FanMail
Encyclopedia
FanMail is the third studio album by American
girl group
trio
TLC
, released on February 23, 1999. As with previous album CrazySexyCool
(1994), the group re-teamed with Dallas Austin
, Babyface, and Jermaine Dupri
on the album's production and the album features the computer voice female named Vic-E (vikki).
The group's first album in five years, Fanmail debuted on top of the U.S. Billboard 200
and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
chart, selling approximately 318,000 copies in its first week of release. The album was certified 6x platinum
by the RIAA for more than six million copies sold in the US alone, and featured two number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, "No Scrubs" and "Unpretty".
The album entered the top twenty on the majority of international charts, and it reached the top ten in Canada
, New Zealand
, and the United Kingdom
.
The album was very successful at the Grammys, receiving eight nominations including Album of the Year. "No Scrubs" won Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group and Best R&B Song and Fanmail won Best R&B Album.
on July 3, 1995, TLC eventually entered recording studios in 1998 to start work on their then-untitled third album with producer Dallas Austin
. While Austin contributed the most to the album and moreover served as its executive producer
, TLC also worked with producers Antonio M. Reid and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. The album was scheduled for release on November 10, 1998 but was pushed back to February 23, 1999
.
The album title was a tribute to TLC's fans after the group's lengthy hiatus. The title came from group member Lisa Lopes
, who also coined the group's first two album titles, Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip and CrazySexyCool
.
The album took on a new world, futuristic style, which was highly popular in the late 90s to early 2000s. This style was effectively portrayed in the albums most popular song "No Scrubs
", along with the music video, which embraces a modern emphasis on female strength, and independence. The album also featured a custom font design, cover art with decode-able binary code
, along with pictures of the group members in metallic skin tones. The album's CD insert folds out to form a large poster featuring a picture of TLC and the names of thousands of people who sent them fanmail along their career. A limited edition of the album was released, and had an insert with a lenticular version of the cover placed in front of the original booklet in the jewel case. The album contained several tracks featuring vocals by the computer modulated voice Vic-E (vikki), a talking android later featured in the FanMail Tour
.
There is an explicit version and a clean version replacing certain curse words, some sexual remarks, and some racial words. The explicit version comes with a Parental Advisory sticker, their first album to do so. FanMail was the groups final album released during Lisa Lopes
lifetime before she died 3 years later. Lisa Lopes co-wrote 5 of the songs (overall 6 including "I Need That"), Watkins co-wrote 5 and Thomas co-wrote one.
-nominee for "Album of the Year
", Reception for the album was positive. Rolling Stone Magazine declared Fanmail as "equal parts steely bitch and sweet sister, superfreak and misty romantic, self-centered coffee achiever and spiritualized earth mama."
and Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart. The album remained atop the chart for five weeks, it eventually received a 6x platinum
certification by the RIAA with selling over 5.3 million copies domestically, and over eleven million worldwide. While the album entered the top twenty on the majority of the charts it appeared on oustide the United States
, it also reached the top ten in New Zealand
, Canada
, and the United Kingdom
.
Although "Silly Ho
", was considered to be released as a single at times, Fanmail spawned three singles: The album's lead single, "No Scrubs
", became TLC's biggest commercial successes in years, topping the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks charts with spending four consecutive weeks on top. It was eventually ranked two on the Hot 100 1999 year-end charts. Follow-up single "Unpretty
" received the same success on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 but reached number four on the "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks" chart. The follow-up single, "Dear Lie
" never made it out of the lower half of the Billboard Hot 100 due to its lack of promotion and unavailability of its video in the United States.
recorded a cover of TLC's FanMail for his song I Get Lonely Too, a remix features Jeremih
and another extended mix and mashup features TLC. The songs are featured on The FanMail Mixtape and It's Never Enough on DatPiff.com.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
girl group
Girl group
A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonise together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...
trio
Trio (music)
Trio is generally used in any of the following ways:* A group of three musicians playing the same or different musical instrument.* The performance of a piece of music by three people.* The contrasting section of a piece in ternary form...
TLC
TLC (band)
TLC is an American musical trio whose repertoire spanned R&B, hip-hop, soul, funk, and new jack swing. Originally consisting of singer Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, rapper-singer Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and singer Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas it found success in the 1990s while also enduring a series of spats...
, released on February 23, 1999. As with previous album CrazySexyCool
CrazySexyCool
CrazySexyCool is the second studio album by American R&B group TLC, released by LaFace Records on November 15, 1994 in North America...
(1994), the group re-teamed with Dallas Austin
Dallas Austin
Dallas Austin is an American songwriter, record producer, and musician, based in Atlanta, Georgia. Some of his most notable clients include Michael Jackson, TLC, Boyz II Men, Pink, Monica, Madonna, Gwen Stefani, Stacie Orrico, Another Bad Creation, Fishbone, Sugababes, Anastacia, Namie Amuro, Kim...
, Babyface, and Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri Mauldin , known as Jermaine Dupri or JD, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper.- Early life and career :...
on the album's production and the album features the computer voice female named Vic-E (vikki).
The group's first album in five years, Fanmail debuted on top of the U.S. Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...
chart, selling approximately 318,000 copies in its first week of release. The album was certified 6x platinum
Platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...
by the RIAA for more than six million copies sold in the US alone, and featured two number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, "No Scrubs" and "Unpretty".
The album entered the top twenty on the majority of international charts, and it reached the top ten in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
The album was very successful at the Grammys, receiving eight nominations including Album of the Year. "No Scrubs" won Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group and Best R&B Song and Fanmail won Best R&B Album.
Production, title and theme
After a lengthy hiatus following the members of TLC filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcyBankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
on July 3, 1995, TLC eventually entered recording studios in 1998 to start work on their then-untitled third album with producer Dallas Austin
Dallas Austin
Dallas Austin is an American songwriter, record producer, and musician, based in Atlanta, Georgia. Some of his most notable clients include Michael Jackson, TLC, Boyz II Men, Pink, Monica, Madonna, Gwen Stefani, Stacie Orrico, Another Bad Creation, Fishbone, Sugababes, Anastacia, Namie Amuro, Kim...
. While Austin contributed the most to the album and moreover served as its executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
, TLC also worked with producers Antonio M. Reid and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. The album was scheduled for release on November 10, 1998 but was pushed back to February 23, 1999
1999 in music
-Events:*January 7**After eight years of marriage, Rod Stewart and supermodel wife Rachel Hunter announce their separation.**Paul McCartney attends the first of his stepdaughter Heather's first housewares collection in Georgia....
.
The album title was a tribute to TLC's fans after the group's lengthy hiatus. The title came from group member Lisa Lopes
Lisa Lopes
Lisa Nicole Lopes better known by her stage name Left Eye, was an American rapper, singer, dancer, actress, television host, and songwriter...
, who also coined the group's first two album titles, Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip and CrazySexyCool
CrazySexyCool
CrazySexyCool is the second studio album by American R&B group TLC, released by LaFace Records on November 15, 1994 in North America...
.
The album took on a new world, futuristic style, which was highly popular in the late 90s to early 2000s. This style was effectively portrayed in the albums most popular song "No Scrubs
No Scrubs
"No Scrubs" is a 1999 song recorded by R&B girl groupTLC for their album FanMail. Released as the album's first single, "No Scrubs" became TLC's third number-one single and eighth top 10 single on the Billboard Hot 100. It also earned them their second Grammy nomination for Record of the Year...
", along with the music video, which embraces a modern emphasis on female strength, and independence. The album also featured a custom font design, cover art with decode-able binary code
Binary code
A binary code is a way of representing text or computer processor instructions by the use of the binary number system's two-binary digits 0 and 1. This is accomplished by assigning a bit string to each particular symbol or instruction...
, along with pictures of the group members in metallic skin tones. The album's CD insert folds out to form a large poster featuring a picture of TLC and the names of thousands of people who sent them fanmail along their career. A limited edition of the album was released, and had an insert with a lenticular version of the cover placed in front of the original booklet in the jewel case. The album contained several tracks featuring vocals by the computer modulated voice Vic-E (vikki), a talking android later featured in the FanMail Tour
FanMail Tour
The FanMail Tour was the first concert tour performed by the American pop/R&B group TLC. In support of their album FanMail, the arena tour ran from late 1999 into early 2000. It covered the United States and Canada. There were six dates scheduled for Japan, but all dates were canceled.The Tour...
.
There is an explicit version and a clean version replacing certain curse words, some sexual remarks, and some racial words. The explicit version comes with a Parental Advisory sticker, their first album to do so. FanMail was the groups final album released during Lisa Lopes
Lisa Lopes
Lisa Nicole Lopes better known by her stage name Left Eye, was an American rapper, singer, dancer, actress, television host, and songwriter...
lifetime before she died 3 years later. Lisa Lopes co-wrote 5 of the songs (overall 6 including "I Need That"), Watkins co-wrote 5 and Thomas co-wrote one.
Critical response
Fanmail was a Grammy AwardGrammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-nominee for "Album of the Year
Grammy Award for Album of the Year
The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is the most prestigious award category at the Grammys. It has been awarded since 1959 and though it was originally presented to the artist alone, the award is now presented to the artist, the producer, the engineer and/or mixer and the mastering engineer...
", Reception for the album was positive. Rolling Stone Magazine declared Fanmail as "equal parts steely bitch and sweet sister, superfreak and misty romantic, self-centered coffee achiever and spiritualized earth mama."
Commercial performance
However, TLC's third album became a global success. Fanmail debuted on top of the U.S. Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
and Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart. The album remained atop the chart for five weeks, it eventually received a 6x platinum
Platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...
certification by the RIAA with selling over 5.3 million copies domestically, and over eleven million worldwide. While the album entered the top twenty on the majority of the charts it appeared on oustide the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, it also reached the top ten in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Although "Silly Ho
Silly Ho
"Silly Ho" is a song recorded by R&B girl group TLC for their album FanMail. Without an official single release, the song managed to reach number seventy-four on the Billboard R&B chart based on radio airplay alone. The song also peaked at number sixty-nine on Billboard Hot 100. It was sent to...
", was considered to be released as a single at times, Fanmail spawned three singles: The album's lead single, "No Scrubs
No Scrubs
"No Scrubs" is a 1999 song recorded by R&B girl groupTLC for their album FanMail. Released as the album's first single, "No Scrubs" became TLC's third number-one single and eighth top 10 single on the Billboard Hot 100. It also earned them their second Grammy nomination for Record of the Year...
", became TLC's biggest commercial successes in years, topping the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks charts with spending four consecutive weeks on top. It was eventually ranked two on the Hot 100 1999 year-end charts. Follow-up single "Unpretty
Unpretty
"Unpretty" is a 1999 single recorded by TLC. Produced by Dallas Austin and co-written by Austin and TLC group member Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins. "Unpretty" was the second single released from FanMail. It became the group's fourth U.S...
" received the same success on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 but reached number four on the "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks" chart. The follow-up single, "Dear Lie
Dear Lie
"Dear Lie" is a R&B ballad written by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and Tionne Watkins for TLC's third studio album FanMail . It was produced by Babyface and released as the album's third single on November 30, 1999...
" never made it out of the lower half of the Billboard Hot 100 due to its lack of promotion and unavailability of its video in the United States.
Legacy
Rapper/Singer DrakeDrake (entertainer)
Aubrey Drake Graham , who records under the mononym Drake, is a Canadian recording artist and actor. He originally became known for playing Jimmy Brooks on the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation....
recorded a cover of TLC's FanMail for his song I Get Lonely Too, a remix features Jeremih
Jeremih
Jeremiah Felton who performs under the mononym Jeremih , is an American recording artist and producer signed to Def Jam Recordings. Jeremih's debut single, "Birthday Sex" , peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100...
and another extended mix and mashup features TLC. The songs are featured on The FanMail Mixtape and It's Never Enough on DatPiff.com.
Track listing
Known outtakes
- "I Need That" – 3:52
- Released online by TLC as an album preview. Did not make final tracklisting. Produced by Ricciano Lumpkins for PWPX, LLC. Written by R. Lumpkins, L. Lopes, and S. Chunn
- "Let's Just Do It" – 4:47
- Recorded by Left Eye with T-Boz on backing vocals. Remixed and released as lead single of Left Eye's 2009 posthumous album Eye LegacyEye Legacy-Bonus tracks:NOTES:* 1 - uses instrumentation from the original 1998 demo.* Several bonus tracks were released as the EP Forever... The EP.-Remixes:The majority of songs on Eye Legacy are remixed versions of Lopes' 2001 release, Supernova....
.
- Recorded by Left Eye with T-Boz on backing vocals. Remixed and released as lead single of Left Eye's 2009 posthumous album Eye Legacy
Main personnel
- Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes – vocals, rapping
- Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas – vocals, lead vocals
- Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins – vocals, lead vocals
- Dallas AustinDallas AustinDallas Austin is an American songwriter, record producer, and musician, based in Atlanta, Georgia. Some of his most notable clients include Michael Jackson, TLC, Boyz II Men, Pink, Monica, Madonna, Gwen Stefani, Stacie Orrico, Another Bad Creation, Fishbone, Sugababes, Anastacia, Namie Amuro, Kim...
– arranger, vocals, producer, executive producer - Babyface – Synclavier, acoustic guitar, guitar, keyboards, producer, drum programming, executive producer
- Jermaine DupriJermaine DupriJermaine Dupri Mauldin , known as Jermaine Dupri or JD, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper.- Early life and career :...
– producer, mixing - Debra KillingsDebra KillingsDebra Killings is an American singer and bass guitarist; notable for an extensive session and background vocal work for LaFace Records & Rowdy Records-based artists such as TLC, Monica and OutKast....
– background vocals - Ricciano "Ricco" Lumpkins – producer, engineer, keyboards, synclavier, drum programming
Charts and certification
- These are the peak positions and certifications from chart providers.
| Chart (1999) | Provider | Peak position |
Certification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canadian Albums Chart | CRIA Canadian Recording Industry Association Music Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, artists, manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music in Canada... |
3 | |
| New Zealand Albums Chart | RIANZ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
6 | |
| UK Albums Chart | BPI British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... |
7 | Platinum |
| U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... |
1 | 6x Platinum RIAA certification In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards... |
| U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
1 | ||
End of decade charts
| Chart (1990–1999) | Position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 84 |
Chart procession and succession
See also
- Number-one albums of 1999 (U.S.)
- List of number-one R&B albums of 1999 (U.S.)