"Touch Myself" is the debut solo single by American singer

Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins Tionne Tenese Watkins (born April 26, 1970), better known by her stage name T-Boz, is an American singer and actress. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, Watkins rose to fame in the early 1990s as a member of the girl-group TLC. She has won four Grammy A ...

for the

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...

to the film ''

Fled ''Fled'' is a 1996 American buddy action comedy film directed by Kevin Hooks. It stars Laurence Fishburne and Stephen Baldwin as two prisoners chained together who flee during an escape attempt gone bad. Plot An interrogator prepares a man to ...

'', starring

Laurence Fishburne Laurence John Fishburne III (born July 30, 1961) is an American actor. He is a three time Emmy Award and Tony Award winning actor known for his roles on stage and screen. He has been hailed for his forceful, militant, and authoritative charact ...

and

Stephen Baldwin Stephen Andrew Baldwin (born May 12, 1966) is an American actor, producer and director. He has appeared in the films ''Born on the Fourth of July'' (1989), ''Posse'' (1993), ''8 Seconds'' (1994), ''Threesome'' (1994), ''The Usual Suspects'' (19 ...

. It was released by

Rowdy Records Rowdy Records is a record label distributed through Motown. It was founded by record producer Dallas Austin in 1992, and the precursor to his entertainment company, Freeworld Entertainment. History Formed in 1992 by producers Dallas Austin and ...

as the album's

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

on July 18, 1996. The accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was directed by

Bille Woodruff Bille Woodruff is a director of film, television and music videos, noted for directing many videos for a number of R&B and hip-hop artists since the mid-1990s. These artists include Joe (singer), Joe, for whom Woodruff has directed 9 music video ...

, and was made both with and without clips from the film. A remix was also made featuring rapper Richie Rich, and produced by

Jermaine Dupri Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive, entrepreneur, and DJ. Early life Jermaine Dupri Mauldin was born on September 23, 1972, the son of Tina (Mosley) and Michael ...

. The remix also had a music video which did not contain clips from the movie. In 1997, it was released as the third single from Richie Rich's 1996 album ''

Seasoned Veteran ''Seasoned Veteran'' is the third studio album by American rapper Richie Rich. It was released November 5, 1996 on Def Jam Recordings, and to date is the only major label release for the artist. The album was produced by Ali Malik, DJ Daryl, Dou ...

''. It peaked at number 40 giving Watkins her first top 40 hit.

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

from ''

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 ...

'' described the song as a "chugging jeep mover". He added, "With each recording, she sheds a little more of her girlish posture, revealing an assured

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

stylist who makes the most of her limited (but hugely appealing) voice. It does not hurt that she has producer

Dallas Austin Dallas L. Austin (born December 29, 1970) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and film producer. Biography Early life During a 2019 interview with DJ Vlad, Dallas Austin detailed previously unknown or unconfirmed events inv ...

in her corner. He has surrounded her with a sleek rhythm base and jazzy keyboards, not to mention a playfully sexy tune that must have been a blast to record." Damien Mendis from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

s ''RM'' Dance Update rated the song five out of five, noting that the lead singer from

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

"takes a controversial dip into hot waters with a cool slice of mid-tempo R&B." He felt that written and produced by Austin, "this sounds like a logical follow-up to their killer ' Creep' hit as it bears strong similarities. A lazy

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

guitar replaces the trumpet and the bass guitar twangs a

Craig Mack Craig Jamieson Mack (May 10, 1971 – March 12, 2018) was an American rapper and record producer, and was famous during his tenure under Bad Boy Records. Early life and career Craig Jamieson Mack was born in The Bronx, New York, and raised on ...

' Flava' riff over a slinky rhythm lifted from

ATCQ A Tribe Called Quest was an American hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip

's '

Bonita Applebum "Bonita Applebum" is the second single from A Tribe Called Quest's debut album '' People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm''. The song contains samples of "Daylight" by RAMP, "Memory Band" by Rotary Connection, and "Fool Yourself" by ...

'. It is instantly familiar as the break the

Fugees Fugees (; sometimes The Fugees) is an American hip hop group formed in the early 1990s. Deriving its name from a shortening of the word "refugees", the group consists of Wyclef Jean, Pras Michel, and Lauryn Hill. The group rose to fame with its ...

recently utilised on ' Softly'. The steamy but catchy lyrics will no doubt win her more fans and, hopefully, UK radio won't prove as prudish as the US. (..) Can't wait. I smell a hit."

Charts

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the CD single. ;Recording and management *Recorded and mixed at DARP Studios (

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, GA) *Mastered at

The Hit Factory The Hit Factory is a recording studio in New York City owned and operated by Troy Germano. History On March 6, 1975, Edward Germano, a singer, record producer, and one of the principal owners of the Record Plant Studios New York, purchased the ...

(

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

) *Contains a sample of "

Hey Young World "Hey Young World" is the third single released from Slick Rick's debut album, ''The Great Adventures of Slick Rick''. It was released in 1989 as the follow-up to Slick Rick's popular "Children's Story" and was both written and produced by Slick R ...

", written by Ricky Walters and performed by

Slick Rick Richard Martin Lloyd Walters (born January 14, 1965), better known as Slick Rick, is an English-American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence with Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew in the mid-1980s. Their songs " The Show" and " ...

, published by Def American Songs, Inc., courtesy of Def Jam Recordings, Inc. *Contains a sample from "Who the Cap Fits", written by Edmund Carl Aiken, Jr.

PKA PKA may refer to: * Professionally known as: ** Pen name ** Stage persona * p''K''a, the symbol for the acid dissociation constant at logarithmic scale * Protein kinase A, a class of cAMP-dependent enzymes * Pi Kappa Alpha, the North-American so ...

Shinehead Shinehead (born Edmund Carl Aiken; 10 April 1962 in Kent, England) is a British Jamaican reggae singer/toaster/rapper. Career He began his music career by performing for different New York City reggae dancehall sound systems in the 1980s, most ...

, and performed by Shinehead, published by African Love Music/Def American Songs, Inc. under license from African Love Music *Managed by Hiriam Management *Published by EMI April Music Inc., Darp Music (ASCAP) ;Personnel *

–

writing Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically Epigraphy, inscribed, Printing press, mechanically transferred, or Word processor, digitally represented Symbols (semiot ...

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

instrumentation Instrumentation a collective term for measuring instruments that are used for indicating, measuring and recording physical quantities. The term has its origins in the art and science of scientific instrument-making. Instrumentation can refer to ...

, executive production *Atvi Speights –

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

, mixing *Leslie Brathwaite – recording engineering *Carl Glover – recording assistant *Brian Smith – recording assistant *Sol Messiah –

scratching Scratching, sometimes referred to as scrubbing, is a DJ and turntablist technique of moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable to produce percussive or rhythmic sounds. A crossfader on a DJ mixer may be used to fade between two record ...

*Rick Sheppard – MIDI and sound designing *

Debra Killings Debra Killings (born July 7, 1966) is an American singer and bass guitarist, notable for extensive session and background vocal work for LaFace Records and Rowdy Records-based artists such as TLC, Monica, and OutKast. Killings appears on the ...

–

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

*Chris Gehringer – mastering * Antonio M. Reid – executive production *

Kenneth Edmonds Kenneth Brian Edmonds (born April 10, 1959), better known by his stage name Babyface, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has written and produced over 26 number-one R&B hits throughout his career and has won 12 Grammy A ...

– executive production *

Perri Reid Perri Arlette Reid (née McKissack; August 29, 1964), known professionally as the recording artist Pebbles, is an American singer-songwriter, businesswoman, record producer, and music executive. Reid is known for her hit songs during the late 1 ...

– executive production *Dah Len –

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

*Davett Singletary –

creative direction A creative director (or creative supervisor) is a person who makes high-level creative decisions and, with those decisions, oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos. Creative director positions ar ...

*Christopher Stern –

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

References

{{Tionne Watkins 1996 debut singles Music videos directed by Bille Woodruff Tionne Watkins songs Hip hop soul songs 1996 songs Songs written by Dallas Austin Rowdy Records singles LaFace Records singles Arista Records singles