"Unpretty" is a 1999 (see 1999 in music) single recorded by
R&B girl group TLC. Produced by Dallas Austin and
co-written by Austin and TLC group member Tionne "T-Boz"
Watkins, "Unpretty" was the second single released from
Fanmail. It became the group's fourth and final U.S.
smash hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and their second Billboard
smash in a row, following "No Scrubs". It was also nominated
for song of the year at 1999 Grammy Awards.
"Unpretty" originated from a poem of the same name written
by Watkins, which dealt with a woman's struggle with her
self-image. The poem also addressed the comparisons many
females make between themselves and the sometimes unrealistic
concepts of beauty, as it is commonly portrayed in the media.
Upon reading the poem, TLC producer Dallas Austin helped
Watkins adapt the poem into a song, which TLC recorded as an
empowering song for their mostly female fan base to overcome
feelings of physical inadequacy. Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli"
Thomas sing lead on the song, with backing vocals by Watkins
and Debra Killings. A remixed version, sampling Dennis Edwards
& Siedah Garrett's "Don't Look Any Further", was produced
by Con?one. Some versions of the remix feature a rap by TLC
member Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes. "Unpretty" was later covered by
La Musique Populaire for their 2004 boxed set
A Century of Song.
Paul Hunter directed the music video for "Unpretty" in
August 1999, which tied together vignettes of several different
stories relating to the song's lyrics. The main set of
vignettes features a young woman (portrayed by Thomas) whose
boyfriend convinces her to get breast implants to augment her
small bust. However, after she sees another patient in the
hospital (cameo by Jade Valerie) getting her implants painfully
removed, the woman flees the hospital in fear.
Another prominent set of vignettes features Lopes as an
inner-city woman who witnesses a gang fight and a murder.
Several of Lopes' scenes are set to her verse from "I'm Good At
Being Bad" (another track on
FanMail) instead of "Unpretty" (Lopes appears in the
"Unpretty" performance shots reciting the song lyrics in sign
language).
Other vignettes feature a full-figured teenager worried
about fitting the "ideal" image of the petite supermodel and
struggling with a bulimia as a result. Near the end of the
video, however, she tears down the unrealistic images of models
that she has tacked on her wall, a sign that she may be
starting to embrace her own natural body shape. One last set of
vignettes features Watkins as a high school student who is
harassed by two white males because she is black.
The video has become a fan favorite because it is the last
video released in the US featuring all three members of TLC
before the death of Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes. The music video for
this song cost over $1.6 million making it one of the most
expensive music videos ever made.
"Unpretty" spent three weeks at the top of the U.S. pop
chart and was TLC's final number-one single. In the UK, it was
TLC's final top 30 hit.