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Chilli Dishes On Her Drama-Free Dynamic With Matthew Lawrence And No Longer Fearing Marriage
Chilli may be preparing to walk down the aisle soon. The TLC singer has been dating actor Matthew Lawrence since 2022, and the two seem to be going strong. Chilli dished on her relationship with the Boy Meets World star during her visit to Fox 5’s talk show Portia. “This is the first time that we have both experienced being in a relationship to where, I mean—there's no drama at all. We get along, and we have differences but we, still to this day, we've never had an argument,” she said of their drama-free dynamic. “I don't even understand why we would have to have an argument in the first place.”
The “Waterfalls” singer also revealed that since dating her beau, she no longer has a fear of marriage. “I do not. I don't have any fear at all when it comes to him,” she said. “It is just the way he is as a man, you know? He is a good guy. He has an amazing heart, and I mean, he checks off all of my list except for a few I don't know yet—’til we get married.”
Chilli and Matthew's relationship may be taking another significant step in the future. In a 2023 interview with ET, Matthew shared their potential plans for children. "That's the game plan. That's what we're trying to do," he disclosed. This news is particularly exciting as Chilli already has a son named Tron with music producer Dallas Austin, and the prospect of expanding her family adds a new dimension to her relationship with Matthew.
While Chilli is known as a legend in music, her dating life often takes center stage. But that’s what happens when you’re linked to some powerful men. Here’s a look back at Chilli’s dating history.
Dallas Austin
The “No Scrubs” singer dated the super producer throughout the ‘90s, and he produced many songs for her group, such as “Creep” and “Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg.” The two welcomed their son in 1997 and shortly parted afterward. Their relationship was documented in the VH1 TLC documentaryCrazy, Sexy, Cool.
Usher
Usher and Chilli
Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Usher and Chilli are probably each other’s most famous relationship. The former couple, which is still talked about to this day, were together from 2001-2004. They were still in touch over the years, but the “Unpretty” artist said she finally stopped all contact 15 years later.
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Chilli and Floyd Mayweather Jr. sparked dating rumors after he appeared on her VH1 reality TV show What Chilli Wants in 2010. While the two looked really chummy on the show, the “Diggin On You” singer denied that they were ever romantically involved.
Nick Cannon
In 2016, Chilli and Nick Cannon were rumored to be dating. The Masked Singer host gushed about the mother of one in an interview with E! News. "She's amazing," he said about Chilli. "She's an outstanding person, but you gotta ask her what's going on." He later clarified that they were friends and he’d “be so lucky to be able to...be called dating someone like that."
Matthew Lawrence
Chilli and Matthew Lawrence have been together since 2022, and they sometimes give us glimpses into their relationship on social media. We can’t wait to see what the beautiful couple has in store for the future.
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Feature image by John Parra/Getty Images for Sandals Resorts
London Alexaundria is the contributing editor for xoNecole. She is an alum of Clark Atlanta University, where she majored in Mass Media Arts and has worked in journalism for over ten years. You can follow her on Instagram and TikTok @theselfcarewriter
This Black Woman-Owned Creative Agency Shows Us The Art Of Rebranding
Rebranding is an intricate process and very important to the success of businesses that want to change. However, before a business owner makes this decision, they should determine whether it's a rebrand or an evolution.
That's where people like Lola Adewuya come in. Lola is the founder and CEO of The Brand Doula, a brand development studio with a multidisciplinary approach to branding, social media, marketing, and design.
While an evolution is a natural progression that happens as businesses grow, a rebrand is a total change. Lola tells xoNecole, "A total rebrand is necessary when a business’s current reputation/what it’s known for is at odds with the business’s vision or direction.
"For example, if you’ve fundamentally changed what your product is and does, it’s likely that your brand is out of alignment with the business. Or, if you find your company is developing a reputation that doesn’t serve it, it might be time to pump the brakes and figure out what needs to change.
She continues, "Sometimes you’ll see companies (especially startups) announce a name change that comes with updated messaging, visuals, etc. That usually means their vision has changed or expanded, and their previous branding was too narrow/couldn’t encompass everything they planned to do."
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The Brand Doula was born in 2019, and its focus is on putting "the experiences, goals, and needs of women of color founders first," as well as brands with "culture-shifting missions."
According to Lola, culture-shifting is "the act of influencing dominant behavior, beliefs, or experiences in a community or group (ideally, for the better)."
"At The Brand Doula, we work with companies and leaders that set out to challenge the status quo in their industries and communities. They’re here to make an impact that sends ripples across the market," she says.
"We help the problem solvers of the world — the ones who aren't satisfied with 'this is how it's always been' and instead ask 'how could this be better?' Our clients build for impact, reimagining tools, systems, and ways of living to move cultures forward."
The Brand Doula has worked with many brands, including Too Collective, to assist with their collaboration with Selena Gomez's Rare Beauty and Balanced Black Girl for a "refresh," aka rebrand. For businesses looking to rebrand, Lola shares four essential steps.
1. Do an audit of your current brand experience — what’s still relevant and what needs to change? Reflect on why you’re doing the rebrand in the first place and what success would look like after relaunching.
2. Tackle the overall strategy first — before you start redesigning logos and websites, align on a new vision for your brand. How do you want your company to be positioned moving forward? Has your audience changed at all? Will your company have a fresh personality and voice?
3. Bring your audience along the journey — there’s no need to move in secret. Inviting your current audience into the journey can actually help them feel more connected to and invested in your story, enough to stick around as changes are being made.
4. Keep business moving — one of my biggest pet peeves is when companies take down their websites as soon as they have the idea to rebrand, then have a Coming Soon page up for months! You lose a lot of momentum and interest by doing that. If you’re still in business and generating income, continue to operate while you work on your rebrand behind the scenes. You don’t want to cut existing customers off out of the blue, and you also don’t want so much downtime that folks forget your business exists or start looking for other solutions.
While determining whether the rebrand was successful may take a few months, Lola says a clear sign that it is unsuccessful is negative feedback from your target audience. "Customers are typically more vocal about what they don’t like more than what they do like," she says.
But some good signs to look out for are improvements in engagement with your marketing, positive reviews, press and increase in retention, and overall feeling aligned with the new branding.
For more information about Lola and The Brand Doula, visit her website, thebranddoula.com.
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Exclusive: Will Packer Talks 'Fight Night,' New Book And Celebrating Nine Years Of Marriage
Will Packer has a lot to celebrate. His limited series Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist premiered on Thursday on Peacock. He just celebrated nine years of marriage to his wife, Heather Packer, and he has a self-help book coming out at the top of next year. xoNecole had a chance to chat with the boss during the premiere of Fight Night, and he gave us gems about love and career.
The executive producer shares the motivation behind creating this film, which features a star-studded cast, including Kevin Hart, Taraji P. Henson, Terrence Howard, Lori Harvey, and more.
"It was pitched to me as a true life story that I didn't know. I didn't know this story. And I was like, how can I not know such an incredible piece of not just Atlanta history, not just Georgia history, but the history of the United States, honestly," he says.
"And having the opportunity to come make this, put a great cast together, I then produced the podcast, along with some incredible folks that are here after we did the original, and that is what became the limited series."
True Crime only adds to the diverse genres Will has tackled over his career. With classic films like Stomp The Yard, fan favorites like Girls' Trip, and his popular dating shows like Ready To Love and The Never Ever Mets, he has proven that he can do it all and be successful at it, too.
"True Crime. It's a period piece, but you know what? Good content is good content. People can watch anything they want because there's such an oversaturation of content out there right now. So for me, at the end of the day, it's about what's the story."
He continues, "What are we telling people? What is important to get people to care? I want audiences to be engaged. I want them to feel something when they see a Will Packer project. And I thought there was a tremendous opportunity to not only let them know a story that they may not know but also wildly entertain them. That's what I want. That's what this is about. It is extremely entertaining."
Through it all, he has had a supportive partner by his side. On August 28, Will shared a post with his wife, Heather, celebrating their anniversary. "NINE Years down! More lifetimes to go! (Let's come back and do this again 😜) HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BABEE!!!😍 ❤️," he wrote.
During our interview, the lovely couple shared the key to having a strong relationship. "Making each other happy, putting your partner before yourself," Heather says.
Will also chimed in saying, "Because when I work really hard to make her happy and she's happy, she's going to do everything in her power to make me happy, but it requires you being selfless.
He continues, "It requires in those moments where you want to be all about me, me, me, that you can't be like that and you gotta be about the other person and know and have faith that they're going to reciprocate that back to you."
What's next for the father of two is his book, Who Better Than You?: The Art of Healthy Arrogance & Dreaming Big. Will describes the book as "inspirational" and "motivational."
"I've been in Hollywood now for over three decades, and through that time, I've dealt with some of the biggest personalities, egos and challenges," he says. "But the reason that I've been successful is the belief that, not that I could be successful, but that I deserve success. And that's what I dare other people to do in this book. I dare you to realize that you are predestined for success. It's a state of mind."
Fight Night is out on Peacock now.
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