Blaque in studio with Linda Perry
Photo: Elektra

In 1999, Blaque, an R&B/pop trio discovered by the late Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, landed hit singles with "808" and "Bring It All to Me" from their self-titled platinum debut. The young group's follow-up, Blaque Out, was a bit of a wash-out. Now, less than 18 months later, Blaque are back with a new look and a new label, and they've hired some big guns to help them out.

Their as-yet-untitled third album, which comes out in August on Elektra, will feature production by Missy Elliott, Rodney Jerkins, Linda Perry, Warryn Campbell, Wylee and Jazz. And the ladies (Shamari Fears, Brandi Williams and Natina Reed) have made themselves over as super-sexy but sophisticated vixens in the vein of En Vogue.

The record's first single is "Ugly," which was produced by Elliott, who worked on five of the LP's 14 tracks. The upbeat party song features her trademark clicking, syncopated beats, a two-note hookline and wicked lyrics about a less-than-stellar-looking dude who fancies himself a ladies' man. "Hey boy/ I don't mean to be rude/ But the way you comin' on/ Makes me catch an attitude/ You wanna know what the deal/ Well what's up with your grill/ 'Cuz you ugly/ So please stop talking junk in my ear."

The other Elliott-produced cuts are "Freakazoid," "Nappy Dugout," "Dat's Right" and the bonus track "No Ganksta."

"Her Name" is a tribute to TLC's Left Eye, who died last year while on vacation in Honduras (see "Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes Killed In Car Accident"). The honey-sweet club cut was produced by Campbell, who also helmed the ballad "If It Was Me."

Perry and Jerkins worked on two songs each. Perry tackled the poppy "It's Not Me" and "Love Em Down" and Jerkins handled the reggae and Latin-tinged lead number, "Blaque Out," and the slow ballad "Fall Back." Wylee produced the soulful "Deeper (Try Harder)" and Jazz worked on the bubbly pop track "Fall Through."

• Blaque
• TLC
• Missy Elliott

Blaque
Photo: Columbia

You have to wonder how Blaque's Shamari Fears, Brandi Williams and Natina Reed keep their group together — one keeps missing the planes when they travel, one is blind to life's ills and the other just flat-out hates her singing partners. Or at least that's what they say on "I Love My Group but ... " from their second LP, Blaque Out, due December 11.

The LP's first single, the club shaker "Can't Get It Back," is less playful, addressing beef with an ex-boyfriend (referred to as "Silly Rabbit") who wants to get back all the gifts he bought during the relationship, especially the jewelry.

"Gave you my love and I can't get it back/ Gave you all my time and I can't get it back/ Now the ring that you gave me, you can't have it back," they declare on the chorus.

In the song's video, which was shot on October 16 and 17 in Los Angeles by Liz Friedlander, the trio literally turn back the hands of time to resolve their heartache. According to their label, the clip shows each girl in their separate apartments, throwing tantrums where they rip pictures and discard mementos.

They decide their guys are not worth the acts of angst and decide to go out and party. And while they remain unaffected on their girls' night out, the world around them starts to run in reverse.

Men do have their say on the LP, as the Youngbloodz check in on "Know What's Up (Ghetto Boys)." Produced by Dallas Austin, the cut finds Blaque going through drama with roughneck love interests while the ATL rap duo rhyme from the perspective of the guys, bragging about the slum ways, uncouth baby mommas and children, gold teeth and 22-inch rims on their hoopties.

Blaque's run-ins with not-too-fly guys evidently have them a little leery. "Girl Like That" is about not rushing into anything too intimate — they just want to "hang out and chill" on dates.

"I'm not blaming it on MTV/ I'm just tripping on the things I see," they sing, taking a more serious tone on "Thinkin' About It." Reflecting on life, the group questions parents who blame their children's troubles on music, why strippers get paid more than teachers and the fascination with being a thug, among other topics.

Besides Austin, such notables as Full Force, the Trackmasters, Salaam "The Chameleon" Remi and Dru Hill's Nokio produce on the album.

Blaque's self-titled first LP was released in 1999. It featured the hit singles "808" and "Bring It All to Me." The trio appeared in last year's comedy "Bring It On," and Reed was heard from earlier this year, rhyming on her fiancé Kurupt's "It's Over."

Video outlets will debut the clip for "Can't Get It Back" on November 5.

Blaque Out track list, according to Columbia:

• "Intro"
• "Blaque Out"
• "Can't Get It Back"
• "Know What's Up (Ghetto Boys)" (featuring the Youngbloodz)
• "Thinkin' About It"
• "Should I"
• "Temperature"
• "I Love My Group but ..."
• "Bliss"
• "I Wanna Be the One"
• "Questions"
• "Girls Just Like That"
• "This Ain't Us"
• "Outro"
• "She Got That" (808 Remix)
• "As If"

• Blaque

It seems that the ladies of Blaque did a mighty fine job choosing their first feature film project.

"Bring It On," which sees the R&B group share screen time with Kirsten Dunst and Gabrielle Union, turned it on at the box office over the weekend, grossing a surprising $17.4 million. The tally was enough to earn the teen-oriented cheerleading comedy the number one spot at the box office over the weekend, besting the Wesley Snipes action-thriller "The Art Of War."

The box office victory means that Blaque aced its first foray into film, and apparently the trio did it with relative ease. "In my opinion, I would say singing is harder, because with singing comes other elements. You've got to perform, you've got to do videos, [and] you have to be an actress at the same time," Blaque's Natina Reed told MTV News.

she added. "There are just more elements involved in singing than in acting. In acting, you just let your naturalness come through and its all good." [RealVideo]

The women of Blaque will soon return to music with a trip to the studio this fall to work on the follow-up to their 1999 self-titled debut. Blaque's sophomore effort should hit stores early next year.

The trio's "I Do" is up for Best Editing In A Video at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, which will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall on September 7 at 8:00 p.m. (ET).

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Sonicnet Music News

The ladies in Blaque have a new single and a movie cameo on the way, but they're already setting their sights on the follow-up to their platinum debut album.

"It'll definitely be a step up from the first album," group member Brandi Williams said. "We're going to have a track from Babyface and one from Diane Warren."

In the meantime, the group -- Williams, 17, Shamari Fears, 19, and Natina Reed, 18 -- will appear on the silver screen in "Bring It On," a cheerleading movie starring Kirsten Dunst, coming out August 25. Their next single, "As If," leads the movie's soundtrack and is a collaboration with 'NSYNC's Joey Fatone. The single also will come out this month, but its release date hasn't yet been settled on.

It won't mark the first time the Detroit teen trio has gotten superstar help. TLC's Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes signed Blaque to her Left Eye Productions, and its first single was the R. Kelly-penned and produced "808," which went top 10 on the pop and R&B charts. The group also made made its biggest splash with "Bring It All To Me," a sort of anti-"No Scrubs" testament to love being more important than wealth, which featured all five members of 'NSYNC.

"Those guys are like our big brothers," Williams said. "They haven't been in the business a whole lot longer than us, but they've taught us a lot."

So has Kelly, she added. "He really taught us that we need to always remember that this is a business," she said. "There's time for games and time for work, and when you're with him, you'd better work."

The group just finished 13 dates on the Nickelodeon "All That" Music & More festival tour, which also featured A*Teens, B*Witched, and LFO.

"It was great to look out in the audience and see so many little kids," Williams said. "Usually, concerts aren't for kids, so it was really a great thing.

"We try to put out music and an image that girls, and guys, can relate to and maybe even be inspired by," she added. "We don't want to be just a girl group."

To that end, Williams is adamant that, despite the superstar help, Blaque has its own musical vision. Reed had a hand in writing six songs on the group's self-titled debut, including the Motown-sounding "I Do" and the pensive "Mind Of A King."

"Blaque" will vie against Destiny's Child's "The Writing's On The Wall," 702's self-titled disc, and Trin-I-Tee 5:7's "Spiritual Love" for the Soul Train Lady of Soul award for Album Of The Year By A Group, Band Or Duo. The awards will be presented September 2 in Los Angeles (see "Mary J. Blige, Destiny's Child Lead Lady Of Soul Nominees").

• Blaque
• *NSYNC

Pop acts Hoku, B*Witched, LFO, and Blaque will highlight this summer's Nickelodeon "All That" Music & More Festival.

The outing will hit 40 cities starting June 29 in San Bernardino, California, and ending September 3 in Saratoga, New York.

Boy band No Authority also will be on board for the trek, which the cable channel says will feature at least seven acts in each city.

With newcomers dominating the bill, Irish pop group B*Witched qualifies as the tour's seasoned veteran, having released its second album, "Awake And Breathe," in October. The group's four singers co-wrote all of the album's songs, including the single "Jesse Hold On."

Pop trio LFO will join the tour refreshed from a short break following months of roadwork, including a string of dates opening for teen queen Britney Spears. LFO recently released "I Don't Want To Kiss You Goodnight," the third single from its self-titled 1999 debut.

Hawaiian-born singer Hoku, 17, recently broke onto the pop charts with her single "Another Dumb Blonde" from the soundtrack to the Nickelodeon movie "Snow Day." The song also appears on her self-titled debut album, due May 2. Her latest single is "How Do I Feel."

R&B group Blaque is currently on the "Billboard" Hot 100 singles chart with "Bring It All to Me." The song, which features 'NSYNC, appears on Blaque's self-titled debut album, which was released last year. The group, whose name stands for "Believing in Life and Achieving a Quest for Unity in Everything," is the brainchild of TLC rapper Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes.

Nick Cannon and Kenan Thompson, stars of Nickelodeon's "All That" sketch-comedy show, will return as the festival's hosts.

Nickelodeon "All That" Music & More Festival tour dates:

• 6/29 - Devore, CA @ G.H. Blockbuster Pavilion
• 6/30 - Del Mar, CA @ Del Mar Fairgrounds
• 7/1 - Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand
• 7/2 - Irvine, CA @ Irvine Meadows Amphitheater
• 7/3 - Bakersfield, CA @ Centennial Garden
• 7/7 - Concord, CA @ Chronicle Pavilion @ Concord
• 7/8 - Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheater
• 7/9 - Marysville, CA @ Sacramento Valley Amphitheatre
• 7/11 - Phoenix, AZ @ Blockbuster Desert Sky Pavilion
• 7/12 - Albuquerque, NM @ Mesa del Sol Amphitheater
• 7/14 - Houston, TX @ Woodlands Amphitheater
• 7/15 - Dallas, TX @ Six Flags Great Adventure
• 7/18 - West Palm Beach, FL @ Mars Amphitheater
• 7/21 - Atlanta, GA @ Lakewood Amphitheater
• 7/22 - Nashville, TN @ Amsouth Amphitheater
• 7/23 - Charlotte, NC @ Carowinds
• 7/25 - Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center
• 7/26 - Columbus, OH @ Polaris Amphitheater
• 7/28 - St. Louis, MO @ Riverport Amphitheater
• 7/30 - Ionia, MI @ Michigan State Fair
• 8/2 - Bonner Springs, KS @ Sandstone Amphitheatre
• 8/3 - Tinley Park, IL @ New World Music Theatre
• 8/4 - Noblesville, IN @ Deer Creek Music Center
• 8/5 - Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Amphitheater
• 8/6 - Clarkston, MI @ Pine Knob Amphitheater
• 8/10 - State College, PA @ Penn State College
• 8/11 - Boston, MA @ Tweeter Center
• 8/12 - Hartford, CN @ Oakdale Music Theatre
• 8/13 - Darien Lakes, NY @ Darien Lakes Six Flags P.A.C.
• 8/15 - Adrian, MI @ Lanawee County Fair
• 8/17 - Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post
• 8/18 - Doswell, VA @ Kings Dominion
• 8/19 - Fairfax, VA @ Patriot Center
• 8/20 - Hershey, PA @ Hershey Park Stadium
• 8/23 - Erie, PA @ Civic Center
• 8/24 - Burgettstown, PA @ Post-Gazette Pavilion @ Star Lake
• 8/26 - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Arts Center
• 8/27 - Scranton, PA @ Montage Mountain
• 8/28 - Essex Junction, VT @ Vermont State Fair
• 8/30 - Philadelphia, PA @ E-Centre
• 8/31 - Wantagh, NY @ Jones Beach Amphitheatre
• 9/1 - Wantagh, NY @ Jones Beach Amphitheatre
• 9/2 - Allentown, PA @ State Fair
• 9/3 - Saratoga, NY @ Performing Arts Center

• B*Witched
• Blaque
• Hoku
• LFO

Besides dominating the airwaves with their hit "Bring It All To Me" for several months now, the members of Blaque have also completed their feature film debut.

• Blaque

After working with R. Kelly on its first single, "808," the R&B trio Blaque plans to issue another collaborative track, "Bring It All To Me" featuring Orlando boy band 'N Sync, as the next single from Blaque's self-titled new album.

-- John Gill

• Blaque
• *NSYNC

With its R. Kelly-produced single "808" standing firmly in the top 20 on the "Billboard" singles chart, the all-girl trio Blaque has plenty to sing about. Natina, Shamari, and Brandi have even more to offer from their debut LP, "Blaque," including a song co-written by Mariah Carey ("Don't Go Looking for Love"), a number of cuts produced by the Track Masters, and a collaboration with 'N Sync called "Bring It All to Me."

• Blaque
• TLC

MTV 20th Anniversary Party

• Black Rob
• Boy George
• Huey Lewis
• Foxy Brown
• Blaque

• Blaque