Sisters With Voices, better known as SWV are R&B girl group pioneers. Its members, Coko (a.k.a. Cheryl Gamble), Leelee (Leanne Lyons), and Taj (Tamara Johnson-George) have created a catalog that is filled with melodic gems, but their 1992 debut album, It’s About Time, is top-to-bottom filled with hits, including “I’m So Into You,” “Right Here – Human Nature Radio Mix,” “You’re Always on My Mind,” and their most iconic song, “Weak.” “Weak,” which just turned 30 (!) earlier this month, has brought SWV accolades such as being the first number 1 song by an R&B girl group of the ’90s to top the Pop and R&B charts, going platinum three times, and having 140 million song streams. The song’s music video offers timeless style inspiration, plus, it has the enviable honor of being a without fail sing-a-long song on party playlists with the video itself offering timeless style inspiration.
A lot has happened in the last 30 years for SWV. The group disbanded in 1998 to pursue individual projects and reunited in 2005 and despite their break, they have not stopped working since. Most recently, they co-starred with their R&B girl group contemporaries Xscape, on Bravo’s SWV & Xscape: The Queens of R&B, which just wrapped its first season. The show centers around the lives of both bands and their members as they try to work together to plan a joint tour. SWV hopes this could be an opportunity to remind the world, and themselves, of their magic. However, spoiler alert, as the events of The Queens of R&B unfold, this epic tour ends up not coming to fruition. There have been some upsides to the show and unrealized tour, though: those who know and love SWV get an opportunity to reacquaint themselves with Coko, Leelee, and Taj and see them in a new light, and those who didn’t know the band get to meet them and discover their music. And our ’90s tour dreams are not forgotten: SWV announced that they are going on tour this summer—with Jodeci and Dru Hill. (Tickets are on sale now.)
As the ladies embarked on a recent press tour in their hometown of New York City, they showcased that they’ve preserved their New York cool, round-the-way girl charm while evolving into mature, self-assured women. They have also leveled up their style thanks to stylist J. Bolin, who has styled the likes of Tyra Banks, Sarah Jakes, and Tabitha Brown, and whose former apprentice was stylist Kollin Carter.
After a jam packed week of interviews, I had the pleasure of sitting down with SWV and J. Bolin (I cannot emphasize enough how amazing the women looked in some Norma Kamali silhouettes in gun metal and snake print that looked as though they were made for their bodies) to fangirl and talk about their success, what the video “Weak” might look like in 2023, and what they want their new fans to know about them.
I have spent the last week listening to It’s About Time on repeat. With hits like “Weak,” “You’re Always On My Mind,” and “Right Here,” can you please tell me what the men were like in the early ’90s that had you singing like this?!
Taj: No good! [Laughs] My ex-boyfriend dogged me out so good I was “Weak!” They were terrible, that’s why they are in the past!
Your music has really withstood the test of time. The 30-year mark, to me, feels so representative of growth. It was the age where I finally felt like “I’m grown now” and that sentiment feels applicable to It’s About Time’s anniversary, and especially to “Weak.” Any party I’ve ever been to, everyone knows the words. You could play the first 30 seconds and turn it off and people would still be singing along. How does this accomplishment, to have such an iconic song and album, resonate with you all individually and as a group?
Coko: It’s a blessing to have such a huge song and for it to still be huge in this day and time 30 years later. It’s a blessing.
Taj: Absolutely. I feel the same way. You can’t put a price tag on something like that, you really can’t.
Leelee: It’s amazing.
Taj, you mentioned in a recent interview that you haven’t changed much and are still the “quirky, ‘round-the-way girls who just love to have fun and sing.” I loved that so much. How do you think that energy has translated to your style and is reflective of who you all are as a group?
Taj: I think it transferred over; it continues. Now what we did do is we grew as far as our style is concerned, compliments of J. Bolin. He basically came in and revamped the vision that we had of ourselves. He improved our quirky funness where we liked to be more comfortable and he has shown us how to be comfortable and fashionable.
J. Bolin, there are so many references to pull from SVW’s past music videos and red carpet looks over the years. What has been the biggest consideration for you when styling these ladies, and are there elements of their original style you wanted to keep intact?
J. Bolin: I really enjoy seeing the really deep urban style, and as a stylist I have always enjoyed making sure that our culture stays front forward as well. Something surprised me recently and I thought that I was doing something that was so fresh and so new with them, and I put them in all of these leopard and cheetah prints from head to toe and thought, “This is so dope. This is so fresh.” And then I look up and something pops up on my social media that shows me they had already done it years ago. It was obviously different silhouettes that were appropriate for that time, but I pulled inspiration from things they have already done. They have not only just been music trendsetters but they actually have been fashion trendsetters whether they thought it was fashion forward or not it was something that was extremely relatable to our culture.
One hundred percent. I’ll use “Weak” as an example but I watched the video and screenshot some of the looks and noticed that it is all stuff you’d buy today. The leather corsets, the oversized baggy bottoms, the camo, big gold jewelry are all current trends that derived from Black culture in the ‘90s. What has it been like seeing yourself as pioneers? Because these styles and trends have come back and you were the girls championing it at the time.
Coko: I saw a picture recently of us and we are in see-through bodysuits with baggy jeans and crop tops and everyone is starting to wear that again and I thought, “Oh, we did this already. How cute!”
Scenes from the “Weak” music video.
If you were able to do “Weak” in 2023, what would that look like for you all?
Taj: You know what, I really wasn’t excited about the styling in “Weak.” Honestly I didn’t really care for the video for “Weak.”
Coko: We didn’t even understand it. It didn’t make sense.
Taj: It didn’t match the beauty of the words. So I’d probably start from scratch! [Laughs]
Coko: I would have the video much softer because it’s such a beautiful soft song and we looked so hardcore in the video.
J. Bolin: As a creative looking from the outside in, it felt like what they were trying to translate to everyone was that you guys had a toughness about you and that if somebody was actually able to pierce through that and make you weak. If you were soft and people saw you as weak they’d be like “Oh girl, please, everybody’s weak!”
Taj: He’s so analytical. I saw it as they had me killing my date.
Coko: I never thought about it like that.
J. Bolin: You have the army fatigues on, you are in the boxing ring, you have the leather shorts on: it looks like tough, sexy girls. Nobody can fool with you from the Bronx.
Leelee: It really showed that part. I love the whole elevator scene because it reminded me of being in the projects and then the pajama party scene in the bedroom. I just didn’t get the boxing scene.
Taj: Or us killing our dates.
The dates had to go I guess.
J. Bolin: So I think it isn’t about a change in wardrobe, it’s more about elevating it to be more modern. Obviously their age is different now so maybe covering them up a bit, maybe they don’t want to wear shorts as short as they did then. Maybe we update it with some cool leggings or tights underneath. Maybe a thigh boot that covers up the legs. There are so many ways we could elevate it without necessarily changing the feel of it because it’s historic. You can’t go back and change something that’s historic.
SWV perform on The Tonight Show with Jay Lenno in 1993.
I am watching Queens of R&B and my favorite part of the show is that you bring such a light-hearted energy to it, comparatively speaking to Xscape, who are also on the show. You are all so funny and the good energy comes through a lot. I’m hoping you can speak to how it was different back then versus now with the advent of social media. There are so many things that we learn on the show that I think fans didn’t know before, and I think you have struck a happy medium of being vulnerable, but also honest and funny and we also know that you guys don’t take any shit.
Taj: I think that we are really respectful to people that are to us.
Yes of course.
Coko: I don’t think they showed us enough hanging out together laughing and having a good time. You get to see just a smidge of it.
You do have some excellent sound bites though.
[Group laughs]
Leelee: I was going to say. We definitely have some sound bites.
How has it been being on the show for you as a group?
Taj: It’s been cool for us as far as SWV is concerned. We went there with one goal, to put on a show. That’s what we were there for and that’s what we attempted to do. We did our job.
What has been the most surprising outcome of being on the show?
Coko: The drama. We did not expect that. Not like that.
I too was surprised as a viewer.
Coko: We expected there would be some drama. A little drama. But it just exploded and then the social media after each episode. I was thinking, what the hell is this? This is next level. That was surprising.
It seems like the objectives were different in terms of the energy you guys were bringing to being on the show because as you said you had a goal.
Coko: We came in peace.
In so much peace. I am happy that you brought that peace to create some balance.
Leelee: It was just so exhausting and they [Xscape] just stayed there. We couldn’t even get away from it. When we were alone they brought that up. We could not escape what was going on.
No pun intended.
[Group laughs]
I obviously know and love your work as a group but I am sure there has been a new fan base of people who watch Bravo and the show. They are seeing you with new eyes in a sense, maybe not having the context of all that you have done before. What is your hope that people take away about SWV?
Taj: We definitely appreciate the fact that people see us as mature and focused. That we come to do our business that we are here to perform and that we are adults that behave like adults and are about doing what we love to do, which is sing and perform. That’s the thing I really would like for people to take away. I don’t want them to look at all the drama, I want them to look at SWV and say, “I wanna see them perform live.”
Leelee: And that we don’t hate girl groups.
Coko: I want them to see that we can disagree but we still love on each other. We are not going to disrespect each other.
Taj: We are never going to agree on everything.
Coko: Ever. And you don’t have to get on here and make an ass of yourself.
Leelee: We’ve had our moments but we know how to handle ourselves now. We know each other too well.
You can feel the sisterhood.
Leelee: The motherhood because they mother me.
Taj: Shut up!
Leelee: There you go!
In Chicgao circa 1996.
What’s next for the Sisters with Voices?
Coko: We are going on tour in July with Jodeci.
Oh my God.
Coko: There’s so much going on. There’s so much coming at us because of the show. Good things!
Leelee: It’s good. We’re moving pretty fast right. now. A fast pace at this age so it’s a blessing.
What is the style vibe for this upcoming tour?
J. Bolin: That’s funny you asked because we just were chatting earlier about what textures we want to try. Do we want to do sequins? Do we want to do stones and studs? They said, “We want all of it!’ I said we can’t do all of it and they said, “Yes we can. We can do all of it.” So they really want a variety. When they come out on stage, we really want to have that wow factor. When the curtains open up, we want that real star appeal that the clothing is just wow without them even opening up their mouths. The glitz and the glam. Like back in the day, when you went to concerts and the person walked on stage. That’s what we want. We are going to be vetting different designers from across the world and [having them] send in sketches for different looks to really see what silhouettes work for each one and what’s functional. At the end of the day what’s functional for them matters. I’ve been trying to get them in 2 or 3 inch heels.
Taj: Oh no. [Ladies laugh]
SWV in 2023.
I am happy we are having this conversation now because it’s giving, “No.”
J.Bolin: [Laughs] It’s giving no.
Coko: The way Run DMC had “My Adidas” and the people came in there with Adidas, the people are gunna come in there [the tour] with their combat boots [their signature look in the ’90s].
Coko: Because they made such a big deal over it. I’m telling you!
Leelee: The combat boot tour.
J. Bolin: Maybe you have a combat boot stand at the tour
Leelee: A meet and greet!
Coko: Nah, we need to wear some flats. We do dance. We dance and we have dance steps that we just can’t do in heels. That’s just not our show.
J. Bolin: Okay so, creating amazing looks that look great with lower shoes on. So that’s going to be the real fun thing. It’s going to be interesting because it’s different to style on stage like that. These ladies are going to be great, so I’m thinking great structure and lots of shine.
This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.
Marquia Walton is a writer and digital producer based in Bedstuy, Brooklyn. Further interests, in no particular order, include: cooking, natural wine, racial justice, sustainable food systems, universal healthcare and telling it like it is.