I find so much makeup inspiration in music videos. I just put on some VH1 Soul and let it ride. Bellas, if you ever find yourself stuck in a makeup rut, you just may find a way out by mellowing out with some video classics. To wit — Total. Where the heck are Kima, Keisha, and Pam? They looked absolutely exquisite in the video for Trippin’. Oh, how I have loved this song.
I had to Google that and yes, Billy B. apparently did the makeup for the video. You already know how much I admire him. Look at the faces in that video! Exquisite. Proof that a bold, smokey eye + nude, glossy lip = sexy, sexy, sexy. I love their look in this video. I love that in the early Nineties, it was still considered fly for members of a girl group to rock short hair and distinctive fashion. Compare that to today, when reportedly, super fly British import Estelle is being pressured to change her look to conform to the expected American ten-pounds-of-weave-veneers-and-a-scandalous-outfit standard. That breaks my heart. I adore Estelle, and her quirky style is what drew me to her in the first place!
I miss those good ol’ days when groups like Total and Xscape and SWV proved that talent could win over studio-created image. Those girls were sexy, but it always seemed like it was on their own terms. I miss Total! And because of their work on the hooks of songs like One More Chance and Hypnotize, I hear their voices often and wonder about them.
Total = Friends in my head.
Sadly, there is no Total website, and the only apparent resource, Wikipedia, which has some cleanup to do on this entry, reveals no immediate plans for the girls to regroup. Keisha is happily married to the talented Omar Epps, Pam is a devoted churchgoer, and Kima is still grinding, occasionally collaborating with her sister, the rapper Vita. I couldn’t find even so much as a MySpace. Sad.
What’s your favorite Total song? I know — they had some classics! I love What About Us, too. I’m torn!
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