"Silly Ho" is a song recorded by American

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

TLC for their third

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

'' FanMail'' (1999). The song was written and produced by TLC's long-time collaborator Dallas Austin under his artificial intelligence

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...

pseudonym named Cyptron. Instead of Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes's vocals being on the song due to a busy schedule, Vic-E, the then temporary voice-based fourth member for the group's ''FanMail'' era, makes an appearance on the rap verse and provides ad-libs. The song was sent to radio stations as a promotional single prior to the release of ''FanMail'' and reached number twenty-one on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The song also peaked at number fifty-nine on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

. "Silly Ho" received mixed reviews from music critics, who complimented the track itself while criticizing its misleading

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

lyrics. It also featured on several compilation albums.

Composition

"Silly Ho" is a R&B- techno song that built on a foundation of "annoying sonic" burrs and "cutesy chop-suey"

synths A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

. The song along with " I'm Good At Being Bad" were said to crank up the "raunch level" for the girls. Two authors Kerry Mallan and Sharyn Pearce analyzed its content in their book ''Youth Cultures: Texts, Images, and Identities'': With the lyrics: ”I ain’t never been no silly bitch/Waiting to get rich/From a nigga bank account,” which David Browne from '' Entertainment Weekly'' points out they were talking about taking control of their own finances. However, '' Complex'' Julianne Escobedo Shepherd said the track's message was one of total independence, "and not playing one's self out to sit at the feet of a dude." ''

Jet Jet, Jets, or The Jet(s) may refer to: Aerospace * Jet aircraft, an aircraft propelled by jet engines ** Jet airliner ** Jet engine ** Jet fuel * Jet Airways, an Indian airline * Wind Jet (ICAO: JET), an Italian airline * Journey to Enceladus a ...

'' agreed, the publication noticed the song's similar message to "

No Scrubs "No Scrubs" is a song recorded by American girl group TLC as the lead single from their third studio album, ''FanMail'', on February 2, 1999, by LaFace Records and Arista Records. The song was written by producer Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs, forme ...

", but more about "a kind of female who can't get her life together." Vic-E then raps "You know you can't get with this.../ Stuck on silly shit/ Boy you know you need to quit" before declaring " he's''out''" on the bridge of the song.

Critical reception

David Browne from '' Entertainment Weekly'' said the song could be a jingle for "a hip-hop investment firm." Kelefa Sanneh described it as, "a startling single, which I loved: a violent buzzing sound interrupted every few lines, as if the producer, Dallas Austin, were playing a prank". In a retrospective review by '' Complex'' Julianne Escobedo Shepherd, she said Austin was doing his best Timbaland imitation of

Aaliyah Aaliyah Dana Haughton (; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer and actress. She has been credited for helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop and hip hop, earning her the nicknames the "Princess of R&B" and " ...

's " Are You That Somebody?" on the track. ''

'' Chuck Taylor also compared the two songs, questioning whether the song is a throwaway track to stir interest before knowing if they have made any true progress. Ann Powers from '' Rolling Stone'', however, criticized Austin's attempt at girl power on the song as "misguided." Positively,

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

and '' The A.V. Club'' Nathan Rabin both chose the song as one of ''Fanmail'' best tracks. Similarly, Jonathan Bernstein from ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' predicted the track to be a "future hit".

Release and commercial performance

The song was the first song and promotional single released off their album as a teaser for ''FanMail''. Both the song and "No Scrubs" have gotten "tremendous" airplay. American musician Girl Talk took samples of the song for his mash-up track "All Eyes on Me" on the album '' Unstoppable'' (2004). In 2016, Canadian producer Jåmvvis covers the song with a new jazz-influenced, sax-heavy, bass driven redition.

Live performances

On June 22, 2013, TLC includes the track on their hits medley while performing at the

2013 MTV Video Music Awards Japan The 2013 MTV Video Music Awards Japan was held in Chiba on June 22, 2013 at the Makuhari Messe and was hosted by Atsuko Maeda and Nobuaki Kaneko from Rize. Awards Video of the Year Exile Tribe — "24karats Tribe of Gold" *Namie Amuro — "In T ...

, receiving the Legend Award. Silly Ho/Hat 2 Da Back/Kick Yo Game (Super Bowl Blitz '14)

Formats and track listings

*Promotional US CD # "Silly Ho" – 4:15 # "Silly Ho" – 4:15 # "Silly Ho" – 0:10 *Promotional US 12" vinyl # "Silly Ho" – 4:16 # "Silly Ho" – 4:16 # "Silly Ho" – 4:16 # "Silly Ho" – 4:16

Charts

Year-end charts

References

{{TLC (group) songs 1998 singles Songs written by Dallas Austin Song recordings produced by Dallas Austin TLC (group) songs