Unpretty

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"Unpretty"
Single by TLC
from the album Fanmail
Released	1999
Format	CD Single
Genre	Pop
Length	4:38
Label	LaFace
Writer(s)	Dallas Austin Tionne Watkins
Producer(s)	Dallas Austin
Chart positions
#1 (U.S.)
TLC singles chronology
"No Scrubs" (1999)	Unpretty (1999)	"Dear Lie" (2000)

"Unpretty" is a song recorded by R&B girl group TLC for their album Fanmail. It was produced by Dallas Austin and co-written by Austin and TLC group member Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins. Released as the second single from Fanmail, the track became the group's fourth U.S. number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and their second chart-topper in a row, following "No Scrubs".

The song originated from a poem written by Watkins titled "Unpretty", which dealt with a woman's struggle with her self-image and the comparisons many females make between themselves and the sometimes unrealistic concepts of beauty, as it is commonly portrayed in the media. The track was written as an empowering song for TLC's mostly-teenage-female fanbase to overcome feelings of physical inadequacy.

In the music video were two girls witnessing a violent gang fight, T-Boz playing a girl being assaulted at school by 2 Anglo males because she was AfricanAmerican, a bulimic girl, and Chili as a girl whose boyfriend tried to talk her into getting breast implants. Chili agrees to 38DD breast impants. However she sees another patient in the hospital getting her implants removed (or perhaps put in), and decides against the surgery. She runs from the hospital, and later is shown angrily hitting her boyfriend for suggesting the surgery. Group member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes appeared in the clip reciting the song lyrics in sign language.

"Unpretty" spent three weeks at the top of the U.S. pop chart and was TLC's final number-one single.

Preceded by "Bailamos" by Enrique Iglesias

Billboard Hot 100 number one single September 18, 1999

Succeeded by "Heartbreaker" by Mariah Carey featuring Jay-Z