Crazy Sexy Cool: The TLC Story

I remember telling my mama

I'm gonna be a big star one day.

It didn't matter where I came from.

It didn't matter we didn't have money

to pay our bills, you know?

All three of us had that, that struggle.

Chilli grew up without a daddy from day one,

she always had that beautiful spirit, you know,

that just wanted to dance and sing and be heard

no matter how hard things were.

Me?

I was just trying to be all that, you know.

Daddy gone, no money.

I hung onto my fantasy, though, and my cool.

And Lisa?

Lisa was a wild, creative kid.

I mean, she could do anything:

Sing, write, make poetry, make art.

Her drill sergeant daddy was a hard drinking man.

She performed just to try and get his love.

Did we know how major we'd get?

Well, Lisa would say she knew it all along.

But see, that was the thing, it did happen for us.

I mean, our moment came,

and we took it all the way to the top.

Our music really took us there, you know?

Every single one of our songs came from the heart.

All the love we had, and the loss we went through.

Those songs told our stories, for real.

- Atlanta was the city, decatur was the neighborhood,

and jellybeans was the spot.

The hip hop style of the south was born out of this rink;

from the clothes, to the lingo, to the dance moves.

See, on the dance floor,

it was all about the guys

and the girls were just watching on the side lines.

But I wasn't interested in just watching.

I wanted in on the boy's club.

I mean, why should they have all the fun?

- Yo d, let me dance on your crew, man.

I don't know about that, shorty.

Tionne, i've been looking for you.

What's good, Marie?

Ian Burke really likes you for that girl group.

Naw, I ain't tryin' to be in no girl group.

This girl crystal is getting it together.

This is the real deal.

Come on, you can sing.

I'm just tryin' to dance.

Well, pebbles is starting her own label

here in Atlanta.

You talkin' about pebbles as in,

"Don't you wanna ride in my Mercedes, boy?" Pebbles?

Mm-hmm. I can hook it up.

You know I do pebbles hair, right?

Pebbles is married to L.A. Reid of la face records.

They're killin' it in Atlanta,

signin' folks and getting records made,

for real.

Girl group or not,

I wasn't about to pass up on this opportunity.

I mean, crystal did have the connect,

but I had to bring some insurance

that our group would be hot.

And I knew just the voice

that was big enough to stand out.

All right folks,

put the money in the hat

and promise you'll be right back.

Thank you very much.

Okay, all right now.

Yo, Lisa, dope.

Tionne, what up girl?

This is crystal, who I was telling you about.

- Hey, crystal. Nice to meet you.

You too.

I like your rhymes. You got flavor, girl.

I know it, 'cause i'm about to blow up.

I got my whole setup.

Yeah, she'll be perfect for the group.

Girl, tell me something that I don't know.

Oh, my God.

Food ready, girls.

Enjoy.

Thank you.

Dang, Lisa, when's the last time you ate?

Too damn long, girl.

You know, I feel you on that.

It used to be me and my moms e

ating watermelon and popcorn for dinner,

'cause that's all we could scrape together.

I feel you.

Mm-hmm.

I heard you came down from Philly

with $100 and a keyboard

and just posted up, like...

Believe that, I had to get out of there.

It was hectic back home.

You know, my family's crazy,

but this is where it's at.

So, what, your folks cool with you bein' down here?

My dad, no,

and I don't get it, 'cause this dude is a musician.

Don't even trip, my folks did music.

You know, my dad had the band, my mama was singing backup,

and he ended up choosing music over us,

so we had to be out,

and that's how it be sometimes.

You know what, I think with my dad,

it just was nobody was ever good enough for him, you know?

I guess bein' in the military made him hard to please.

But he gonna see, though.

Yeah, he definitely gonna see,

'cause i'ma make him proud.

'cause i'm fittin' to blow up.

Blow it up.

La face records:

The motown of the south, baby.

Owned by babyface and L.A. Reid.

Nobody made it without going through L.A.

Ladies?

You can go in now.

I don't need this.

That's what I get for being in the neighborhood.

Where's my jewelry?

Can we talk?

All right, thank you.

Thank you, girls.

Good job, thank you.

My husband and I will discuss this,

and we'll give you a call.

All right. Thanks.

Lisa, Tionne, can you wait a second?

Oh, crystal, you're okay, you can go.

Thank you.

I love you two, but her?

She's got to go.

I'll give you a call during the week.

Good job, good job.

Thanks. Thank you.

Both: Yo, we killed it!

We killed it!

We 'bout to blow up.

Let me call my dad.

Oh, my God, girl.

Yeah, hello?

It's Lisa.

Man, i've been tryin' to reach y'all all day.

Let me speak to dad.

What?

He's been shot?

What?

I mean, well, he's all right, though, right?

I mean, he's-- he's gonna be all right?

He good?

No lie, same exact day Lisa walked out

with the best news of her life,

she gets the worst news of her life.

We found out real fast just how crazy our lives would be.

Three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

- The atl was full of backup dancers.

Can you tell which one is me?

Yeah, i'm just another performer lost in the background.

But that was about to change.

Ladies, give me five minutes, okay?

What is pebbles doing here?

She's putting together a girl group.