In the early days of TLC, Rozanda "Chilli" Thomas sparked a romance with mega-producer Dallas Austin. The pair was quite serious and even welcomed a son together, but in a recent interview with Angela Yee for Fox Soul, Austin was candid about Chilli jumping into a relationship with Usher, a friend, after their breakup. Chilli and Usher would go on to date for two years before they called it quits, and while the TLC icon has stated that cheating was a factor, Usher has denied that he stepped out on his ex-girlfriend.
"I wanted to kill everybody," he said. "'Cause, honestly, I was friends with Usher, too. It was just one of those things where...we two different people. We always have been, in that sense. I feel like when—actually, it was crazy because when I moved to Miami and I just had to get out of Atlanta, too crazy. So, I moved to Miami, I set up in a house, me and her first broke up then and I started working on music in Miami in this house... By the time I called and said, 'Hey, you know what, let's be together in Miami,' she said, 'Nah, nah, it's a wrap. I'm done.'"
"I’m thinking this is the worst year because she goes and started dating Usher and I’m going mad. We got a kid," Dallas added. "That’s my girl... So, I went through this whole year thinking it was the worst year of my life when really, I did all the P!nk songs at that time. ‘Just Like a Pill’ and ‘Don’t Let Me Get Me’ was about the relationship I was in. I did Blu Cantrell’s ‘Hit Em Up Style,’ I did Drumline. All of this stuff was going on but I must have had blinders on because I was in such a space that everybody gets to when you break up."
Austin said it was "painful" and "crazy," especially because Chilli and Usher's relationship was something that was being played out in the media so he couldn't avoid hearing about it. "People are calling you and telling you they’re in a video," he added. "I didn’t realize I had taken all of that energy and I put it in these records and making Drumline. When that year was over, I was in Atlanta, premiering Drumline with all my kids with me and I thought, ‘Damn, why did I think this was the worst year? This was the best year I ever had.'"
Watch Dallas Austin's full interview with Angela Yee below.