Chilli and her 19-year-old son, Tron Austin, are the epitome of twinning! On Sunday, the TLC star posted a picstitch of herself and Tron on her IG.

Dallas L. Austin (born December 29, 1970) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and film producer.

Biography[edit]

Early life[edit]

Aarp word whomp. Austin was born in Columbus, Georgia. In a lengthy 2019 interview with DJ Vlad, he divulged numerous details of his life and career. Austin had two brothers who as young men were frequently in prison for crimes such as drug trafficking and robbery. His mother was self-employed as the proprietor of a restaurant located next door to their home. At the time of Austin's birth, his mother had never held a salaried job, and would not do so until the family moved to Atlanta when Austin was a teenager. Austin did not much like living in Columbus as his family's finances were not the best and he disliked his living conditions. As a child, Austin became interested in music and asked his mother to buy him a keyboard; she was initially reluctant to do so because she was concerned that he would not stick with his interest, but Austin managed to assuage her fears by proposing that she start out by buying him a small machine, then, as he kept with it every year, buy him progressively larger machines; his mother relented and she followed Austin's suggestion. When he was a teenager, one of his brothers threw his keyboard across his bedroom; Austin was very much upset by this as he felt music was his 'way out' of his living conditions. He recalled after this event feeling that he could no longer put up with his life in Columbus, and he boarded a bus to Atlanta to move there, where he told his family that he would stay with his aunt. Austin's mother said that if he was leaving, then she and his brothers would also move there as she did not want to be apart from him. To do this, Austin's mother had to save up money, and his mother and brothers joined him months later. Austin's mother got a job at a restaurant. Austin by this time lived in neighborhoods where the Ku Klux Klan was prominent, but this proved not to be too big an issue.^[1]

Career[edit]

Austin got his start in the music industry by way of Klymaxx member Joyce Irby.^[2] Under her guidance, he was enlisted as a producer for her company Diva One Productions.^[2] Austin produced the lead single of Irby's debut for Motown Records as well as the songs 'My Music' and 'I Will Always Love You' for Troop's 1989 album Attitude.^[3] When he was starting out as a producer, he would frequent a local skating rink and records that he produced would be played over the sound system; T-Boz, his future collaborator of TLC fame, was also a frequent patron.^[1] He used to take his keyboard to school with him, but his mother expressed annoyance at this, telling his school guidance counselor that she did not feel his production career would work out, but the counselor told her that because Austin had kept at his hobby for so long (it was his eleventh grade year), then perhaps it would indeed work out, and suggested that Austin's mother back him. His mother, upon hearing this from a third party, agreed to support Austin. Austin, who was nearly finished with his compulsory education, expressed his wish to cease going to school. His mother, though not pleased with this, allowed him to do so. He spent a large amount of his time at the aforementioned skating rink, where the owners had built a studio for an Atlanta production collective, Organized Noize. All of this was around 1986.^[1]

In 1990, Austin branched out on his own. His work on Motown led him to work on albums by other acts signed to the label - the first being the little known group Glasswurk.^[2] Austin later helmed the bulk of the debut albums for the Motown signees Another Bad Creation and Boyz II Men.^[2][4] When he telephoned Joyce Irby to say that he was to work with Boyz II Men, she told him that she was going to '[sue] everybody' and immediately thereafter hung up the phone. Austin initially did not understand why she said this, but would later find out that it was because he was considered a 'work for hire' employee of Irby. He consulted a lawyer and the lawyer said that although the employment contracts to which he was a party were not favorable to him, they were fair enough so he advised Austin to keep working under them. Irby did not sue anybody and everything worked out as Austin was, as aforementioned, able to produce on the debut Boyz II Men record.^[1] When DJ Vlad asked Austin why he only produced one song on Boyz II Men's second album, he said it was because he 'didn't like them' after the first album. He said in turn that this was because the members had ostensibly become vain since their success had begun, paraphrasing them emphasizing costly tangibles with statements such as 'Man [..] I can't finish counting the diamonds in my Rolex right now.', and 'we gotta let somebody win [referring to music industry awards] this year; good thing we're not there.'^[1]

Austin was later recruited by L.A. Reid and Babyface to work on a couple of projects for their record label, LaFace Records.^[2] The duo recruited him to work on the debut album for TLC.^[2] From there, he was granted a deal for his short-lived group Highland Place Mobsters, which was Austin joining the members Glasswurk who were formerly signed to Motown.^[2]

After his success with other acts, Austin was recruited by After 7 to produce a few songs on their second album, Takin' My Time. Austin then worked with Madonna on her 1994 album Bedtime Stories. In the 2000s, Austin worked with pop acts and produced hit singles like TLC's 'Unpretty', Pink's songs 'Don't Let Me Get Me' and 'Just Like a Pill,' and Gwen Stefani's 2004 single 'Cool.'

Personal life[edit]

Austin has 3 children, including a son, Tron Austin, born in 1997 to TLC singer Chilli, and a niece, whom he helped raise after the death of his brother, Claude Austin, in 1994.^[5]

Record labels founded by Dallas Austin[edit]

• Rowdy Records: Founded by Austin in 1992. The label was distributed by Arista Records and later, Motown Records when it was reactivated in 2005. Artists signed to the label were Illegal, Da King & I, Y'all So Stupid and Monica. Later artists during the reactivation include Colin Munroe and Da Backwudz. Rock act Fishbone signed to Rowdy after being dropped from Columbia Records.
• Limp Records: A short-lived label founded by Austin in 1993^[6][7] and distributed by EMI Records. Only two albums were issued by the label: A View to a Kill by Shadz of Lingo and The Pendulum Vibe by Joi.
• Freeworld Entertainment: A short-lived label founded by Austin in 1998 and distributed by Capitol Records. Released 'Forty Six & 2', the fourth single from Tool's 1996 album Ænima. Two artists were signed to the label: singer Lysette and teenage singer Sammie, who released his debut From the Bottom to the Top in 2000. After Freeworld folded, Sammie released his follow-up album several years later on Austin's other label Rowdy Records.

Recording studio[edit]

Austin owned a personal recording studio named D.A.R.P., an acronym for 'Dallas Austin's Recording Projects.'^[8] It was later renamed UAMG Studios, short for 'Urban Angels Music Group.'^[9]

Discography[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abcdeDallas Austin on Producing Michael Jackson, TLC, Boyz II Men, Monica, Pink (Full Interview), retrieved November 3, 2019
2. ^ ^abcdefg'Make It Funky: The Rise & Fall of the Highland Place Mobsters'. redbullmusicacademy.com. Red Bull Music Academy. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
3. ^'Producer Dallas Austin talks about Boyz II Men's debut album, 'Cooleyhighharmony''. Wax Poetics. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
4. ^Siegmund, Heidi. 'The Young and the Rowdy : At 21, Dallas Austin is a hit R&B producer, an A&R scout, a hip-hop frontman and a record label owner. Now he wants to branch out'. articles.latimes.com. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
5. ^I-Cheng Chan (July 1, 2006). 'Just Who Is Dallas Austin?'. gulfnews.com. Al Nisr Publishing LLC. Retrieved March 8, 2016. Austin is married and has four children including a son, Tron, born in 1997 during his relationship with TLC's Rozonda 'Chili'[sic] Thomas.
6. ^'trademark: LIMP RECORDS'. tmfile.com. TMFile. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
7. ^'LIMP RECORDS'. trademarkia.com. LegalForce, Inc. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
8. ^Hogan, Ed. 'Dallas Austin - Biography & History'. allmusic.com. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
9. ^'Urban Angels Studios (@UAMGatDARP) - Twitter'.

External links[edit]

• Dallas Austin on IMDb

Early life and educationRozonda Thomas was born Rozonda Ocelian Thomas in 1971, February 27 in Atlanta, Georgia, in the U.S. She belongs to mixed ethnicity and holds American nationality.Thomas is the daughter born to Abdul Ali and Ava Thomas.

Her father belongs to East Indian & Middle Eastern descent, and her mother is of African-American & Native American descent. After her parents divorced, she was raised by her single mother and met her biological father only after she turned 25.Thomas graduated from the Benjamin E. Mays High School in 1989. After completing her graduation, she began working for the R&B dance group, Damian Dame as a backup dancer. CareerRozonda Thomas began her career in the glamor world as a dancer for the R&B dance group, Damian Dame. She then joined TLC group replacing Crystal Jones in 1991. The following year, they launched their debut album ‘Ooooooohhh On The TLC Tip.’ The album earned a huge success and ranked 14th on the US Billboard 200 chart.In November of 1994, TLC released their second album ‘CrazySexyCool.’ The album sold over millions of copies in the U.S and made to #3 on the US Billboard 200.The group’s third album ‘FanMail’ was released in February 1999.

The album was a big hit and achieved three Grammy Awards out of eight nominations. It also reached the first position in the United States and sold more than 318,000 copies in the first week.Thomas played the main role of Marli Jacob in 2000 VH1-original Christmas TV film ‘A Diva’s Christmas Carol’. She also featured on various television shows including ‘The Parkers’ and ‘Living Single.’ She appeared in movies like ‘Snow Day’ and ‘Hav Plenty.’In 2000, Thomas started working on her solo album but due to the commitment with the band for their fourth album, 3D, she had to stop production. TLC's album became #6 on the US Billboard 200. The album sold more than 143,000 copies in its first week of release.In 2009, Thomas appeared on the American reality television series ‘What Chilli Wants.’ The series was focused on her quest to find true love. She also appeared in various episodes of the television drama series ‘Single Ladies.’Thomas also played the supporting role in 2017 biographical movie, ‘Marshall.’ In June 2017, Thomas’s group launch their fifth album, ‘TLC’ that got positive reviews from critics and audiences, the album was #38 on the US Billboard 200. Personal LifeRozonda Thomas is currently single.

She was previously married to American record producer, songwriter, musician, and film producer, Dallas Austin, and became pregnant with his child at the age of twenty. However, because of the career aspirations & the external pressure, she aborted her first child. On June 2, 1997, Thomas gave birth to Tron Austin, with husband Dallas Austin.

However, they ended their marriage in coming years.Thomas also had a relationship with R&B artist for two years. The pair started dating in 2001 and broke up in December 2003.According to the fans, the reason behind their split was infidelity on Usher's part, fans alluded to the lyrics of his then songs to come to the conclusion. In an interview with The Bert Show on Atlanta radio channel on February 17, 2004. Thomas alleged that Usher cheated on her:'Usher did the ultimate no-no to me.I will never be with him again, and that is that'.Usher also defended stating:'.it just didn't work out. But cheating is not what caused the relationship to collide and crash. That ain't what broke it up'.Usher is currently married to his second wife Grace Miguel. Net worthRozonda Thomas' net worth at present is $10 million.

She has earned most of her wealth as the member of TLC and from television shows and movies. Her estimated earnings in 1992, from the album Ooooooohhh. Was $4.1 million.Rozonda earned $10.1 million from her album, CrazySexyCool. She made $7.6 million in 1999, from her album FanMail. She earned $1 million from her album, 3D.Thomas’s group TLC's album ‘CrazySexyCool’ sold more than 23 million copies worldwide making it the group’s bestselling album.

The album also won various awards including two Grammys out of six nominations.In 2012, Thomas founded a nonprofit organization named ‘Chilli’s Crew’. She also markets a line of handbags, Bags by Chilli.Besides, Thomas was also a cast in the movie ‘Snow Day’ that was made with a budget of $13 million and was able to accumulate a whopping $62.5 million.