I can say with all honesty, MCP has never been harassed for
an interview as much as we have for Chilli's. As a fellow
TLC fan, I know they are loyal, but if the anticipation for this
interview is any indication of what we can expect for her
album, it's going to be crazy! (LOL) Chilli (or Chilli Chill as
I now call her!) has to be one is the coolest, down-to-earth
people you could ever speak with! She wouldn't give me all
the goods on the album we wanted just yet, but she did shed
some light on what we can expect!
- Ced
Chilli: Can I speak to Ceddy Ced?
CED: This is Ceddy Ced. Is this Chilli Chill?
Chilli: Yeah, this is Chilly Chill (laughs) How are you?
CED: I'm great. How are you?
Chilli: I'm doing really good.
CED: Good to hear. Now, let's jump right on in it. What can
you tell us about this album?
Chilli: Well, basically I didn't stray too far away from TLC. I
think I kept all the important topics, you know, young girls
being independent, loving themselves, guys doing the right
thing. I'm real clear when it comes to the kind of stuff.
CED: What is the name of the album?
Chilli: Ummmm...I'm still working on that. I'm getting down
to the last wire (laughs).
CED: When will we know?
Chilli: I can't tell you! (laughing) I say yet. I can't tell you
just yet. I'm still working it out.
CED: Awww man! Well, it was nice talking to ya Chilli....
Chilli: Ooooooh! (laughing)
CED: (laughing) Well, even though you don't how many
songs are we going to get on the album?
Chilli: Well, ummm I just finished a song featuring T-Boz,
and then I have one more song to record and I'm done.
CED: What label are you on?
Chilli: Well actually Missy Elliot and myself are working
together and basically trying to choose. Unfortunately these
days you don't have a lot of choices with how the record
industry is, so we're going to try to narrow it down and see
where we want to go, who gives us the best deal.
CED: Speaking of Missy, isn't she a co-executive producer
on your album?
Chilli: She is executive producing with me...
CED: Who else did you work with?
Chilli: I worked with a couple of Missy's producers, ummm I
worked with Rico Lumpkin who's worked with TLC in the
past. Ummm who else?! Oh this guy named Polo, Maestro...a
lot of up-and-coming producers. I kinda wanted it to be that
way because I wanted something fresh. I didn't want
something that's been laying around, I wanted all new song.
Something from scratch!
CED: No leftovers!
Chilli: No leftovers baby! (laughs)
CED: Coming out with an album is nothing new for you, but
since you're coming out solo this, are you nervous about it
or...
Chilli: Yeahhhhh! (laughs) Yes, Lord. I mean, I was always
nervous when TLC was about to come out, and ya know,
nothing has changed. I'm really nervous about it, but, I think
if wasn't nervous that would be a problem.
CED: Even though you're still recording do you have an idea
what the debut single is going to be?
Chilli: Yeah I do.
CED: Can you say?
Chilli: (laughing)
CED: Ok...do you want to say?! (laughing)
Chilli: I...
CED: ...ok! You're over there hesitating! Come on Chilli
Chill! (laughing) I won't tell anybody!
Chilli: (laughing) I...I do think I have the first single. Yeah, I
have it. Yeah I do.
CED: Well since you don't want to tell me the name, can you
say when we're going to get to hear it?
Chilli: It will be in the Spring. I don't have the exact date yet,
but the single will be out in the Spring.
CED: OK cool! I know it's going to be upbeat...
Chilli: Yeah of course! I dance, so I gotta have a lot of upbeat
songs.
CED: On the Fanmail Tour you had the chance to do your
own solo time, but are you anticipating being on stage and on
tour alone?
Chilli: You know what? I think timing is everything, and I
just feel like, you know God works it all out the way it's
supposed to, and I feel this is my time to come out. So, now
I'm just looking forward to coming out and I'm definitely
looking forward to touring. That's the best part for me.
CED: The album was supposed to come out around '02. What
happened?
Chilli: Yeah I was gonna start working on it, and that was
around the time Lisa was off doing her own thing and I
wanted to continue to work. It was funny because when I
started to get songs together...I don't know. I just called LA
and I was like, it's not time yet, and we're supposed to do
another TLC album, can you get in touch with Lisa and get a
meeting...it just never happened. So he was like," ok". Then
that's when we went into recording 3D.
CED: Did you collaborate with any artists besides T-Boz?
Chilli: Just Missy.
CED: It was rumored you did a song called, "Wishful
Thinking" with Rodney Jerkins and Santana. Is that true?
Chilli: No. With Rodney?! He didn't do that song.
CED: As far as promotion, are there any appearances on TV,
in magazines, etc. in the works?
Chilli: Oh yeah. I'm definitely going to do some TV shows,
and get everything lined for magazine...I'm gonna do
everything! I'm not going to over saturate myself to
everybody is like, "She need ta sat down!" For me really, I'm
more excited about meeting the fans. Of course, those my
age, but I'm really excited about the younger ones, because
these days it's like, parents are looking to television to raise
their kids. They aren't really parenting their children, and the
one thing about it that the young girls really don't have any
true models anymore because everybody is showing their
butts and half naked almost. It's like TLC never represented
that. I don't represent that. To me it's about being natural, and
you can glam it up every now and then, but who lives like
that everyday? I'm really trying to give back my community
and not just my community but to ALL, ya know what I
mean? To all young girls. I can't wait to get out and talk to
these young boys and talk some sense in their heads, and if I
can just reach...two, then I did my job. You know what I
mean? So that part is really important to me. I know a lot of
artists have said they aren't role models, but the position that
we are in, we really are role models, and that's important to
me especially now that I'm a mom.
CED: As far as TLC, what's going on? Now that you're doing
your thing is TLC "over" or are you going to come after your
solo projects are complete or...what's
up?
Chilli: Oh! TLC is never over. As long as T-Boz and Chilli
live on this earth, TLC lives on! Even after we are gone on to
heaven you know what I mean? She and I will definitely do
another TLC album together, and it's funny because we're
having meeting about TV shows because after our show, a lot
of people want to do stuff with us now.
CED: What kind of shows are we talking about? Comedy?
Drama? A reality show?
Chilli: No, not a reality show. More like a half-hour comedy.
CED: I can see y'all doing comedy!
Chilli: (laughing) Yeah, you know...we crazy.
CED: Why wasn't the TLC Greatest Hits album released here
in the States?
Chilli: You know what unfortunately, when LA lost his job
and all the companies starting merging together, it was just a
big mess. I think we just kinda got lost in sauce there. So, we
did the reality show, and we were wanting to put the Greatest
Hits out after the show, you know for everybody, and the guy
who works at the label that we were at, I don't want to say his
name but he's an idiot! A real idiot. He's a real idiot because
we had a lot of people tuning in every week, and the theme
song for the show was the certain single that was going to be
on the album, It's like y'all this is free promotion. Are you
retarded or what?! I mean I, it was like, just...UGHHH. I was
just so upset over that whole thing.
CED: I bet! That would have been a perfect time to put that
out. That was just a crazy move. Well, anyway do you keep
in touch with people from the show?
Chilli: O'So Krispie yeah.
CED: How is O'So doing?
Chilli: She is doing good. She is the sweetest thing. She
called me the other day. She working on her solo album, so
we keep in touch with her.
CED: So who is Chilly Chill listening to right now?
Chilli: Sean Paul
CED: Oh yeahhh (singing) "I wanna be keepin' you warm I
got the right temperature..."
Chilli: (laughing) You are crazy. Umm, oh Jamie Foxx. I
haven't picked his up yet, so I gotta go get that. I heard some
of his songs before the album came out so, I gotta go pick
that up. I think that's about it...OH! Michael Jackson of
course!
CED: Of course Michael has to stay in rotation!
Chilli: Everybody know 'bout Michael Jackson! We're going
to get married one day! One day! I'm tellin' you! (laughing)
CED: So when you aren't out on the road, and in the studio,
what does the future Mrs. Chilli Jackson like to do when
she's relaxing?
Chilli: (laughing) I love to cook.
CED: What do you like to cook?
Chilli: Soul food! And I bake.
CED: So you hookin' up the macaroni and cheese, and sweet
potato pie, and black eye peas and stuff?
Chilli: Oh yeah, and sour cream pound cake, cobblers...you
know those things.
CED: So what are you going to be up between now and when
it's time to really get back to work?
Chilli: You know what, I said to myself I'm going to have to
stay low and stay in shape until it's time to come out. That
and I'll be working on wrapping things up because once I'm
out there, I'm out there and doing my thing.
CED: Have you thought about doing any projects outside of
music? Doing more acting?
Chilli: Well, I'm definitely not interested in movies because I
don't like to be away like that. I ain't gon' lie, I never had to
leave Atlanta, Georgia I'd be alright with that! I mean, I'm
such a southern girl. I'm just like, "Oh man I have to go out
of town again?!", but I do it, and it's cool because it's my job,
but I don't really like traveling that much, unless we going to
an island or something! You know if we got to Mexico or
something like because I love hot weather.
CED: When you start doing your touring are you planning on
doing some things overseas?
Chilli: Absolutely. Like Japan. Ummm...
CED: Oh yeah Japan is like a major spot for TLC right?
Chilli: Oh yeah. They love TLC. They show us so much
love. I mean when I tell you, you're going to hear about me
in, I don't know...in Alaska or something! (laughing)
CED: Chilli chillin' with the Eskimos!
Chilli: I know! (laughing) Dancin' on the ice! Yep, so I'm
looking forward to going to different places we weren't able
to go as a group and some of that had to do with T-Boz's
illness, it wasn't worth her going into a crisis.
CED: Unfortunately, these days it seems like everybody out
of put up against somebody else. Who can you see them
putting you up against to "compete" with?
Chilli: Well, I don't ever look at stuff like that because, you
know... Well I guess what I don't understand is we only do
that in the black community. Like we're always replacing
each other, but in the white community Britney Spears and
Christina Aguilera can come out and you're not really
comparing them, but one can be just as big as the other, but
in our community it's only one at a time, and it's that one for
a long time. As soon as you chill out or they get tired of you,
they choose someone else. You know what I'm saying? I
definitely don't get caught up in it. My competition to
me...we always looked at boys as
competition. Like I don't look at girls as competition. I'm
like, "girl do yo' thing", but let it be a boy...I'm like "come on
with it!" That's how I look at it!
CED: (laughing) Who would you like to work with that you
have never worked with before?
Chilli: MJ. Oh man! That's it!
CED: So when y'all do work together it's just going to be
over!
Chilli: I don't know...I don't know I'll probably pass out. I
don't know if I'll be able to make the whole session. They'll
be like, "Chilli's on the floor!" (laughing)
CED: Oh no! (laughing) Well, I gotta tell you that some of
these questions came directly from some of your biggest fans
from the fansite, CyberTLC...
Chilli: Yeahhhh, I've been to that site before. Oh my God!
CED: (laughing) Yeah, that site and also ChiliFan.com. A big
fan of yours named Zay runs that site. They all wanted me to
tell you hello and they love ya and they
can't wait to hear from you!
Chilli: Yeah, well tell them that I love 'em! And you tell Zay
a special shout out, and I love you, and...oh my God. Fans are
the best!
CED: I'll make sure to do that for you. It was a lot of fun
talking to you Chilli Chill! Thanks for calling, and you're still
going to call me back when the single is getting ready to drop
right?!
Chilli: You're welcome Ceddy Ced, and I sure will!
CED: Aiight! Talk to you then! Bye.
Chilli: Bye!