En Vogue

Released: March 24, 1992

Songwriter: Denzil Foster Thomas McElroy

Producer: Denzil Foster Thomas McElroy

[Intro dialogue]

[Announcer]
Are you ready?
All the way from Oakland, California
The Funky Divas of soul, En Vogue

[Chorus: En Vogue]
This is your life
Live it your own way
This is your life
Live it your own way

[Verse 1: Terry Ellis]
I lived part of my life
Being scared of my dreams
Every time someone asks what I'm shooting for in life
I would hide my true feelings
And when I spoke up to my friends
They made fun of my dreams
So shen times got too rough
I would think back on one thing
My mama would say to me, mmm

[Chorus: En Vogue & (Terry)]
This is your life
(You got to) live it your own way
(Mama would say) This is your life
(You got to) live it your own way

[Verse 2: Terry]
Forces of evil struck back and forth
Throughout my young days, ooh yeah
Because I would listen
And care what other people would say
Like a four letter word
I ignored the whole world
And built my own tiny world with respect
But it took time to relate
What my mama would say time after time again, she said

[Chorus: En Vogue & (Terry)]
This is your life
(Mmm, you got to) live it your own way
(My mama would say) This is your life
(This is your life, you got to) live it your own way
(Mmm, it's gotta be that way)
This is your life
(Ooh, yeah) live it your own way
(Mama used to say) This is your life
(This is your life, you got to) live it your own way, ooh ooh ooh

[Break]

[Chorus: En Vogue & (Terry)]
This is your life
(Mmm, you got to) live it your own way
(My mama would say) This is your life
(This is your life, girl) live it your own way
(It's gotta be that way)
This is your life
(Ooh, you got to live) live it your own way
(Mmm, you got to) This is your life
(Gotta live your life for the best now) live it your own way
This is your life

Cindy Herron, Terry Ellis, Maxine Jones, and Dawn Robinson are the original members of the R&B girl group En Vogue. The group was put together by producers Thomas McElroy and Denzil Foster after a talent search in Oakland, California in 1989. Their debut album Born to Sing was released in 1990 and featured the #1 R&B hits “You Don’t Have To Worry,” “Lies,” and their platinum debut single “Hold On,” which also peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and won a Billboard and Soul Train Music Award. Their 1992 follow-up album Funky Divas hit #1 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and peaked at #8 on the Billboard 200 on its way to triple platinum status. The lead single, “My Lovin' (You’re Never Gonna Get It),” helped propel that success as it hit #1 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart and #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album also featured the #1 R&B hit cover of Aretha Franklin’s “Giving Him Something He Can Feel” as well as the Top 10 pop single “Free Your Mind.”

In 1993, they released the EP Runaway Love and made appearances on the TV shows In Living Color, Roc and A Different World. In 1994, they collaborated with Salt-N-Pepa on their Top 3 platinum single “Whatta Man” and in 1996 they contributed to the Set It Off soundtrack with their hit single “Don’t Let Go (Love)” which peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit #1 on the R&B Singles chart.

While working on their third album, Dawn Robinson decided to leave the group due to issues with management. The group decided to go on as a trio and released their third platinum album EV3 in 1997 featuring the Top 10 R&B/Top 20 pop hit “Whatever,” which was produced and co-written by Babyface. They went on to release three more albums—Masterpiece Theatre in 2000, The Gift of Christmas in 2002, and Soul Flower in 2004. During that time, Maxine Jones left the group in 2001 and was replaced by Amanda Cole, and Cole was later replaced in 2003 by Rhona Bennett. While the original four members have reunited for performances throughout the years, the current lineup consists of Herron, Ellis, and Bennett, and they released the single “Déjà Vu” in 2016 and released their album Electric Café in 2018.

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Funky Divas

From the album

Funky Divas (1992)

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This is Your LifeEn Vogue

En Vogue

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