It's been just shy of two decades since the release of TLC's instaclassic FanMail single "No Scrubs," a ubiquitous gem that ultimately earned the Atlanta trio (R.I.P. Left Eye) a Grammy nomination. And what better way to celebrate 20 years of scrubslessness than with a Weezer-ified update of the track?
"I just thought it's one of those songs that's freakishly popular," Rivers Cuomo told Apple Music of the band's decision to include a rendition of the track on their surprise-dropped new covers album. At first, Cuomo said, he wasn't sure whether to flip the lyrics' gender perspective. Ultimately, a tweet floated across his timeline that helped him make up his mind.
"I was trying to decide which gender perspective to sing it from then I saw this tweet that said, 'If you're a guy covering a song by a girl, you gotta keep the pronouns. For those three minutes you're gay,'" he recalled. "So I was like, 'Cool, let's try this.'"
TLCâs Chilli told Rolling Stone she âloved itâ and found out about it the same time everyone else did. âI hope we can perform it together,â she said of her contemporary, adding later: âIâm telling you, I wanna reach out to [Weezer] and try to make this performance happen!â
Chilli was impressed Cuomo & Co. interpreted the track faithfully. âI totally get why any girl would do it, but when guys do it I go, âClearly, theyâre not scrubs.â If they were scrubs, they wouldnât sing the song with this type of confidence.â
In my opinion, the Weez did kinda nailed it.
Of course, with a song this beloved, not everyone is going to be aboard:
The surprise-dropped new album continues the band's long-running dedication to color-themed names, this time giving some generous album cover space to a comforting shade of teal. The 10-track collection consists entirely of covers, including their SNL-improving viral take on "Africa," as well as largely faithful renditions of songs by Michael Jackson, Tears for Fears, and more.
The band's long-teased Black Album is expected later this year.
