There was one cassette that my old school, bumblebee-yellow tape player was born to play on repeat for hours.
TLC's 1994 release, Crazy Sexy Cool.
At that time, the trio consisted of the three outspoken young women T-Boz (Tionne Watkins), the late Left Eye (Lisa Lopes) and Chilli (Rozanda Thomas) -- the one who dated Usher.
The entire album is littered with sexual innuendos and provocative goodness, most of which went unrecognized at the time by this naïve middle-schooler.
The cookie-cutter, pop song "Creep" has a catchy chorus that will get stuck in your head faster than the obnoxious Hanson brothers' fabricated word "mmmbop."
This particular song, about a cheating boyfriend and an even more furtive, unfaithful girlfriend, makes other personal relationship infractions seem as serious as a Saved By the Bell plot.
With lyrics like, "So I creep yeah/Just keep it on the down low/Said nobody is supposed to know," you can't help but sing along and reminisce of your own secret rendezvous.
Another quintessential '90s song that is so graciously provided by this classic album is "Red Light Special."
Although no one ever concretely defined the term "Red Light Special," we as listeners have overwhelming reasons to believe it is, as our friend Martha Stewart would say, "a good thing."
Flaunting lyrics like "Don't go too fast/Don't go too slow/You've got to let your body flow," it is proven that socially awkward, adolescent boys take note and store this advice, returning to it when they are in need of sexual instruction.
However positive this "Red Light Special" may be, it is also very possible that its complete definition will remain undefined for years to come, which in turn fuels its splendidness.
These issues with the male sex and relationships continue on in the song "Diggin' On You." Though the tempo of this song may drive you to insanity, it provides the classic story line of a girl debating on whether or not she is "in love or somethin' like that."
"Diggin' On You" provides a great novelty song but also raises a few questions. The lyrics "Diggin' the scene/Diggin' on you/Diggin' on me/Baby bay-ooo-baby baby" leave the question of what isn't TLC "diggin' "?
Sadly, time has passed and the days of adorning clothing with condoms -- a trademark of TLC's style -- are long gone, which, from a fashion standpoint, is for the greater good. But the music of Crazy Sexy Cool seems to transcend time.
Whether or not this is a bad reflection upon the music scene is still up in the air. Maybe it's best if we just write it off as nostalgic music from our youth.



