Creep (TLC song)

"Creep"
Single by TLC
from the album CrazySexyCool
Released	October 31, 1994
Format	CD single, 12-inch single
Recorded	1993–March 1994 DARP Studios (Atlanta, Georgia)
Genre	R&B hip hop soul
Length	4:29
Label	LaFace Arista
Writer(s)	Dallas Austin
Producer(s)	Austin
Certification	Platinum (RIAA)
TLC singles chronology
"Sleigh Ride" (1993) "Creep" (1994) "Red Light Special" (1995)

"Creep" is the lead single by American girl group TLC from their second album, CrazySexyCool. The song was a critical success, topping Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for nine consecutive weeks in 1994 and 1995.^[1][2] The song also became TLC's first #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and remained there for four weeks. It was nominated for two Grammy Awards at the 1996 Grammy Awards, winning the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. In addition, Creep won the Billboard Music Award for the #1 R&B single of 1995.^[3] It was the third most successful single on the Billboard Year-End chart of 1995, finishing behind their other successful hit, "Waterfalls", on the 1995 Billboard Year-End Hot 100 Charts. Creep is considered to be one of the most popular mainstream R&B songs to date, and its accompanying music video continues to receive heavy rotation on MTV and VH1.

Background and composition

The song was written and produced by Dallas Austin and samples "Hey Young World" by Slick Rick.

Its lyrics are taken from the perspective of a woman who is aware of her man's infidelity and, in turn, cheats on him in an effort to appease her need for affection. Lead vocals are performed by TLC member Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins.

The sample of this song was used in the song "Survival" of the album Bedtime Stories of singer Madonna, because Dallas Austin was producing this album in the same year.

In the documentary The Last Days of Left Eye, TLC member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes said she was against the release of "Creep" as a single, and threatened to wear black tape over her mouth in the music video. She thought that when a woman finds out that her man is cheating on her, the girl should leave him rather than cheat as well. The remix of "Creep" features Lopes whose rap tells about the consequences of creeping. This was later dramatized in their VH1 biopic CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story.

The song appears in video games The Hip Hop Dance Experience, Everybody Dance and Dance Central Spotlight.

In 2016, Zendaya sampled "Creep" for her new single "Something New" with Chris Brown and T-Boz is confirmed to make an appearance in the video.

Music video

There were three music videos made for this song between June and August 1994, with the third video being released on September 16, 1994. The video features each girl individually in front of a color background wearing silky pajamas, though it was only Chilli who had two different pajamas that were pink and gray (edit digitally), with T-Boz in blue and Left Eye in red. There are other scenes featuring T-Boz singing into a microphone with Omar Lopez, a previous dancer for Janet Jackson, with an open shirt, playing trumpet behind her and flirting with her. There are also black and white shots of them rehearsing dance moves, being silly and hanging out.

There are two versions of this video. One includes additional scenes of the dance rehearsals in favor of some pajama scenes. The second version also contains shots of a Chilli in pink pajamas.

Original version

Filmed on location in Atlanta, GA at the beginning of June 1994, this was the original version of Creep. Not much is known about the original version, as it remains currently unreleased in any form, aside from this 1995 video of 3 different versions.^[4]

Second version

The second version, shot on location in Los Angeles, CA during July 1994, follows a theatrical depiction of the lyrics. Chilli is in a diner with her boyfriend, T-Boz is in her apartment with her boyfriend and Left Eye is in her apartment on the phone talking to her boyfriend. Chilli later sneaks out of the diner to meet her lover, T-Boz sneaks out of the window when her boyfriend falls asleep to meet her lover, Left Eye's phone call is interrupted by T-Boz and Chilli so she hangs up the phone and leaves to be with Chilli and T-Boz.

A black cat is seen at each scenario, the cat later shows up the Chilli & T-Boz' boyfriends, symbolising the secret that the boyfriends do not know. Chilli returns to her boyfriend, who has fallen asleep at the diner and she wakes him up. T-Boz returns to her apartment just as her boyfriend wakes up. Lisa returns home and picks up the phone again. There are also scenes of the girls dancing with back up dancers in a parking lot.

T-Boz and a Chilli are both seen hanging out with their lovers while Left Eye is dancing to a boom box on her own. Left Eye is seen sporting a mask over her eyes with only her left eye highlighted. This version of the video went unreleased, in favour of the third and final version listed above, and at least two different edits of it were made. One is now available to watch online on director Lionel C. Martin Vimeo account, part of the other can be seen in TLC's 1995 documentary "CrazyVideoCool".

Accolades

The song was nominated for two Grammys at the 1996 Grammy Awards: Best R&B Song (for songwriter Dallas Austin) and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, winning the latter. "Creep" was voted at number eight on the The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll of 1995, with the group's previous single "Waterfalls" at number five on the same poll.^[5]

Official remixes

• DARP Mix*
• Jermaine's Jeep Mix
• Smooth Mix*
• Super Smooth Mix*
• Untouchables Mix*
• Maxx Remix
• Tin Tin Out Remix

* – includes a rap by Left Eye^[6]

Track listings and formats

Chart performance

See also

• List of number-one R&B singles of 1994 (U.S.)
• List of number-one R&B singles of 1995 (U.S.)
• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1995

References

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics