'90s R&B Girl Group SWV Almost Didn't Make It! Personality Clashes, Jealousy & Drama With The Label

SWV, Sisters With Voices, had the R&B genre in a chokehold throughout the ‘90s to the tune of nine Top 10 hits. The trio also had an around the way style and look directly inspired by the streets they grew up on and deeply admired by fans. But over time, the stark differences in each member’s personality that they once used to propel them to success, became their undoing.
#SWV #Coko #Lelee #Taj
SOURCES:
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www.vibe.com/n...
www.livenation...
www.vibe.com/g...
people.com/xsc...
en.wikipedia.o...
www.dailymotio...
• SWV Interview With The...
• SWV Talks 'Ladies Nigh...
• Taj George Of SWV Talk...
• Lelee Lyons of SWV Tal...
• Fearless Conversation ...
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[@danavixen6274]

The Tiny Desk Concert featuring SWV is EVERYTHING! ❤❤❤❤❤

[@thebrownbaldy]

HA, see what you did there

[@CylenX6]

This comment Right Here got me so Weak.

[@jennzifur]

@@CylenX6I could hardly speak 😂

[@beaniegee5129]

SWV's first three albums are classics

[@aceassn716]

Its About Time is also a classic

[@zeebo8965]

Actually all 7 albums are timeless classics....

[@dnb200]

@@aceassn716well that is in the first three isn’t it?

[@nicolesherman8974]

One of my favorite girl groups ever 🖤. Coko in my opinion doesn’t get the recognition she deserves for being an outstanding vocalist.

[@TheModelrodney]

Cause she’s not. She has her moments but she’s not the best vocalist.

[@cindyc12]

I agree they are awesome, and I consider Coko the ultimate soprano, the way she leads "If" by Patti hitting those notes like it's just another day. Honestly I believe it's colorism and they don't fit the narrative. 🤷🏾 Let's be real, darker skin sangers' or those who don't fit the narrative (half dressed, skinny, Pop sound ) really don't get the same recognition.

[@shargreen9950]

@@TheModelrodneythe comment didn’t say she was the best vocalist?? they said coko doesn’t get enough recognition in THEIR OPINION. reading is fundamental boo.

[@ejakaegypt]

She does Swv are still on tour

[@lifeofd.shunta3261]

Actually she really does get recognition. Not only as the voice many may automatically think of when hearing the name SWV..but from what I seen she gets recognized especially in the more recent years after they started back touring

[@jayfriday9485]

coko also featured on will smith’s ‘men in black’, which was a huge hit. she has one of the best voices in my opinion. it’s a shame her solo career didn’t take off.

[@danavixen6274]

PHENOMENAL voice! She killed it with Will Smith! SWV should've been tapped to do the Lady Marmalade cover too. They had done a TREMENDOUS tribute to Patti LaBelle at the Essence Awards back in '98. ❤

[@AgingLikeWine]

AZ ‘Hey AZ’ as well 🔥🔥

[@seanlamar29]

Her part is the best

[@AngeBiampandou]

I don't think the passion was there for a solo career. It's not like Nicole Scherzinger who kept rying but could not get a hit to save her life. Coko did one okay solo and she was done

[@Boobalopbop]

Oh wow! That’s her?? I can totally see that. Definitely sounds like her. Too bad she wasn’t featured in the video. That’s weird.

[@shaylah2725]

Use Your Heart & Rain are 2 of the most beautiful songs EVER. the bass in Right Here is still one of the greatest ever. I will always remember singing SWV in the backseat while my mom was driving ❤

[@GhettoKeKe021]

The old school r&b singers don't get their accolades like they should. They were the 1s that can actually sing without all that auto tune and tweeking in studios needed. I'm glad SWV getting their overdue recognition 💝

[@eizyaws]

Taj actually signed a modeling contract with Ford in 1999

[@tosh6219]

Im glad they’re finally getting, their flowers

[@corelle8055]

I love them! SWV is hitting the jackpot! Their Tiny Desk concert was bomb!❤❤❤❤

[@beaniegee5129]

Coko's solo debut album Hot Coko is so underrated, it deserves more credit.

[@D-Will2k]

I still play that album as well

[@chasesmom14]

What’s your favorite song from the album ?

[@D-Will2k]

@@chasesmom14 sunshine and all my lovin’

[@thetruesoulofanaquarius9302]

SWV was and still is one of my favorite female group. Its About Time album still stay in rotation on my playlist. Every song was a bop.

[@ravager48]

Still love the Human Nature sampling for Right Here. That and Nas's It ain't hard to tell did justice with the sample.

[@TheRetroWoman80]

Very happy Coko relates to herself and her group mates much better after the diagnosis👏👏👏👏👏👍 SWV will always be in the playlist rotation. Taj never ages❤

[@kittykat8110]

The tiny desk concert was amazing! I still remember every lyric after all these years 🥰

[@santosezso]

Y'all forgot to mention Taj's first stint at reality TV when she appeared in season 18 of "Survivor: Tocantins - The Brazilian Highlands"

[@beaniegee5129]

SWV also appeared on New York Undercover singing Switch's song There'll Never Be on the episode Innocent Bystander

[@AM-fb4pb]

I love that performance 🔥

[@the10th_muse82]

I CANT believe they didn’t receive royalties or awards for their music in the 90s. That’s insane…

[@beaniegee5129]

Chingy sampled SWV's song Rain for his song Pullin Me Back with Tyrese

[@kayshawnsimmons5585]

No! It wasn't Tyrese it was Jason Weaver

[@caramia4143]

​@@kayshawnsimmons5585Tyrese featured on Chingy's "Pullin' Me Back". Jason Weaver featured on Chingy's "One Call Away"

[@MrColatown]

​@@kayshawnsimmons5585Jason Weaver was on "One Call Away"!

[@skyelinkhyrule5715]

​@@kayshawnsimmons5585 Wrong, Jason Weaver was on One Call Away.

[@kayshawnsimmons5585]

@@skyelinkhyrule5715 yes your right

[@hassanburton669]

SWV’s Sisters With Voices Debut Album 💿 It’s About Time Forever Takes Me On A Trip…To The 90’s❤️ Big Mike Clemons Used To Cut My Hair Back in The Day..Fun Fact 😁

[@AgingLikeWine]

They had a video for ‘Downtown’ as well

[@Machtimus]

I remember Casey Kasem saying they loved New Edition so much, they wanted to call themselves The Female Edition

[@user-be7tc2bd6e]

So glad they didn't use that-LAME-name. LOL.

[@tamikagamble3408]

I love listening to Casey Kasem!

[@janikiabailey5254]

SWV is my favorite female group and that’s not gonna change 🤟🏾💯😎🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@beaniegee5129]

BET should do the SWV biopic

[@kayshawnsimmons5585]

l agree

[@sexymama1966]

I agree too!

[@stefanossmitty3318]

Hell no! After that debacle of an awards show, BET shouldn’t even host a dog show, let alone produce one.

[@jaesease4738]

My favorite girl group of ALL time!!!! I’m so happy they are back on top where they belong!!!! 🩵🩵🩵

[@beemocha]

Your timing is impeccable I swear! I was just watching a performance of SWV performing “You’re The One For Me” on Showtime at the Apollo (on KZbin) last night lol.❤❤ Along with other SWV performances & interviews. I think somebody showed you my watch history 😂😂😂 you always upload videos of people that I’ve recently listened to and/or watched. 3 baddies out of my city 🗽 with great voices,style & seggs appeal❤

[@danavixen6274]

'seggs' 😂

[@zodiaclover3132]

Wow, we’re loving their art and they were struggling 😢

[@alexhall4582]

I just saw them on the Queens of R&B tour in Little Rock, AR and everybody absolutely KILLED it! 90s R&B will always hold a special place in my heart because of these ladies and so many others! 💗💗💗

[@arthome2441]

Thank you for sharing, I always have SWV in my mind. Great time of the 1990s R&B.

[@beaniegee5129]

Pharrell screamed the SWV name in the song Right Here (Human Nature Remix)

[@d.johnson1109]

I am from Jersey and I remember Coko being in rahway projects because that's where her first son's father lived.

[@Wc7823]

Omg this video made me cry. I didn’t realize they had such low-lows. I’m glad they’re on the other side and know we love and support them. Saw them perform last year! ❤

[@SoRealBeauty]

This almost makes me cry because I remember seeing them live last year, and I was singing my heart out with coko to her song "Sunshine " and I think about my son when I sing it l, too. I passes out at that concert like 30 minutes later, but I was glad I got to see them. It was my second time seeing them in person they always throw a good show.

[@AlanaGurl]

I’ve seen them perform multiple times. They put on an amazing show. And Coko’s voice is just 🙌🏾🔥. Their Christmas cd is beautiful too btw

[@Naeem_El]

SWV is my favorite group of all time.

[@LaCheleWallace]

Oh my God! SWV!!! I love them so much. I remember buying _It's About Time_ on cassette tape and taking it everywhere w/ me. I used to just sit and stare at the artwork. That LP is cemented inside of my soul for all eternity. It still means the world to me. As I type this, my eyes done started to well up because of all the warm and sunny memories behind it. Back then, we cherished music. You didn't just hear _Weak_ for a week and move on to the next one. The music stayed w/ you. Making up steps w/ my big cousins, collecting all of the cassette singles, singing in an obnoxiously high Whitney Houston/Coko key while drowning out my lil' friends as we sang in the hallways at elementary school getting that good echo and just so many fun memories. I'd sit and repeat this line in _Coming Home_ when Coko was like _Our love is strong, and I won't keep you waiting for love._ I was like "Oooh, the 'love' part sounded like Whitney Houston." I was just really nitpicky about music and I'd get on my lil' friends' nerves rewinding certain parts like "Oooh, did you hear that?" They didn't understand me. Anyhow, Imma keep it short & sweet on this LP because I can go on and on for days about one word of a song. See, what you said at 6:11 to 6:20? That scenario happened to over 15 of my favorite artists of the '90s. That's no coincidence. 1992 -1996. What do I always say about that 3 - 5 year period of limelight? Labels give most artists 3 - 5 years of limelight before they have to move on to the next wave of artists. And notice how the label seems to part ways w/ the situation/production company around the fourth or fifth year. There's a reason to that. No coincidence. Nah, I've come to really enjoy the _New Beginning_ LP. The next LP, _Release Some Tension_ was saved by _Rain._ The label knew that SWV didn't want an LP w/ a rap feature on every fuckin' record. The label did that on purpose and turned around and dropped them. Oh my God! Brandy Norwood was supposed to get _Rain._ That would've been interesting. Not sure how she would've pulled off that second verse though. Vocally, Coko has one of the dopest voices of the '90s. Watching her sing live was always a thrill for me. She just be blowin' and don't even be worried about it.

[@knightcharm]

I did not know that they originally wanted to go with TLC!! You’re right, that was a fun fact! I always enjoy these videos

[@cheryll.ousley2189]

I saw them perform live a couple years back and they still sound phenomenal! And they I just as gorgeous now as they were back in the day.

[@AggravatedMan365]

My favorite girl group of all time. They are legendary, God bless them 🙌🏾

[@benjis1465]

I’m glad they’re back together again ❤️

[@AquariusSoul]

Absolutely love SWV! Beautiful and talented ladies.

[@beaniegee5129]

The Neptunes produced SWV's song Use Your Heart

[@kayshawnsimmons5585]

one of my favorite songs❤

[@Wc7823]

It’s one of the most beautiful songs

[@gavinwilson7889]

SWV has one of the best music catalogs. So many amazing songs.

[@NellieKAdaba]

True

[@glam2gobeauty811]

Was watching their Essence performance and looked for my old season their reality show and this popped up! Just posted

[@happygolucky7241]

Legends 💯 ❤️‍🔥

[@mizzjacquettaxx6974]

SWV always be my kinda girl group besides TLC, En Vogue, Xscape, Destiny’s Child, 702, Brownstone, Kut Klose, Total and Blaque are very memorable in 90’s era that I was grew up to listen to them all. ❤

[@beezy22]

SWV:90s r and b group that had some classics in the early and mid 90s……still have all their albums and also have their tiny desk concert in my KZbin tv list……

[@HaughtyHedonist]

I'm 32, Has It Really Been 30 Years !?! 🤯🤯

[@ericjones7769]

I was always and still am a Huge Fan of SWV i loved them since day one and Down Town is my favorite song 🎵 by them 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💯💯💯

[@jamillawebb3567]

I just saw them at Essence fest and was on my feet the entire time!!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 they were phenomenal 🙌🏽💕

[@rayasunsh9]

new beginning is my absolute FAVORITE swv album!!! beautiful BEAUTIFUL ballads, start to finish! i love dem ladies so bad!!!! ❤

[@goodfellabeats]

Weak is still my jam to this very second.

[@user-ck7iv7jo2g]

I am SWV super fan and I still didn’t know that she had a child by a member of the rap group digiable planets. OMG, thank you for teaching me so much.

[@NellieKAdaba]

I love SWV and also Digable Planets.

[@D-Will2k]

I still enjoy their albums New Beginning and Release Some Tension. Their voices are distinctive due to Coko’s vocals.

[@chanr5693]

My first ever CD I purchased was SWV’s first album. They are one of the best ever RnB groups to ever do it

[@Awallfl0wer]

They still sound amazing !! I just saw them at Essence Fest in New Orleans ❤

[@MostlyCloudy]

i was 10 years old when Weak came out, and i was crushing so hard on a boy. so much nostalgia when i listen to that first album

[@flyguy7764]

These women are inseparable and that’s that they should never separate these lady’s are one of my favorite groups of all time and I listen to everything

[@beaniegee5129]

Great story on SWV

[@courtneypalmer53]

On their last album "Still" I love their song MCE (Man Crush Everyday) 😩. That's my song. 😍 They bring back so many good memories. I miss the 90' s.

[@MsEriKaT]

And I'm seeing them on tour next week!!!

[@missbee1451]

😮What!!!!? "Rain" was originally meant for Brandy??!?! Her momma would've NEVER let her sing that!!!!

[@gamerincorporated154]

Please?!? Yes she would for a bag

[@mizzjacquettaxx6974]

dang, her momma was a real trip.

[@flyguy7764]

I remember I brought their album they were awesome

[@aminah761]

Their hair always look so nice 😊😊

[@Carolina_Panthers145]

SWV the best female r&b 90's group.

[@therisright]

Love them ❤

[@jaylene.turner6524]

Great video! One of my favorite female groups!

[@BAMOORE94]

Brandy would’ve killed rain! I’m glad it went to SWV though.. it’s one of my favorite songs of theirs

[@Profess84]

Great video. I happy that the group as well as the individual members are in are in a better place, and the Queens of R&B of tour is need, especially after the trash I saw at the BET awards.

[@DH-uw3us]

Would love to see their biopic. Bipolar Disorder is no joke.

[@richandfrancescaarriola5965]

I was in 5th grade when Weak came out and I remember going on a school family camping trip. My parents were chaperoning and they took one of my best friends along and we sang that together on the way up there.

[@dashaunthompson6785]

When This Feeling ❤

[@cadillacdeville5828]

Cocoa is a pretty ♀️👠, they all are.

[@yahainHotPink]

Thank youuuuu! 😄😄😄💖💖💖👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@SANDYMILLER23]

Thank you so much for this video!!!! They are my favorite female group of all time. l love the song Right Here: Human Nature Remix. They do not get their deserved flowers.💐🤎💐🤎💐

[@jbrown8834]

My FAVORITE group ever 🎉🎉🎉!! Day 1 from Day 1!!!

[@user-kr5jk7sz3y]

Swv was good in the 90s my era

[@gloriadarty6150]

Do dj ghost town my boo please

[@saj8]

SWV was one of the last post-New Jack Swing groups.

[@TiaraEbony]

Pleaseeeeee do Salt n Pepa ❤❤

[@thecloud9effect765]

Already done!

[@sheed_da_comic]

my favorite girl group EVER

[@msdeshabangbang]

How was Downtown not mentioned?! That hit was HUGE!

[@UTubeVidWatcher]

One group member getting more lead singer roles and more money than the other group members is the same problems they had in the other girl groups, like TLC, Xscape, Destiny's Child which eventually lead to their breakup.

[@katarinakrnjevic8183]

One of most underrated girl groups . I'm so into you is such a good song.

[@MrLionelg33]

SWV reunited will always be the best reality 📺 show of all time.

[@lifewithri2970]

Can you do one on TLC? 1:13

[@samonebeauford2145]

It still blows my mind that everyone on that tour is calling themselves Queens of R&B.... It's still so many before them that deserve that title. Anyways though, I'd love to see SWV in concert. They're definitely the best all female group from the 90s.

[@darrylcarter3691]

Uh Oh not P Diddy!

[@taureanmay1411]

1:10 swv ( sister's with voices).

[@taureanmay1411]

2:01 wow 😮😳, nice 💯🙂 girl group yes.

[@318_SP]

Thank GOD for Kenny Ortiz! Goes to show how incompetent people are at their jobs. Everything is mostly about who you know and favor for a favor. Completely overlooking once in a lifetime talent.

[@filmcrit]

Parents separated, so all responsibility to stay afloat fell on her mother? *All* responsibility? Why wouldn't the father have any responsibility to, at least, keep his child afloat? 🤔

[@jasminehill6312]

Unfortunately that’s not uncommon for the mothers to have a majority if not ALL of the responsibility of the child(ren) after a breakup. I see it all the time at work.

[@filmcrit]

@@jasminehill6312 I hear you and agree on the facts. It's sad that the conclusion we draw and seem to be ok with is that when parents split, the natural course is that the mother becomes solely responsible. It's just a sad commentary, that's all.

[@caramia4143]

Exactly what I was thinking!!! SMH Mama did not make that child by herself!

[@bbsdollsandtvarchive]

SWV was one of the best girl groups that came out in the 90s. They always talking about stealing someone’s man.

[@Nitro99999]

Damn you didn't even mention "use your heart" from the second album or even mentioned the second album unless I'm mistaken and several other songs that actually put them on the charts I would have to say this video was rushed very fast LOL

[@JudeTavonFenwick]

Oh cool! My birthday is June 13… I was born in 1983 and to this day I have NEVER met anyone with my birthday

[@stefansimpson7678]

💙💙💙💙

[@divestednoir86]

My favorite girl group ❤❤❤

[@ADyani6]

He can forget the music videos now. He’s about to be behind bars 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@timmyheatz12]

Weak will never get old by swv!

[@lovely_star1917]

Its crazy but when you have the higher voice everybody prefers you over the Altos

[@NellieKAdaba]

Unfortunately

[@amandau.2367]

It blows my mind that they never won awards smh

[@warriorjgamer]

Was it true that Mj gave them the sample for free when it came to human nature?