Creep (TLC song)
"Creep" is a song recorded by American singing group TLC for their second studio album, CrazySexyCool (1994). Dallas Austin, who tried to write the track from a "female perspective", wrote and produced it. It is based on member Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins's experience with infidelity. The lyrics portray the singers as women who cheat on their unfaithful lovers for "some affection". This context was controversial within the group, and strongly opposed by member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, who threatened to wear black tape over her mouth on its accompanying music video.
"Creep"
LaFace and Arista Records released the song as the album's lead single on October 31, 1994, and it gained both critical acclaim and commercial success. Music critics praised Austin's work and TLC's new musical direction, and commercially "Creep" became the group's first number one on the United States Billboard Hot 100. It topped the chart for four consecutive weeks and was later certified platinum in sales. Following its European debut/re-issue in early 1996, the song reached the top ten in the United Kingdom and New Zealand and the top forty in other countries. Included in the remixes was a new rap verse written by Lopes which warns listeners of safe sex issues. "Creep" appeared on many best-of lists and received a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
The trio contacted Matthew Rolston to film a music video after seeing his work for Salt-N-Pepa. The resulting video was later deemed one of the most iconic pop videos of all time, notably for the famous satin pajamas costumes and the choreography. With changes in both musical style and image, the song marked a major reinvention in TLC's career. They performed it during several live concerts and television events, and the track being used in films and TV series, and covered and sampled by artists including American rock band The Afghan Whigs and singer Zendaya.
Musical style and composition[edit]
"Creep" is a R&B song influenced by funk, jazz, soul and boom bap; a distinctive sound for the trio whose earlier works had a new jack swing sound.[24][25][13][2] The A.V. Club's David Anthony pointed out that the mid-1990s R&B "renaissance" in music, and Lopes's stint in rehab, re-invented TLC's musical direction and brought a stronger focus on pop elements to CrazySexyCool.[26] Similar to their past works, "Creep" includes hip hop samples—particularly two 1989 singles, Slick Rick's "Hey Young World" and Shinehead's "Who the Cap Fits"—a heavy beat, with "forthright sex talk" lyrics with a kind of "playful sensuality" and "street aggression".[17][27][13][28] According to The Telegraph, the group delivered it with an "empowered" attitude with Prince-style eroticism.[29] Its production was built on a "deep" and "infectious" groove, around a wafting "late night"-style trumpet sample with quietly "jiggling" funk guitar and scratching sounds—all adding depth to the subversively "poppy" vocal chorus and accentuating the song's "slinky" hooks.[30][22][23][28] Michael Arceneaux of Complex called the track a "darker, mellower, and far jazzier" sound than any of its predecessors, which was "perfect" for Watkins's alto voice.[31]
Musically, "Creep" is set in the time signature of common time with a moderate tempo of 96 beats per minute. It was composed in the traditional verse–chorus form in C minor with Watkins and Thomas's vocals ranging from the chords of C4 to F5.[32] "Yes, it's me again/And I'm back", Watkins introduces herself while opening the track in a "husky" voice.[13] She then repeats the lines "oh-I, oh-I, oh-I", which was compared by Spin's Terry Sutton to Watkins finding "a spiritual instruction in vowel sounds" before starting the song's first verse.[33][32] In the first verse, the singer counts her relationship's "twenty-second [sic] of loneliness" and expresses how she still loves her boyfriend while acknowledging that he has cheated on her.[32] Moving on to the song's bridge, she suddenly uses a lower register to "nonchalantly" reveal: "I'll never leave him down, though I might mess around/It's only cause I need some affection."[32][8] "So I creep/Yeah/And I'll just keep it on the down low." She lowers the key and sings the hook as if she is "confessing to a chosen few."[13][10]
Opening the second verse, Watkins again counts her "twenty-third of loneliness" and still talks of her love for her partner despite signs of a broken romance.[32] After repeating the chorus, Watkins "sweetly" explains the reason that she is cheating: she needs some attention from her lover.[32][13] She ends the track with the lines "I creep around because I need attention/I don't mess around with my affection" while fading out with the heavy beat and the horn sample.[32][13][28] Billboard's Larry Flick said that Watkins's vocals were "tightly woven" and "rife with raspy grit", which provided a nice contrast to the song's horn sample and funk guitars.[28]
Release and remixes[edit]
Watkins recalled that LaFace Records' co-founder Antonio "L.A." Reid "flipped out" when he first heard "Creep"[2] and the track became CrazySexyCool's first single on October 31, 1994, despite Lopes's disagreement with the choice.[14][34] Many producers contributed their remixes to the song's release, including Austin and his "DARP Mix".[35] Jermaine Dupri—who was working closely with TLC and had expressed his admiration for the song—collaborated with Shannon Houchins to create "Jermaine's Jeep Mix".[36][5][35][37] Austin's and Untouchables' mixes featured a newly-written rap verse by Lopes, with a noteworthy lyric which warns: "Prenatal HIV is often sleeping in a creeping cradle."[17][18] Nate Jones from People wrote of the Lopes lyric, saying it was another reminder of the trio's commitment to address social issues in their music.[18]
In the United Kingdom, the single was originally released on January 9, 1995.[38] The following year, in the UK and some European countries, it was re-issued or debuted as "Creep '96" on January 13, 1996, composed of mixes by Dupri, Maxx, Tin Tin Out, and a single-edit of "Waterfalls" (replaced by its "DARP Mix" on the vinyl version).[39][40][41] In Japan, a mini-CD single was issued on December 16, 1994.[42] Internationally, "Creep" appeared on most TLC compilations over the years, notably Now & Forever: The Hits (2003), The Very Best of TLC: Crazy Sexy Hits (2006) and 20 (2013).[43] For the 2013 Japanese compilation TLC 20: 20th Anniversary Hits, Watkins and Thomas re-recorded "Creep", and a few other tracks, to celebrate the group's twenty years in the music industry.[44]
Commercial performance[edit]
Two weeks after its release, "Creep" debuted at number 71 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart of November 12, 1994.[62] The following week, it jumped to number 25, then climbed to the top ten at number 8 on December 3.[63][64] Within a month of its release the single received a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of 500,000 copies.[65] Combined with 100,000 sold in the following month, it became the 23rd best-selling single of 1994, according to Billboard.[66] Soon after it became their third platinum single, it topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Rhythmic charts, and peaked at number three on the Radio Songs chart and number nine on the Mainstream Top 40.[67][68][69][70][71]
After more than a month in the top ten, "Creep" reached the number one position on January 28, 1995, and became TLC's first number-one hit in the US.[72] "Creep" held the number-one position for four consecutive weeks before it was overtaken by Madonna's single "Take a Bow".[22] The song placed at number three on Hot 100's year-end chart with 800,000 copies sold in 1995, making it the 18th best-selling single that year.[73][74] Due to the song's commercial success, it won a Billboard Music Award for Top R&B Song and was nominated for the Top Hot 100 Song category in 1995. Retrospectively, "Creep" was listed at number 21 on Billboard Hot 100's decade-end list of the 1990s, and became the fourth-most-successful song on the chart by a girl group.[75][76]
In the United Kingdom, "Creep" peaked at number 22 on the UK Singles Chart and at number four on the R&B Chart.[77][78] It reached the number four spot in New Zealand, becoming TLC's highest listed single in the country at the time.[79] It went on to receive a gold certification from Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ) with 7,500 copies sold, and peaked at number 35 on their year-end chart.[80][81] In other territories, "Creep" moved into the top-twenty in the Netherlands and Australia, while reaching the top-forty in France, Switzerland and Germany.[82][83][84][85][86] The song appeared on Canada's RPM magazine's Top Singles top-forty, year-end dance chart at number 35.[87][88] It also charted in Belgium, Sweden and the European Hot 100 Singles.[89][90][91]
After its January 1996 re-issue as "Creep '96", it re-entered the UK Singles Chart at number 6, where it remained for seven weeks; it also peaked at number three on the R&B chart.[92][93] The re-issue also helped the song surpass its original 1995 peak on the Scotland singles chart from 44 to number 17. In Sweden the record peaked at number 56.[94][90]
Live performances[edit]
TLC first performed "Creep" on television for the Nickelodeon series All That on January 7, 1995, followed by a performance on the May 6 episode of Saturday Night Live along with "Red Light Special".[139][140] Complex chose the All That performance as one of the best of the series, while "Red Light Special" appeared on the compilation SNL25 – Saturday Night Live, The Musical Performances Volume 2 (1999), though Billboard's Michael Paoletta described it as "awful".[141][142][143] Later in July, the trio joined other artists on the 16th Annual Budweiser Superfest Tour, with "Creep" added to their playlist. On stage, they performed the song to an audience of 3,000–6,000 in front of the letters "CrazySexyCool". Many girls wore cropped T-shirts with oversized jeans held up by thick belts.[144][145][146]
Chicago Tribune's reporter Rohan B. Preston said their set "lit torches for female desire" their songs "Creep" and "Red Light Special".[147] Complex chose their performance of "CrazySexyMedley"—which included "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg", "Kick Your Game", "Creep" and "Waterfalls"—at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards as one of the ceremony's twenty best performances of all-time. Writer Edwin Ortiz declared: "Back in the '90s, no female R&B act could touch TLC."[148][149] A "Hitmix" medley was put together for their September 28 appearance on Top of the Pops, made of three CrazySexyCool singles: "Creep", "Waterfalls" and "Diggin' on You".[150]
In October 1999, they performed the song in their famous silk pajamas during FanMail Tour's third act, which represented the songs of CrazySexyCool.[151][152][153]
Its January 29, 2000, show in Atlanta was taped for the March 18 pay-per-view special TLC: Sold Out, while a few clips of the January 23 concert at MCI Center, in Washington, D.C. were later included on the CD and DVD of TLC 20: 20th Anniversary Hits (2013), a Japan-only compilation.[154][155][156][44]
After Lopes's death in 2002, Watkins and Thomas first appeared as a two-piece group at Giant Stadium, New York City for Z100's annual Zootopia concert on June 1, 2003. For what was billed as the group's final performance, they wore baggy white jumpsuits while singing "Creep" with four backup dancers.[157][158] The duo added the song to their greatest-hits performance on the finale of their reality show R U the Girl, which aired on September 21, 2005.[159]
Seven years later, the two performed the song at the Japanese Springroove Music Festival on April 4, 2009, and at the October 17 set of Justin Timberlake's charity concert, Justin Timberlake and Friends, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas.[160][161] This performance marked their first live-concert US appearance in six years, however, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that the girls had been lip-syncing throughout the show.[162][161][163]
On October 16, 2013, TLC sang the song during their hit-medley on talk show The View with a separate televised live rendition of the track for VH1's Super Bowl Blitz concert at the Beacon Theatre on January 30, 2014, where they wore revealing black lace attire.[164][165] Intermittently, "Creep" was added to many of their performances, notably the 2015 The Main Event tour with main act New Kids on the Block, and other shows across America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the Philippines.[166][167]
Credits adapted from the liner notes of the CD single, CrazySexyCool and CrazyVideoCool.[17][194][27]
Recording and management
Personnel