No Scrubs

"No Scrubs"
Single by TLC
from the album FanMail
B-side	Silly Ho
Released	January 23, 1999
Format	CD single, cassette single, 12" single, 7" single
Recorded	December 1998; D.A.R.P. Studios[1] (Atlanta, Georgia)
Genre	R&B, hip hop, dance
Length	3:34 (album version) 4:00 (video version) 3:39 (rap version)
Label	LaFace, Arista
Writer(s)	Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs, Kandi Burruss, Tameka "Tiny" Cottle, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes
Producer(s)	Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs
Certification	Platinum (RIANZ)
TLC singles chronology
"Diggin' on You" (1995) "No Scrubs" (1999) "Unpretty" (1999) Music video "No Scrubs" on YouTube
FanMail track listing "Whispering Playa - Interlude" (4) "No Scrubs" (5) "I'm Good at Being Bad" (6)

"No Scrubs" is a song recorded by American R&B girl group TLC for their album FanMail. Released in January 1999 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. Lead vocals were performed by TLC member Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas, with background vocals credited to Chilli, Debra Killings, and former Xscape members Kandi Burruss and Tameka Cottle who also wrote the song.^[2]

The version containing Left Eye's rap was later included in a retail version of the album, and on the Now and Forever: The Hits greatest hits album.

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 number 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 holds the record for most weeks at number 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. In Australia "No Scrubs" was a huge success, spending seven consecutive weeks at the summit of that country's chart from May 2 - June 20, 1999.

Music video

The futuristic music video, directed by Hype Williams,^{[citation needed]} 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 women dance in front of the "TLC" logo. The Main Mix is used in the video instead of the album version.

The video features the women in three different outfits: white, black, silver and Left Eye in blue. When there are shots of the women together they have two different outfits: black and silver. T-Boz's hair is fuchsia in the video. The video is stylistically similar to Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson's video Scream.^{[citation needed]}

Legacy and pop culture fame

After TLC released "No Scrubs" in 1999, Sporty Thievz made an answer song called "No Pigeons" that same year.^[4]

R&B/pop singer Jessie J. covered the song during a commercial break for the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards.^[5]

The song is referenced by Michael Keaton's character in the 2010 comedy film The Other Guys, starring Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell.

In 2012, a Saturday Night Live sketch featuring host Christina Applegate sampled part of the song.^[6]

In August 2012, Kelly Clarkson covered the song as a fan request while performing in Virginia.

"No Scrubs" was covered in the television series Glee in a January 2013 comeback episode Sadie Hawkins.

Meadow Soprano and her friend Hunter Scangarelo sing along to "No Scrubs" while cooking in the kitchen in The Sopranos episode "Toodle Fucking-Oo".

Jack McFarland sings a line from the song in the Will & Grace episode "Poker? I Don't Even Like Her."

On T.I. and Tiny: The Family Hustle songwriter Tameka "Tiny" Harris was honored an ASCAP Woman Behind the Music award in the episode "It Takes Two to Hustle" and one of the things mentioned was "her work with TLC" as the song was indirectly referenced.

Bastille covered this song in a remix of the original TLC song along with The xx song Angels, the track was called "No Angels", from their EP - Other People's Heartache Pt.2.

Tracklisting

• US CD Single

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

• EU CD Single

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

• UK CD 1

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

• UK CD 2

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

Chart performance

Peak positions

End of year charts

Chart successions

Covers