Weezer's Questionable Decision to Cover TLC's "No Scrubs" Has the Internet Up in Flames

You know what? There's a lot to love about Weezer. "Island in the Sun"? Still very much a bop. Their hilarious and good-natured cover of Toto's "Africa"? A delight. But now, it is with a heavy heart that I must inform you that the band has gone too damn far.

On Jan. 24, Weezer — made up of frontman Rivers Cuomo, Brian Bell, Patrick Wilson, and Scott Shriner — dropped The Teal Album as a surprise, which is a collection of covers of popular songs, likely a result of the massive success and social media goodwill they earned with their "Africa" cover. But alas, the album also includes a hipster rendition of TLC's 1999 hit "No Scrubs" that some Twitter users have labeled "a hate crime" and "a monstrosity." Upon having listened to it myself, I'd describe it as what a pop-punk version of the song would've sounded like on Glee. Cuomo has a great voice, but it's not the best fit for the vibe of the R&B song. The original members of TLC didn't spend the early '90s chasing waterfalls for something like this to happen.

"I just thought it's one of those songs that's freakishly popular," Cuomo told Apple Music of the band's decision to take on the track. "I was trying to decide which gender perspective to sing it from then I saw this tweet that said, 'If you're a guy covering a song by a girl, you gotta keep the pronouns. For those three minutes you're gay.' So I was like, 'Cool, let's try this.'"

The alternative rock band's record also includes covers of hits from the '60s, '70s, and '80s, like Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean," The Turtles' "Happy Together," Black Sabbath's "Paranoid," Ben E. King's "Stand By Me," and A-ha's classically cheesy love song, "Take on Me." Before you listen to those, however, I'd suggest taking a peek at what the internet has to say about "No Scrubs" first, including a response from TLC's very own Chilli!