At the end of the day, a song can enjoy international success for a variety of reasons. For example, a lot of songs contain hooks that the masses find irresistible or have a beat that is so driving that it is nearly impossible to listen to them without tapping your feet. On top of songs like that, a lot of tunes connect with audiences because their lyrics tell a story that people can easily relate to.
These days, a lot of songs name-drop the people they are about so there is little to no mystery as to what inspired the song in question. For example, many of Eminem’s songs contain direct references to some of the famous people he has interacted with or he has a grudge against for one reason or another. On the other hand, there are some hit songs that people want to know more about years after they were first released. Most notably, “You're So Vain” came out in 1971, and people still want to know more about the men it is about to this day.
When TLC’s “No Scrubs” first became a massive hit, most people assumed that the song was about men who act a certain way in general. However, over the years some fans came to believe that the song was actually about a certain celebrity and TLC recently confirmed that idea to be true.
A Huge Song
When TLC’s “No Scrubs” was released as a single in 1999, it quickly became one of the most-talked-about songs in the world. While some of the attention that “No Scrubs” received was negative, due to some listeners taking offense to the way the song labels a certain kind of man, most people embraced it.
A worldwide hit that charted in twenty-one countries, in 1999 Billboard listed the song at number two on their year-end Hot 100 singles chart and it topped the weekly Hot 100 for four weeks. Of course, both of those achievements are impressive feats, especially when you consider some popular singers have gone years without reaching the top spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 list.
On top of “No Scrubs” Billboard achievements, the song pulled off several other notable feats. For example, the music video for “No Scrubs” won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Video at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards. On top of that, “No Scrubs” was played so much on the radio that it was named the Top Airplay song of 1999.
Song Origins
Over the years, there were some rumors about “No Scrubs” being about the behavior of one person in particular. In 2020, the two surviving members of TLC confirmed that, as some people had come to believe, the song is about Full House’s Dave Coulier. During an interview in which she was accompanied by Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas spoke about the moment that inspired “No Scrubs”.
“One day we’re out walking, and [Coulier] and Stamos come driving by, and you know, Coulier leans out and tries to holler at us from the passenger side of the car. To be honest, I didn’t know who he was at first — I just saw a bunch of hair and a bright, patterned shirt, but then it clicked and I was like, ‘Is that that corny mother***er, Uncle Joey?’ So I started jotting down some lines, and the rest is history. He was talking like Popeye for some reason, and had this beaver puppet… that part didn’t make it in the song.”
Pattern Of Behavior
When most people learn that “No Scrubs” was written about Dave Coulier, they are bound to think of another song that is widely believed to be about the Full House actor. Released in 1995, Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know” was a massive hit that played a pivotal role in the Canadian singer becoming a wealthy musical legend. Lyrically speaking, “You Oughta Know” paints a picture of a young woman’s anger at the way a man who she was romantically linked to treated her.
Over the years, many interviewers have asked Alanis Morissette to identify the man who inspired the particularly rage-filled “You Oughta Know” lyrics. However, Morissette has always taken the high road by dodging those questions. Despite Morissette’s classy decision not to call anyone out by name, at times Dave Coulier has admitted to being the man who inspired those lyrics, amazingly enough.
During a HuffPost Live interview, Dave Coulier talked about realizing that “You Oughta Know” was about him after one lyric in particular. “We had already broken up… She called and I said, ‘Hey, you know, I’m right in the middle of dinner. Can I just call you right back?’ When I heard the line, it was like, ‘uh-oh,’”
Given that Dave Coulier likely inspired both “No Scrubs” and “You Oughta Know”, it makes sense that Bob Saget has claimed that he has advised his pal to change. “I tried to tell him he should probably stop dating musicians, but he wouldn’t listen. I mean, there’s already one immortal song dedicated to calling you a piece of s**t, so maybe you should cut your losses. I never understood why he’s always been eager to take credit for ‘You Oughta Know.’ Like, buddy, did you listen to the lyrics?”