Jump to content

Unpretty

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 66.87.30.215 (talk) at 10:57, 22 November 2017. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

"Unpretty"
Song

"Unpretty" is a song by American recording group TLC. It was produced by Dallas Austin and co-written by Austin and TLC member Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins for the band's third studio album, FanMail (1999). Long time contributor Dallas Austin helped Watkins adapt the poem into an empowering song for their female fan base to overcome feelings of physical inadequacy.

"Unpretty" was the second single released from FanMail. It became the group's fourth US number one single on the Billboard Hot 100, spending three weeks atop the chart, and the second consecutive number one single from the album, following "No Scrubs". A critical success, the song was nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards. A remixed version of the song, sampling Dennis Edwards & Siedah Garrett's "Don't Look Any Further", was produced by JayDee of 1208Ent. and "Mad" Mike Lewin. Two versions of the remix were made, one containing a rap verse by Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and one without the rap.

Composition

VH1 described the song as having an "alternative rock vibe".[2] Billboard described the song's production as a "pop/rock beat", and described the song's lyrics as being about insecurities.[3]

Music video

Paul Hunter directed the music video for "Unpretty", which was filmed in June 1999 in Valencia, California, and cost over $1.6 million to make.

The video begins with TLC entering a meditation hut. As the three women begin to meditate, a probe camera is released to record images of struggles in daily life, which ties together vignettes of several different stories relating to the song's lyrics. Several shots of TLC meditating and in a pink and purple field of flowers are shown intermittently throughout the video.

The main set of vignettes features a young woman, portrayed by band member Chilli, and a full-figured teenager (played by actress Tamika Katon-Donegal).[4] Chilli's boyfriend convinces her to get breast implants to augment her modest bust. However, after she sees another patient in the hospital (played by actress Jade Valerie) getting her implants painfully removed, the woman flees the hospital in fear, and is later shown fighting with her boyfriend when she catches him reading magazines of busty women. The other girl is worried about fitting the "ideal" image of the petite supermodel and struggling with a bulimia as a result. Near the end of the video, however, she tears down the unrealistic images of models that she has tacked on her wall and changes into a bathing suit, a sign that she may be starting to embrace her own natural body shape.

Another vignette features Watkins as a high school student who is harassed by two white kids because she is a girl (which is based on what she dealt with in high school), only to be saved by her teacher, who sends the white kids away and retrieves her stuff for her. The last vignette features Lopes as an inner-city woman who plays her verse from "I'm Good at Being Bad", another track on FanMail, to her friend in her car. They come across a city gang, who are approached by a rival gang who begin to threaten them. The two gangs start fighting, which becomes so violent that knives and guns are involved and Lopes and her friend duck for cover as her car window is damaged. When the fight subsides, Lopes leaves the car to assist the remaining injured and barely conscious survivors. One of the survivors has been mortally wounded due to being stabbed in the heart, so Lopes applies pressure on his chest to stop the bleeding and prays as they wait for the police to arrive. Lopes also appears in the "Unpretty" performance shots reciting the song lyrics in American Sign Language.

The group's official YouTube channel contains a shortened version of the video, released to all-ages audience (as "Children's Version"[5]), that removes both Watkins and Lopes' solo storylines, and some of the scenes considered as too explicit.

Track listings

Charts

References

  1. ^ http://www.leagle.com/decision/2006804447FSupp2d357_1779/GLOVER%20v.%20AUSTIN
  2. ^ "Behind The Song: TLC's "Waterfalls" + "No Scrubs" + "Unpretty"". VH1 News. Retrieved 2017-11-06.
  3. ^ "The School of TLC: Matching 10 of the Group's Classics With '10s Songs Modeled After Them". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-11-06.
  4. ^ http://www.sag.org/iactor/tamikakaton-donegal.pdf
  5. ^ "TLC (UK) Unpretty - Childrens Version UK Promo video (VHS or PAL or NTSC) (289882)". eil.com.
  6. ^ "TLC – Unpretty". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
  7. ^ "TLC – Unpretty" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
  8. ^ "TLC – Unpretty" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
  9. ^ "TLC – Unpretty" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
  10. ^ "TLC: Unpretty" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
  11. ^ "TLC – Unpretty" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
  12. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – TLC" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
  13. ^ "TLC – Unpretty". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
  14. ^ "TLC – Unpretty". VG-lista. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
  15. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  16. ^ "TLC – Unpretty". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
  17. ^ "TLC – Unpretty". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
  18. ^ "TLC: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
  19. ^ "Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company.
  20. ^ "TLC Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
  21. ^ "TLC Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
  22. ^ "TLC Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
  23. ^ http://www.aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-end-of-year-charts-top-100-singles-1999.htm
  24. ^ "Top Singles - Volume 70, No. 8, December 13, 1999". RPM. December 13, 1999. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  25. ^ "Billboard Top 100 - 1999". Retrieved 2010-08-28.
  26. ^ 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. Retrieved October 15, 2010. {{cite book}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  27. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1999 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
  28. ^ "New Zealand single certifications – TLC – Unpretty". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved June 5, 2015.[dead link‍]
  29. ^ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1999" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-17. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
  30. ^ id MUST BE PROVIDED for UK CERTIFICATION.
  31. ^ "American single certifications – TLC – Unpretty". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
Preceded by Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
September 18, 1999 – October 2, 1999 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Unpretty&oldid=811555199"