Legacy of Hip-Hop: Left Eye
There is a growing number of people that are afraid to show the music that they have on their phones or Ipods, for fear that they will get judged. I'm not one of those people, because if I can listen to it, then I should be able to talk about it and comment on it. So I'll be honest when I say that I've listened to all of TLC's albums and I am a fan of their work. Their message of female empowerment, acceptance and to be CrazySexyCool resonates today more than ever. Tracks like “Unpretty”, “Waterfalls”, “No Scrubs” and “Haters” get better with time and honestly should be on the playlist of every teen growing up today because the subjects on those songs are worth being talked about. As an artist, if I ever had an opportunity to work with them or even sample their music, I would be over the moon. So I'm honored to take this time to talk about one of the three members: Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes.
Born in 1971, the Philadelphia native moved to Atlanta and met Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Crystal Jones and became an R&B/Hip-Hop girl group named TLC. Dropping Crystal soon after they got signed and bringing on dancer Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas, the group saw meteoric levels of success, winning Grammys and becoming one of the highest-selling girl groups of all time. But no story is perfect, with in-fighting, record label issues and the media's invasion of privacy being problems that plagued the group. Lopes rapped on the songs and did backing vocals on tracks, which is just a bit of her overall influence in the group, which included costumes, album ideas and song ideas as well. While T-Boz was cool and Chilli was sexy, Left Eye was good crazy, as it brought energy to the live shows and into the music. Her creativity shined on the FanMail album, where she gave the idea of a futuristic/interstellar theme. So let's not front on her creativity.
There's also Left Eye as the solo artist. Bursting with creative flare on her, she created Supernova, which wasn't released in the United States due to poor sales and mixed reactions overseas. Lopes took time to feature in commercials, contests and even on tracks. She started making new material for another album, this time through the identity of N.I.N.A (New Identity Not Applicable) with Death Row Records. This would be cancelled when she tragically died in a car crash in 2002. Some of her unreleased material would be put in TLC's fourth album, 3D and in a solo posthumous album, Eye Legacy.
While it is understandable for people to associate and equate Left Eye's legacy to those of her fellow sisters in TLC, as an individual rapper, I think she is disrespected. Supernova wasn't the failure the record company had made it seem to be. She was lyrically on par, if not better than what she put out with TLC, and that's saying something. When one takes the time to analyze her raps on songs such as Girl Talk or Waterfalls, you can hear her technique was on point and that she had crossover appeal. When you look at most of the other female rappers, how many of them do you believe a casual hip-hop fan can quote? I truly am of the opinion that if the record companies had pushed her album and believed in her the same way that her fans did and still do, that she would've been a successful solo artist and that she would never get snubbed from the list of top 5 female MC's of all time.
A true legend, I thank her for teaching women and even rappers that you've got to be true and passionate in everything you do without question if you want to be successful in life. Rest in peace Ms. Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes.