No Scrubs was the biggest song in the decades’-long career of girl band TLC.
Upon its release in February 1999, it became an instant worldwide hit, rising quickly to the number one spot on the Billboard charts, where it remained for four weeks.
But it was actually written by another singer-songwriter from the day, Kandi Burruss, who went on to become a cast member of The Real Housewives of Atlanta.
No Scrubs was the first single from TLC’s third album, FanMail.
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The band, made up of Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas was responsible for nine Top 10 hits, including Waterfalls, Unpretty and Creep.
But it was their fourth number one hit, No Scrubs, that was their biggest hit and continues to hit a nerve with women 24 years after its release.
The song was written by Kandi Burruss and Tameka “Tiny” Cottle of the 90s group Xscape, and producer Kevin “She’kspere” Briggs.
TLC’s Lisa Lopes also has songwriting credits on a version of the track that featured her rap.
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No Scrubs’ lyrics drew immediate attention for popularising a then little-known term to describe a man with little means.
The word ‘scrub’ was at the time used in Atlanta, the city in the US state of Georgia where TLC originated and where Burruss was from.
Burruss spoke about what inspired No Scrubs and the meaning behind its lyrics during a 2019 interview with NPR , to mark the 20th anniversary of its release.
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She said she wrote the song in 1998 during a break from her band, while driving around with a friend.
“I always like to listen to tracks in my car because I come up with my best ideas when I’m driving,” she said.
The two began venting about guys they were dating when she started “freestyling” over a track by Briggs that she had been playing.
“I was just like, ‘A scrub is a guy who thinks he’s fly, and is also known as a busta / Always talking about what he wants, and just sits on his fat ass’.'”
She denies that No Scrubs was written about one person in particular, and instead says it was about a type of man she and her friends would encounter every day.
She said the term ‘scrub’ was at the time Atlanta slang for a guy who was a loser.
She reportedly scribbled down some lyrics on an envelope in the car before taking her idea to Xscape bandmate Harris.
They finished writing the song together and went on to record a demo. While they originally wanted to record it themselves, once it made it to the ears of TLC they were persuaded to sell the song, where it would reach a bigger audience.
The lyrics were reportedly modified slightly, for instance ‘fat arse’ became ‘broke arse’, before two versions were released, both featuring Thomas singing lead vocals for the first time.
A second version, containing a rap verse by Lopes, was recorded and released to appeal to a wider market.
The song’s success was also helped by the accompanying music video, which went on to win the MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Video that year.
No Scrubs immediately became an anthem for women, who were sick of being ‘hollered at’ in the street by men, something Burruss said was still true in 2019.
“As women, we go through things every day, all day,” she said.
“No matter where we go, somebody is gonna try to push up or try to holler at you, and they’re not always a gentleman about it. So I feel like this song put it out there… and it just made women be a little bit more outspoken.”
Burruss, who went on to write hit songs Bills, Bills, Bills for Destiny’s Child and There You Go for Pink, was certainly on to something, with the song continuing to win fans, including some famous names.
In 2017, Ed Sheeran added the No Scrubs songwriters to the credits of his number one hit, Shape of You, after people started to draw attention to similarities between the two songs.
No Scrubs has reached a new generation of fans today thanks to platforms such as Spotify, where it has racked up more than 970 million downloads.
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