Unpretty
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| “Unpretty” | ||||||||||||||
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| Single by TLC from the album FanMail |
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| Released | August 10, 1999 | |||||||||||||
| Format | CD single | |||||||||||||
| Recorded | 1998, DARP Studios, Atlanta | |||||||||||||
| Genre | Pop rock | |||||||||||||
| Length | 4:01 (radio version) 4:38 (album version) |
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| Label | LaFace | |||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Dallas Austin Tionne Watkins |
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| Producer | Dallas Austin | |||||||||||||
| Certification | RIAA: Gold | |||||||||||||
| TLC singles chronology | ||||||||||||||
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"Unpretty" is a 1999 (see 1999 in music) single recorded by R&B girl group TLC for their third album Fanmail. Produced by Dallas Austin and co-written by Austin and TLC group member Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, "Unpretty" was the second single released from Fanmail. It became the group's fourth and final U.S. number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and their second Billboard number-one in a row, following "No Scrubs".
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[edit] Song information
"Unpretty" originated from a poem of the same name written by Watkins, which dealt with a woman's struggle with her self-image. The poem also addressed the comparisons many females make between themselves and the sometimes unrealistic concepts of beauty, as it is commonly portrayed in the media. Upon reading the poem, TLC producer Dallas Austin helped Watkins adapt the poem into a song, which TLC recorded as an empowering song for their mostly female fan base to overcome feelings of physical inadequacy.
Watkins and Rozonda "Chili" Thomas sing lead on the song, with backing vocals by Watkins, Debra Killings, and Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes. A remixed version, sampling Dennis Edwards & Siedah Garrett's "Don't Look Any Further", was produced by Con?one. Some versions of the remix feature a rap by TLC member Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes. "Unpretty" was later covered by La Musique Populaire for their 2004 boxed set A Century of Song.
[edit] CD-Singles
- US CD Single (Green Cover)
- Unpretty (Album Version) - 4:38
- Unpretty ("Don't Look Any Further" Remix) - 4:25
- UK CD 1 of 2 (Green Cover)
- Unpretty (Radio Version) - 4:08
- No Scrubs (Radio Version) - 4:06
- Diggin' On You (Radio Version) - 4:14
- UK CD 2 of 2 (Blue Cover)
- Unpretty (Radio Version) - 4:08
- Unpretty (M. J. Cole Remix) [Vox Up] - 4:48
- Unpretty ("Don't Look Any Further" Remix) - 4:25
- International Remix EP (Blue Cover)
- Unpretty (Radio Version) - 4:01
- Unpretty ("Don't Look Any Further" Remix) - 4:26
- Unpretty ("Don't Look Any Further" Remix w/ Rap) - 4:27
- Unpretty (Pumpin' Dolls Radio Mix) - 4:03
- Unpretty ("Don't Look Any Further" Remix) [Big Boyz Dub Mix] - 5:00
- Unpretty (Pumpin' Dolls Club Mix) - 8:59
- German CD Single (Green Cover)
- Unpretty (Radio Version) - 4:09
- Unpretty (Album Version) - 4:38
- Unpretty (M. J. Cole Remix) [Vox Up] - 4:48
- Unpretty (M. J. Cole Remix) [Budd Dub] - ?:??
- Unpretty (Instrumental) - 4:41
[edit] Music Video
Paul Hunter directed the music video for "Unpretty", which tied together vignettes of several different stories relating to the song's lyrics. The main set of vignettes features a young woman (portrayed by Thomas) whose boyfriend convinces her to get breast implants to augment her small bust. However, after she sees another patient in the hospital getting her implants removed, the woman flees the hospital in fear.
Another prominent set of vignettes features Lopes as an inner-city woman who witnesses a gang fight and a murder. Several of Lopes' scenes are set to her verse from "I'm Good At Being Bad" (another track on FanMail) instead of "Unpretty" (Lopes appears in the "Unpretty" performance shots reciting the song lyrics in sign language).
Other vignettes feature a full-figured teenager worried about fitting the "ideal" image of the petite supermodel and struggling with a bulimia as a result. One last set of vignettes features Watkins as a high school student who is harassed by two white males because she is black.
The video has become a fan favorite because it is the last video released in the US featuring all three members of TLC before the death of Lisa Lopes. The music video for this song cost over $1.6 million making it one of the most expensive music videos ever made.
[edit] Charts
"Unpretty" spent three weeks at the top of the U.S. pop chart and was TLC's final number-one single.
| Chart (1999) | Peak position |
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| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles & Tracks | 4 |
| ARC Weekly Top 40 | 2 |
| UK Singles Chart | 6 |
| Australia ARIA Singles Chart | 3 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart | 3 |
| Sweden | 8 |
| Switzerland | 9 |
| Finland | 12 |
| Austria | 24 |
| France | 32 |
| Preceded by "Bailamos" by Enrique Iglesias |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single September 18, 1999- October 2, 1999 |
Succeeded by "Heartbreaker" by Mariah Carey featuring Jay-Z |
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