‘SWV’ aka ‘Sistas with Voices’ took the 90’s by storm with a slew of hit singles but as the decade ended, so did their reign.
Taj George, Lele Lyons and Coko Clemons comprised the the legendary girl group and each discussed how they broke up, hit rock bottom and banded together again.
In case you missed it, check out the full ‘SWV’ Unsung epsiode below…
TheRoot refers to SWV as the ‘Supremes of the 90’s” as the 3 Brooklyn bred girls rose to triple-platinum status in the early ?90s, but by the late ?90s, they had pretty much disappeared.
At age 17, Leanne ?Lelee? Lyons started the group when she was already the mother of two children. Inspired by watching a 12-year-old Shanice sing on Star Search, Lelee came up with the idea for the group, and she and Coko, both Bronx girls, pulled in Tamara ?Taj? Johnson from Brooklyn as the third member.
?Bills had to get paid,? Lelee tells The Root, as she remembers pursuing her passion with two kids in tow. ?I started this group so I felt like I had to go in.?
In their ‘Unsung’ episode, Taj, Lele & Coko speak about their trials and tribulations and reveal how in-fighting created division within the group when Coko was made to be the ‘star’.
Lelee went back to working a 9-to-5 for many years while Taj went on to marry former professional footballer Eddie George.
The group reunited in 2005 and have since resumed touring together and even appeared on a reality-TV show called SWV: Reunited.
While the reality show may not have been the best decision, the ladies reveal during the episode that it showed them what needed to be done internally to keep things intact.
What?s the best thing about the reunion? ?Being in front of the fans again,? Lelee says. ?Sometimes the business part of the business will make you want to kill somebody. But the fans, you can?t leave them.?
A photo posted by Michelle Brown aka 'ATLien' (@iamatlien) on
[Sidebar: This ‘throwback’ pic is from the 2013 Vibe Impact Awards (click HERE if you missed that).]