I would say those two as well. So, I don't have anything else for people to check out. I say just go to the website, check out our links, and then that will get you on your SWV path.
Christina: Mm-hmm.
Miguel: So, is there anything else you would like to say about SWV before we wrap this up?
Christina: Oh, oh my gosh. One of my favorite stories that they told[18] was being like, the big sisters for Destiny's Child and like, we talking about back in the Girls Tyme era. And talking about how they would hem up little boys that would like, break their hearts or look their way. They told the story of hemming up Mista in an elevator.
Miguel: Yes.
Christina: Talking about don't mess with these girls. That just makes me laugh to think about SWV pushing around Bobby Valentino.
Miguel: And crew in an elevator.
Christina: In an elevator because they were messing around with Girls Tyme slash Destiny's Child.
Miguel: Oh boy.
Christina: Yeah, I like these kinds of stories.
Miguel: Well, I have nothing else to add. So, this might be a good time for us to wrap this up.
Christina: Yeah, I guess that's it.
Miguel: All right. Thank you again for listening to They Reminisce Over You. We do this every two weeks, except in the summertime when we take breaks. Like, we've been off for a couple weeks now, and we're probably gonna take another couple weeks off later in the summer.
Christina: Yes.
Miguel: But for the most part, you can check us out at troypodcast.com. Also, you can follow us on social media. We're at @troypodcast on all the socials, even the ones that just came out in the past couple weeks. There's so many Twitter competitors. So we're on Spill, we're on Threads, we're on Facebook.
Christina: Well that's not new. It's new to us.
Miguel: It isn't, but it's new to us. We've been on Facebook for like six weeks now. So, I don't know how much activity you're gonna get over there, but on Instagram and Twitter, we're pretty active, so you can hit us up there. Also, you can go to our website to check out the stuff that we've spoken about in this episode. We'll have a link to a SWV playlist of our favorite songs, so you can check those out and do some chair dancing, either at home and or at work, and enjoy that as well. I don't know what else I usually say here. I'm just—
Christina: Newsletter!
Miguel: Oh yes, the newsletter. Check out our newsletter. It comes out once a month. It's called Liner Notes. So you go to troypodcast.com/newsletter, sign up for that. It's all sorts of fun stuff in it. It's gonna make you smile and tickle your nipples.
Christina: Ugh!
Miguel: So, go ahead and sign up for the newsletter. Uh, we also have a web store, Nuthin' But a Tee Thang dot com.
Christina: Web store? Do we have a weblog as well?
Miguel: We have, We have, a weblog as well. But we do have a store called Nuthin' But a Tee Thang. And you can check out some of our merch at teethang.com. That's T-E-E-T-H-A-N-G dot com. Nuthin' But a Tee Thang. Go buy yourself a t-shirt, hat, a mug.
Christina: Et cetera, et cetera.
Miguel: Get your mama a t-shirt or a hoodie or something. Uh, that's all I got.
Christina: Okay. I mean, I think that's it.
Miguel: That probably is it.
Christina: I'm ready to eat.
Miguel: Like I said, I'm hungry, I'm tired. I don't know what I'm saying anymore. So, we will see you guys or be talking to you guys again in two weeks and it will be two weeks this time because we have something special for August 11th. So, come on back.
Christina: All right. Bye.