Released: February 25, 1992

Songwriter: Babyface Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes Daryl Simmons LA Reid

Producer: Babyface LA Reid

[Intro: Left Eye]
Yo, dis is TLC
Yeah, and we're back to school da girlies
And if 'n ya know dat yo man is bout ta flip
Shock dat monkey on the TLC Tip
Y'all know we ain't down for no monkey business
Erri uuhh erri uuhh erri
It ain't even like that
Yo T-Boz, kick it!

[Verse 1: T-Boz]
When you know that it's good
And you know that it's hot
All the girlies want a piece of what you've got
When a man is a man
And it's all in his face, ah
He's 'gon jump all on it
'Cause it be's that way
Gotta get up on it
Put your heart aside
Ain't about that lovin'
It's all about that pride
If you do unto him
What he does all the time
That's the only thing for sure to keep that nigga in line
You gotta go

[Chorus: All]
Shock dat monkey
(Shock 'em good, shock 'em good)
Shock dat monkey
(Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Shock dat monkey
(Shock 'em good, shock 'em good)
Shock dat monkey

[Verse 2: T-Boz]
If he plays in the field and he's shamin' your name
Got no time for tears, you can get in the game
If a man is a man, and he calls you a ho
Ain't no point in playin' if he doesn't know, yeah

[Bridge: Chilli]
Don't let him know
If you don't go through it
And if it blows
Hey, just don't sweat it
Now you're in control
If you just don't screw it
Then shock him before
He knows you know so

[Chorus: All]
Shock dat monkey
(Shock 'em good, shock 'em good)
Shock dat monkey
(Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Shock dat monkey
(Shock 'em good, shock 'em good)
Shock dat monkey
Shock dat monkey
(Shock 'em good, shock 'em good)
Shock dat monkey
(Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Shock dat monkey
(Shock 'em good, shock 'em good)
Shock dat monkey (Hey, hey, ayy, yeah)

[Verse 3: Left Eye]
Yo, you wanna know somethin'? I'm in a situation
Like it or not it's you, your own creation
Lendin' a leg cause you ain't too proud to beg
For a quick sensation invitation
And bein' that I am the kinda girl that I am
Lend a hand and dare you to give a damn
'Cause his story can be my story too
Ooh, monkey see, monkey do

[Bridge: T-Boz & Chilli]
When you know that it's good and you know that it's hot
All the girlies want a piece of what you've got
When a man is a man, and it's all in his face
He's 'gon jump all on it, 'cause it be's that way (yeah)

[Chorus: All]
Shock dat monkey
(Shock 'em good, shock 'em good)
Shock dat monkey
(Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Shock dat monkey
(Shock 'em good, shock 'em good)
Shock dat monkey (Hey, hey, ayy, yeah)

[Breakdown: Left Eye & All]
Yo, it ain't cool, and as a matter of fact
Get the monkey up off your back
And when he wanna know where ya at?
Get the monkey up off your back
Even if he don't like it like dat
Get the monkey up off your back
You gotta do it to keep 'em intact
Get the monkey up off your back

[Chorus: All]
Shock dat monkey
(Shock 'em good, shock 'em good)
Shock dat monkey
(Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Shock dat monkey
(Shock 'em good, shock 'em good)
Shock dat monkey (Hey, hey, ayy, yeah)

[Bridge: All]
Gotta get up on it, put that heart aside
It ain't about that lovin', it's all about that pride
If you do unto him, what he does all the time
That's the only thing for sure to keep that nigga in line
Hey

[Breakdown: Left Eye & All]
Yo, it ain't cool, and as a matter of fact
Get the monkey up off your back
And when he wanna know where ya at?
Get the monkey up off your back
Even if he don't like it like dat
Get the monkey up off your back
You gotta do it to keep 'em intact
Get the monkey up off your back

[Chorus: All]
Shock dat monkey
(Shock 'em good, shock 'em good)
Shock dat monkey
(Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Shock dat monkey
(Shock 'em good, shock 'em good)
Shock dat monkey (Hey, hey, ayy, yeah)
Shock dat monkey
(Shock 'em good, shock 'em good)
Shock dat monkey
(Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Shock dat monkey
(Shock 'em good, shock 'em good)
Shock dat monkey

TLC

TLC is a trio whose musical repertoire spans over R&B, hip-hop, soul, pop, rock, funk, and new jack swing.

Consisting of Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, rapper-singer Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, and singer Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, TLC found unprecedented success in the 1990s, not only as a musical group, but also for an extensive series of high profiled spats with the law, each other, and with their record label—all of which helped to solidify them as one of the definitive recording acts to emerge during the aforementioned time span.

The group, which is in fact the highest-selling girl group in America with 65 million records sold, is known for tackling important social issues in their music such as AIDS awareness, violence, domestic abuse, anorexia, bulimia, sexism, racism, and homophobia.