LeeLee started SWV when she, Coko, and Taj were teenagers. At 17, LeeLee was a mother of two and wanted the music to be how she provided for her family. She told The Root in 2014 that the idea of starting a girl group came when she heard R&B singer Shanice on Star Search. Soon, she enlisted Coko, who also lived in her Bronx neighborhood.

Then, the teens asked Taj, who lived in Brooklyn at the time, to finish the trio. While they eventually came up with the name SWV, which stood for “Sisters With Voices,” Coko said they almost picked a name that would’ve caused beef with another big-name girl group at the time.

“You know, when SWV first came out, our name was TLC. Honey, we got a cease and desist real fast,” she revealed in an interview with Carlos King, per Hot New Hip Hop. “So, we had to change our name … We had to change our names so fast, so, you know, we weren’t too happy about that. That’s how we went from TLC to SWV.”

SWV didn’t sweat their name change. In 1992, their first album was certified multiplatinum, with over 2 million records sold. Following the success, they published two more albums, “New Beginning” in 1996 and “Release Some Tension” the following year. Ironically, "Release Some Tension" was the group's last album before their '90s breakup.