Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip is the debut studio album by American girl group TLC, released on February 25, 1992, by LaFace Records. The title of the album comes from the last line of Left Eye's rap on "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg".
The album peaked at number 14 on the US Billboard 200 and has been certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments in excess of four million copies in the United States. It is also TLC's third most successful album (after CrazySexyCool and FanMail, respectively), having sold over six million copies worldwide.
Background
TLC signed their first contract with LaFace Records on February 28, 1991 (amended April 3, 1991, with Thomas),[3] and began production on their debut album. For the album, TLC collaborated with Babyface, L.A. Reid, Dallas Austin, Da Funky Bunch, Jermaine Dupri, and Marley Marl, who helped Lopes with the songwriting. Production finished in December 1991.[4]
Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly praised the effort as well as the group and its message, calling TLC "a perfect pop group for the times."[7] In a fairly positive review, Steve Huey of AllMusic states that "although it's uneven, the best moments of On the TLC Tip deserved their popularity, and set the stage for the group's blockbuster success the next time out."[5]
Commercial performance
Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip debuted at number 105 on the US Billboard 200, and reached number 14 on the chart and number three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.[10][11] It was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on May 1, 1996,[12] and by October 2003, it had sold 2.5 million copies in the United States.[13] The album had sold over six million copies worldwide as of December 2011.[14]
"Bad by Myself" samples "Welcome to the Terrordome" by Public Enemy, "Peter Piper" by Run-DMC, "Last Night Changed It All (I Really Had a Ball)" by Esther Williams, and "Peace Is Not the Word to Play" by Main Source.