Editing TLC (group) (section)

===1990–1991: Formation and early years===
Record producer Ian Burke, based in Atlanta, and one of his clients, a teenager Crystal Jones came up with a concept for a [[girl group]] with a tomboyish, [[hip-hop]] image, similar to the blend of [[contemporary R&B]] and hip-hop music of [[new jack swing]] act [[Bell Biv DeVoe]] in 1990.<ref name="JonesBurkeinterviewmovie" /> Jones put out a call for two more girls to join her, eventually answered by [[Tionne Watkins]], a native of [[Des Moines, Iowa]] who had moved to Atlanta with her family at a young age, and [[Lisa Lopes]], a [[rapper]] who had just moved to the city from her native [[Philadelphia]] with a small [[Electronic keyboard|keyboard]] and $750 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|750|1990|r=0}}}} today). The group, then named "2nd Nature", was formed with Jones, Watkins, and Lopes, who then began working with producers [[Jermaine Dupri]] and [[Rico Wade]] on [[demo tape]] material.<ref name="JonesBurkeinterviewmovie">{{cite AV media |last=Hood |first=Danni (Producer) |title=[VIDEO] TLC's CrazySexyStory According To The Original "C" (Crystal Jones) And Ian Burke |url=http://v103.cbslocal.com/2013/10/22/video-tlcs-crazysexystory-according-to-the-original-c-crystal-jones-and-ian-burke/ |date=October 22, 2013 |work=The Ryan Cameron Show |publisher=[[V103]] |type=Radio broadcast |place=Atlanta, GA. |access-date=February 11, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131024115809/http://v103.cbslocal.com/2013/10/22/video-tlcs-crazysexystory-according-to-the-original-c-crystal-jones-and-ian-burke/ |archive-date=October 24, 2013 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

{{multiple image
| footer            = TLC members [[Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas]] (left), [[Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins]] (right) performing in Toronto, September 2016
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| width1            = 150
| image2            = Tionne Watkins 2016.jpg
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Through a connection at the hair salon where Watkins worked,<ref name="TLCinterviewmovie">{{cite AV media |last=Campbell |first=Patricia (Producer) |title=[VIDEO] TLC Details What's Been Crazy, Questioned And Cool Since Their Hit Biopic Aired |url=http://v103.cbslocal.com/2013/10/23/video-tlc-details-whats-been-crazy-questioned-and-cool-since-their-hit-biopic-aired/ |date=October 23, 2013 |work=The [[Big Tigger]] Show |publisher=[[V103]] |type=Radio broadcast |place=Atlanta |access-date=February 11, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131024154757/http://v103.cbslocal.com/2013/10/23/video-tlc-details-whats-been-crazy-questioned-and-cool-since-their-hit-biopic-aired/ |archive-date=October 24, 2013 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> the group eventually managed to arrange an audition with singer [[Perri "Pebbles" Reid]], who had started her own management and production company, Pebbitone. Impressed by the girls, Reid renamed the group TLC, an initialism for the names Tionne, Lisa, and Crystal. Reid arranged an audition for them with local record label [[LaFace Records]], run by [[Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds]] and Reid's then-husband, [[Antonio "L.A." Reid]].

Antonio Reid saw potential in Watkins and Lopes as performers, but felt that Jones should be replaced. According to Jones, things began to unravel for her after Pebbles denied the group the opportunity to take home the contracts that Pebbitone had drafted. Jones did not want to sign before having the contract reviewed by others and perhaps a lawyer.<ref name="JonesBurkeinterviewmovie"/> In contrast, Watkins's recollection of Jones's departure is that both she and Lopes asked Jones to leave the group before their initial contracts were negotiated.<ref name="TLCinterviewmovie"/>

On February 28, 1991, Watkins and Lopes signed [[artist development deal|production]], management, and [[music publisher|publishing]] deals with Pebbitone,<ref name="tlcbankruptcycase">[http://chapter11cases.com/in-re-watkins-210-br-394-bankr-court-nd-georgia-1997/ Tionne WATKINS (T'Boz), Lisa Lopes (Left Eye), Rozonda Thomas (Chilli), Debtors. v. LaFace Records, Pebbitone, Inc., Peri Reid d/b/a Pebbitone Music, Movants (In re Watkins)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106071058/http://chapter11cases.com/in-re-watkins-210-br-394-bankr-court-nd-georgia-1997/ |date=November 6, 2013 }}, 390 210 BR 394 (Bankr. Court, ND Georgia, 1997) (Cotten, S.) Retrieved February 11, 2013.</ref> with Perri Reid becoming their general manager. As they looked for a replacement for Jones, the two-member TLC made its first recorded appearance on a track for LaFace act [[Damian Dame]]'s self-titled 1991 LP.<ref>Cass, Giles, Heyliger (June 7, 2013). [http://popdose.com/face-time-damian-dame-right-down-to-it/ 'Face Time: Damian Dame, "Right Down to It"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103062026/http://popdose.com/face-time-damian-dame-right-down-to-it/ |date=November 3, 2013 }}. ''Popdose''. Retrieved February 11, 2014.</ref> Pebbles found the third member in [[Rozonda Thomas]], one of Damian Dame's part-time backup dancers.

Thomas was signed to the act in April 1991, and to maintain TLC's name as an acronym for the girls' names, Watkins became "T-Boz", Lopes became "Left-Eye", and Thomas became "Chilli".<ref name="tlcbankruptcycase"/> The girls were then signed to LaFace in May through the production deal with Pebbitone;<ref name="tlcbankruptcycase"/> their records would be distributed by [[Arista Records|Arista Records/BMG]]. TLC was immediately set up to go into the studio with Reid and Edmonds, [[Dallas Austin]], [[Jermaine Dupri]], and [[Marley Marl]] producing their first album. The new trio debuted as backing vocalists on "Rebel (With a Cause)", a track on [[Jermaine Jackson]]'s sole album for LaFace, ''[[You Said (album)|You Said]]'' (1991).