To cheat or Not to Cheat

To Cheat or Not to Cheat

Going through a significant other's phone or spying on them with another person is never an easy situation to comprehend, but Creep by TLC, emphasis the idea of do unto others as they do to you; cheat right back. TLC, composed of Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas, Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, was commonly known for Watkins’ deep and soulful verses as well as Left-eyes unusual nasal rap solos. TLC’s music was considered part of the women’s empowerment movement as well as vastly different from what was being produced at the time, as their music created many unheard of beats, as well as colorful music videos that no one was even thinking of at the time. Their song

Creep  was no different.

Creep, written by Atlanta based producer Dallas Austin and Lisa Lopes, and samples from Slick Rick's Hey Young World, was TLC’s first single from their sophomore album, CrazySexyCool. The single climbed to the number one spot on the Billboard Hot One Hundred chart, received two Grammy nominations, and landed the Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with vocals at the 1996 Grammy’s. The song’s lyrics put a new perspective on infidelity in the dating world, as this song supports women fighting back. The song’s background establishes the idea that a woman in a relationship is aware of her boyfriend’s infidelity by knowledge and by going through his phone.  the lyrics promote cheating right back.The first verse begins:  

The twenty second of loneliness

And we've been through so many things.

I love my man with all honesty,

But I know he's cheating on me.

Look him in the eyes,

But all he tells me is lies to keep me near           

solidifying the fact that  the man in the relationship is cheating on her. This could potentially be a recurring theme as she states they have been through so many trials and tribulations together, but regardless of what they go through, she will always have love for him. Personally, if I knew something extra was going on with the man I loved, and I truly loved him, I would not be able to handle that. No woman who truly loves her man would be okay with her man cheating on her. I’m not saying they wouldn't stay, because sometimes love clouds judgment, but it would be very difficult emotionally to maintain that love.  

Later in the song, around the third verse, an emotional 360 occurs.  It states:

But I'm not buggin' 'cause I still feel the same.

I Keep giving loving till the day he pushes me away.

Never go astray.

If he knew the things I did, he couldn't handle me.

And I choose to keep him protected, oh.

creating a very contradictory idea that he’s lying and cheating on the vocalist but she’s never going to leave him. Instead, she’s going to pull strings with someone else’s emotions, and cheat on him, all because she needs some attention and affection. To me, that seems like the beginning of a bigger mess being created. Interestingly enough, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes had very similar feelings. In the documentary, “The Last Days of Left-Eye”, she talks about how she threatened to wear black tape during the music video as she was was said to be 100% against the concept of the song. Lopes, agreed that it’s better for a woman to get up and leave a relationship rather than cheat back.

By cheating back, you’re messing with a third party’s emotions that will lead them to getting hurt. The love and attention, though it might feel good, isn't the real love and attention which makes this relationship one sided again. Lastly, even though the boyfriend is cheating, the likelihood of being extremely upset when he finds out is very high.

 In the chorus they sing:

So I creep, yeah

Just keep it on the down low

Said nobody is supposed to know

So I creep, yeah

'Cause he doesn't know what I do

And no attention goes

to show

Oh, so I creep

essentially painting a two way mirror image of both of their secret lives, yet no one wants to accept the reflection. On one side, you have the woman looking into the man’s life and witnessing his cheating actions and knowing everything that he is doing; and on the other side you have the man looking into a dark mirror and not even realizing he is getting played by his girlfriend in the exact same way.

Creep by TLC will always be known as one of the best R&B songs in history, but for me I view it as a backtrack of female empowerment, which ironically is what the group stood for. Sadly, women are going to hear these lyrics, and because the group is so famous and influential,  women are going to listen and take the words to heart. On a personal level I agree with Left-Eye’s view of the song. Women should never cheat back, they should stand their ground and leave. Women are strong powerful people too, and deserve to show that in every way possible. Cheating back doesn't prove anything except that women can be just as hard headed as men which will always be a never ending battle. But hey if women want to go chasing after crashing  waterfall relationships that’s fine, i’m going to stick to my calm river and lake relationships that I’m used to.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creep_(TLC_song)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TLC_(band)

http://www.metrolyrics.com/creep-lyrics-tlc.html

Link to music Video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlZydtG3xqI

Link to Left Eye Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWOWHOLGnTM