SWV (Sister With Voices) has sold more than 30 million records throughout their career, which spans three decades. One of the hits that helped launch them to stardom with their debut album, “It’s About Time,” is “Weak.” The record has remained a fan favorite for decades, but its existence almost did not happen.
Group members Tamara “Taj” Johnson-George and Cheryl “Coko” Clemons — the third member is Leanne “LeeLee” Lyons — are the latest guests to appear on the “We Sound Crazy” podcast, hosted by music executives Phil Thornton and Tamone Bacon and Grammy Award-winning songwriters Claude Kelly and Chuck Harmony.
“Every time you record something, you think it’s great, right?” began Taj, while explaining the trio’s perception of their 1992 album’s tracklist, which boasts other successful singles such as “I’m So Into You” and “Right Here.”
Harmony pressed on, asking, “It wasn’t something a little special about ‘Weak’?” As it pertains to that specific track, not everyone was on board with the vision. Coko immediately responded, “Oh no. I hated ‘Weak.’ ” Taj quipped, “I love that song. She didn’t like it.”
“I didn’t get it. I didn’t understand it. I didn’t want to understand it. I didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t want to sing it,” added Coko, the lead vocalist. “That song, they could have flushed it in the toilet.”
“Could you imagine? What if they’d listened to her?” asked Taj before her longtime bandmate went on to disclose more of her initial disdain for the song.
Coko revealed that her efforts to not record the track included: “[I] locked myself in the bathroom. They had to call my mama to get me out. ‘Weak’ was not it for me … I think at that young age, I just really did not understand it. I didn’t get it, the way he wanted me to approach the song. I was a church girl.”
Fan reactions to the revelation include:
“Glad they didn’t listen to you…cause BAYBEEEEE…”
“Yes I can finally say I HATE THAT SONG!!!! It was sang badly at every talent sow and played on every radio station and car stereo in Chicago that year…”
“Weak is a FOREVER SONG…it hits different everytime it comes on.”
“She stays throwing his but I love her.”
Brian Alexander Morgan penned and produced the R&B cut. The hitmaker told Complex in a 2014 interview that he was inspired by a crush he had on singer Chante Moore. He originally wrote the song for Charlie Wilson, but The Gap Band crooner passed on the record, leading it to find its way to SWV.
According to Billboard, the song debuted on the Hot 100 chart in April 1993. It spent two weeks in the No. 1 spot, dethroning Janet Jackson’s 8-week run at the top with “That’s the Way Love Goes,” and spent a total of 26 weeks on the chart.
On Spotify, “Weak” has been streamed more than 144,000,000 times. In September 2022, the Recording Industry Association of America certified the record three times platinum.
Powerhouse vocalist JoJo covered the popular hit for her self-titled debut album in 2004. But what may be fans’ most favorite recent take on the record came from Tamar Braxton. Unsurprisingly, the talented songstress belted out the record with seemingly little to no effort.
