The group is a rarity, a pop mega-sensation with political valence, and that may be why it feels particularly heavy that its upcoming album will also be its last. Coming after a year hiatus, the self-titled TLC will be missing an obvious presence: Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, a lyrical great and the group's ace emcee, who was killed in a car accident in Yet despite the bittersweet circumstances attending the return of Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas as a duo, there's also a sense of uplift.
Twenty-five years after they first bopped their way to the top of the charts in —draped in baggy clothes, big hats, and lots of condoms for their new jack swing-style debut album Ooooooohhh On the TLC Tip —the trio's comeback invites us to remember their guiding belief: that you, too, can liberate yourself.
I have a vivid memory of being around five or six years old and riffling through my older sister's CD collection and feeling completely rocked when I saw 's CrazySexyCool.
It was TLC's sophomore album, and my first encounter with the group. Rison eventually reconciled with Lopes, and they continued dating on and off for seven years. Lopes was released from rehab to attend the recording sessions, but the finished album featured significantly less of her raps and vocals.
The album instead focused more on the contributions from Watkins and Thomas, and had a smoother, more fluid sound, similar to the most successful single from the first album, the US 2 hit "Baby-Baby-Baby". Also in , TLC recorded the theme song to Nickelodeon 's popular sketch comedy All That which was produced and co-written by Arnold Hennings which ran for ten seasons.
But the primary reason being that the group received what they called a less than favorable DEAL from Pebbitone. After Arista Records, LaFace, and Pebbitone recouped their investment for recording costs and manufacturing and distribution common recoupable charges in most record contracts , both Pebbitone and LaFace Records went on to charge for expenses such as airline travel, hotels, promotion, music videos, food, clothing, and other expenses.
According to the members of TLC, ironically, the more successful the album became, the more they were in debt. They sought to renegotiate their contract with LaFace, under which they received only. They received less for each single sold. TLC also wanted to dissolve their association with Pebbitone. By this time, Pebbles had separated from her husband.
The group appeared on the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack with "This Is How It Works" a song written by Babyface and Lopes and was set to re-enter the recording studio the following year after signing a new contract with LaFace and with distribution handled by Arista.
Preliminary work on TLC's third album, FanMail , was delayed when friction arose between the group and their main producer Dallas Austin , who was by this time dating Thomas and helping to raise their young son Tron.
Watkins made a solo song a year earlier called "Touch Myself". TLC eventually began working with other producers for the FanMail album, until finally negotiating with Austin, who produced the bulk of FanMail. Lopes always had an idea of a futuristic-feel for the project, which Austin incorporated into the album. FanMail was released in February The album was another success for TLC, debuting at No.
The album featured the number-one hit "No Scrubs", produced by Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs , and the single " Unpretty ", an alternative rock -styled song about self-love written by Watkins and Dallas Austin another version of it sampled Dennis Edwards ' hit "Don't Look Any Further" , that also reached 1 on the Billboard chart.
The group went on a worldwide tour, the FanMail Tour. However, most of the second leg of the tour produced sold out dates. The group had a PayPerView special of their tour which at the time became PayPerView's highest grossing televised special. Her contributions to songs had been reduced to periodic eight- bar raps, and there were several songs in which she had no vocals on whatsoever. Studio session singers such as Debra Killings often sang background vocals for the group's songs, something Lopes also wanted to do on songs in which she didn't rap.
In late , Vibe Magazine published a letter written by Lopes that challenged her groupmates Watkins and Thomas to all record solo albums and see which album performed the best:. Each album I also challenge producer Dallas Austin to produce all of the material and do it at a fraction of his normal rate. The ladies eventually settled the feud, and The Challenge was never followed through. After the conclusion of the successful FanMail tour, the ladies, however, took some time off and pursued personal interests.
Lopes was the first to begin recording her solo album, Supernova. The song was released in the US a few weeks prior to the scheduled album release for the US. CrazySexyCool sold over 11 million copies in the US and worldwide sales exceed 15 million copies. TLC often wore condoms taped to their clothes. TLC reportedly held up Clive Davis at gunpoint to get the royalty money they thought they were owed. Usher's record breaking 'Confessions' album was in fact not about Chilli.
Left Eye had a name, 'Nikki,' for the person she turned into when she drank. In Left Eye burnt down her boyfriend's mansion after a huge argument. TLC were originally named 2nd Nature. Left Eye was a heavy drinker since the age of fifteen. Altogether TLC won 5 Grammy awards, two in and three in She pulled out to pass but lost control of her car, which flipped over multiple times.
The crash claimed her life at the scene; fortunately, the other people in the SUV survived. Lopes' death devastated her bandmates.
They issued a statement saying, "We had all grown up together and were as close as a family. Today we have truly lost our sister. And there are days when you're like, I'm not even fighting it today, I just have to let it out, and you just cry. Lopes' car after the crash in Honduras in The low points of the trio's relationship lost their importance in the face of Lopes' crash. But did I love her less? Watkins, who has sickle-cell anemia, said Lopes came to see her when she was in the hospital and told her to take the time needed to recover.
In , Thomas talked with Essence about how things had been with Lopes while they worked on their latest album. Her death was very devastating for us, but I can look back and say I was happy about what our relationship was like, at that time. However, this was contrary to the group's wishes, as they'd all been focused on a new album. As Thomas explained years later to USA Today , "We wanted to finish what the three of us had started as best as we could under that type of pressure and pain.
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