No Scrubs

"No Scrubs"
Single by TLC
from the album FanMail
B-side	"Stop ('99 Mix)"
Released	January 23, 1999
Format	CD single 12" vinyl Cassette single
Recorded	1998 D.A.R.P. Studios[1] (Atlanta, Georgia, United States)
Genre	R&B, pop
Length	3:34 (album version) 4:00 (main mix w/ rap)
Label	LaFace
Writer(s)	Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs Kandi Burruss Tameka "Tiny" Cottle Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes
Producer	Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs
Certification	Gold (RIAA) Platinum (RIAA), (RIANZ)
TLC singles chronology
"Silly Ho" (1998) "No Scrubs" (1999) "Unpretty" (1999)
FanMail track listing "Whispering Playa - Interlude" (4) "No Scrubs" (5) "I'm Good at Being Bad" (6)

"No Scrubs" is a 1999 song recorded by R&B girl group TLC 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. The single is generally considered to be one of the group's signature songs and was the 2nd biggest Hot 100 single of 1999, according to Billboard's Year End Charts. The single was certified platinum in the US, the UK, and New Zealand.^[2]

Background

Chart performance

"No Scrubs" climbed into the U.S. top ten as an airplay only song and jumped to number one upon the single release. The single stayed at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks from April 10, 1999 to May 7, 1999. The single stayed in the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100 for 17 consecutive weeks. "No Scrubs" airplay was at the time astonishing; it was the very first song to peak with over 140 million audience impressions,^[3] and was crowned the Top Airplay Song of 1999. It has holds the record for most weeks at #1 on the Rhythmic Top 40 with 15 weeks. "No Scrubs" is listed at number 161 on the All Time Singles Chart Worldwide with points of over 6,000,000.

Music video

The futuristic music video directed by Hype Williams also received massive airplay on MTV, and won the group the 1999 MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Video, beating out favorites 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys. Each member had a set in the video. The video also has a dance sequence where the girls dance in front of the "TLC" logo. The Main Mix is used in the video instead of the album version. The video features the girls in three different outfits: white, black, silver and Left Eye in blue. When there are shots of the girls together they have two different outfits: black and silver. T-Boz's hair is fuchsia in the video. The set up of the video is similar to Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson's video "Scream".

Tracklisting

• US CD Single

1. "No Scrubs" (Album Version) - 3:39
2. "No Scrubs" (Instrumental) - 3:37

• International CD1

1. "No Scrubs" (Album Version) - 3:37
2. "No Scrubs" (Main Mix with Left Eye's Rap) - 4:00
3. "No Scrubs" (Instrumental) - 3:37
4. "Silly Ho" (Album Version) - 4:16

• International CD2

1. "No Scrubs" (Album Version) - 3:39
2. "Waterfalls" (Radio Version) - 4:19
3. "Creep" (Radio Version) - 4:26

Chart performance

Peak positions Chart (1999) Peak position U.S. Billboard Hot 100 1 [4] U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream 1 [5] U.S. Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 1 [5] U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 1 [5] UK Singles Chart 3 [6] Australia ARIA Singles Chart 1 [5] Canada Singles Chart 1 [5] Irish Singles Chart 1 [7] New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart 1 [5] Netherland Singles Chart 3 [5] German Singles Chart 4 [8] French Singles Chart 5 [5] Swiss Singles Chart 5 [5] Norwegian Singles Chart 7 [5] Swedish Singles Chart 16 [5] Austrian Singles Chart 26 [5]

End of year charts End of year chart (1999) Position U.S. Billboard Hot 100[9] 2 End of decade charts Chart (1990-1999) Position U.S. Billboard Hot 100[10] 33

Preceded by "Believe" by Cher	Billboard Hot 100 number one single April 10, 1999- May 1, 1999	Succeeded by "Livin' la Vida Loca" by Ricky Martin
Preceded by "What's It Gonna Be?!" by Busta Rhymes featuring Janet	Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs number one single April 10, 1999- May 1, 1999	Succeeded by "Fortunate" by Maxwell
Preceded by "...Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears	Australian ARIA Singles Chart number one single 2 May 1999 – 20 June 1999	Succeeded by "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer
Preceded by "Love Song" by Sky	Canada Singles Chart number one single April 26, 1999- May 3, 1999	Succeeded by "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer
Preceded by "That Don't Impress Me Much" by Shania Twain	RIANZ (New Zealand) number one single 9 May 1999 – 15 May 1999	Succeeded by "Tonight" by TrueBliss

Covers

• During live performances, Blink-182 commonly used the "No Scrubs" chorus during the bridge of the 1998 hit "Dammit".
• Welsh band Kids in Glass Houses covered this song at an acoustic night of the Full Ponty festival.
• Swing Out Sister also covered the "No Scrubs" chorus in their version of "Now You're Not Here" registered live on Live in Tokyo (2005).
• Marjorie Dawes sang part of the song on the UK comedy show Shooting Stars.
• Incubus covered part of "No Scrubs" during their MTV Acoustic performance
• Lisa Loeb performed an acoustic cover of part of the song when she appeared on a late-night talk show in 2000.
• Lizette Carter recorded a cover for the animated film Happy Feet (2006).
• UK band The Saturdays covered the track in 2010, but their version remains unreleased, Only a live version exists.
• Philidelphia singer/songwriter Avi Wisnia covered the song on his 2010 album "Something New" ^[11]

References

1. ^ http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=1849163
2. ^ UK Charts Search 'No Scrubs'
3. ^ http://www.billboard.com/#/archive/read?id=1Q8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=77&query=No+SCrubs+first+song+140++million&date=2002-01-19
4. ^ Allmusic - TLC Charting
5. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l} No Scrubs - Charting
6. ^ UK Charts Search 'No Scrubs'
7. ^ Irish Charts Search 'No Scrubs'
8. ^ German Charts - TLC
9. ^ "Billboard Top 100 - 1999". http://longboredsurfer.com/charts.php?year=1999. Retrieved 2010-08-28. 
10. ^ Geoff Mayfield (December 25, 1999). "1999 The Year in Music Totally '90s: Diary of a Decade - The listing of Top Pop Albums of the '90s & Hot 100 Singles of the '90s". Billboard. http://books.google.co.kr/books?id=9w0EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&lr&rview=1&pg=RA1-PA4#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved October 15, 2010. 
11. ^ http://aviwisnia.com/music/