Oh, Manchester, So Much To Answer For

not only is tlc’s “diggin’ on you” one of the few r-and-b songs I know to (albeit unintentionally, I assume) quote the blow monkeys (“digging your scene”), it also adheres to their superior standards of the mid-‘90s, when they were utterly untouchable, the undisputed queens of their world (and everyone else’s). at the time, stacked up against “creep” and “waterfalls” and even “red light special,” it seemed slight, sounded like a fourth single (from their titanic crazysexycool longplayer). but taken out of that context, and relived through the looking-glass of today, it’s just as strong as the others in its own way. “diggin’” is particularly enhanced by “l.a.’s live remix,” the version used in its accompanying video. l.a. reid added a slew of jazzy horns and crowd noise, along with a live band, to beef up the single, and it does the trick, giving it more substance and weight. and t-boz sounds as seductive as ever. best bit: the immortal line “I was chillin’/with my kool-aid.”