“It’s been a long, long time coming“, the opening line from ‘Way Back‘, the first single lifted from TLC‘s first album in 15 years, which was released a year ago today on June 30, 2017!
After breaking the record for the fastest Kickstarter funded pop project ever in 2015 (they raised over $430k and smashed their $150k deadline in under 48 hours), the girls were finally ready to unleash their hard work to the world, independently on their own label, 852 Musiq.
The album went on to become the #1 Independent Album on Billboard and topped the R&B Album Charts in the UK and in other parts of the world, whilst the lead single ‘Way Back’ remained in the Adult R&B singles chart for months.
We are still super stoked about this solid body of work produced by T-Boz and Chilli.
The essence of Left Eye‘s is ever present on the record, too — through a shout out on “No Introduction“, where they sing “Left Eye still here, irreplaceable position“, and an interlude featuring Left Eye talk about her wishes and aspirations.
Ever since the debut solo album by the ‘L’ of TLC, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, was denied a US release by Arista Records back in 2001, fans all over the world have been craving it’s presence in the digital era — the album, ‘Supernova‘ was only released in Japan and Europe, and still til this day has not been made available on any streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music and Google Play.
Over the years fans of the album began finding creative ways to get the album the justice that it deserved. Last year, Jordan Cooper, who runs the popular Left Eye fanpage/site The Eye is Right, began a petition to help the album achieve justice with a full release to digital platforms. The petition gained a lot of interest and it later became clear that the album was not owned by Sony as previously thought.
Things began to look brigher for ‘Supernova’ this week. Lisa’s sister, Reigndrop Lopes, joined a live chat on Instagram with Shekinah Anderson to celebrate the life of Left Eye on her Birthday — she would have turned 49 on this day (May 27). During the chat Reigndrop told fans that she had acquired the rights to the full ‘Supernova’ album!
Reigndrop is very aware that fans really want this spiritual masterpiece available on all streaming platforms, so she promised to make that happen. She said that she has the rights to do whatever she wants with it. However, she said that she didn’t just want to put it out there, she wanted to do it right and release it at the right time.
In another live chat on Instagram, this time inviting fans to join her for a joint live chat, she further confirmed details about her plans for ‘Supernova’ when she spoke to Jordan, who asked her some specific questions about the release. She will indeed release the album in it’s original form to digital platforms, which will please the fans of the original album.
In the absence of the album, fans have been making the most of the only other Left Eye album online, 2009’s ‘Eye Legacy‘, released by Mass Appeal, which remixed the majority of the tracks on ‘Supernova’. Fanpage Ultimate TLC as well as The Eye is Right used the album as a basis for a streaming party on Left Eye’s birthday this year.
Reigndrop also revealed that she is still working on a script for the upcoming Left Eye biopicwhich she will be executive producing. She will also be in charge of casting the actors who will need to fit all the criteria to fit the role of playing Lisa in the movie. Reigndrop says the biopic will go into more depth of Lisa’s childhood and upbringing to help fans know how she became the woman we all grew to know and love.
Reigndrop is also still working on a book of memoirs about her sister. She wants the book to include the insights of people that have known Lisa. The book with Hype Williams, based on Lisa’s book ‘Open‘ — the original idea to feature an exclusive photo shoot she did with him is also still in the works, which Reigndrop will be a part of.
Are you excited about ‘Supernova’ being made available to streaming platforms?
In fall of 1995, more than 60 female musicians traveled to Capitol Records in Los Angeles, where they recorded both the vocals and the visuals to the ground-breaking single, “Freedom“, on the same day. The single was the title track to the Mario Van Peebles directed movie, ‘Panther‘, based on the Black Panther Party.
Women’s publication Zora gave us a well documented account of events of how this historic masterpiece came together. The song was originally recorded by the singer Joi for her debut album, produced by Dallas Austin. It was later picked up, reconceptualized, and released as ‘Panther‘’s official theme song.
Former label executive Ed Ecksein says having a record featuring all women sent a message about the film before it even hit theaters. “The power behind the organization was women. The backbone behind the organization was women,” he says. “So we needed to do something similar on the soundtrack as we did for the BMU record (Black Men United).”
The actual day of the track’s recording required ultimate levels of coordination and an understanding of how and why to stagger artists’ arrivals and recording schedules to avoid overlaps. There were camera crews, food service, hair and makeup, but no egos in sight.
Even with stars like Queen Latifah, Vanessa Williams, MC Lyte, Mary J Blige, Aaliyah, Brownstone, Salt-N-Pepa, Patra, XScape, and En Vogue in the house, A&R Sam Sapp remembers this remarkable tidbit: “Everyone was in the same room, and there was no VIP area.”
TLC were determined to be a part of this amazing project but were unable to be there at the same time as the other artists, so they recorded their parts at a later date and were edited into the final mix.
In order to work around Left Eye‘s probation-related travel restrictions Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins says the trio recorded vocals in a local Atlanta studio and filmed the video from the conference room at LaFace Records.
“It was the most amazing thing to have my fist pumped and have on this hat that had a Black ballplayer and a ball on the front and represent,” she says. “It made you feel so proud to be Black. It was an awesome thing to be a part of.”
The record was also a game changer in that both an R&B and a rap version were featured on the soundtrack. Sapp says artists were freestyling to the instrumental while waiting to record, and they commissioned the “Dallas’ Dirty Half Dozen Mix” on the spot.
The “Freedom” single was a top charter on the ‘Panther’ soundtrack, peaking at #10 on Billboard’s R&B Singles Chart and snagging the #45 spot on the Hot 100.
While there may not be as many Black women artists today, they are still making their mark in music. For the first time in history, four Black female soloists recently occupied the Hot 100’s top two slots (Doja Cat‘s “Say So” remix with Nicki Minaj took the top spot, with Megan Thee Stallion and Beyonce‘s “Savage” remix at the second spot).
As for another Black woman collective recording in the future, “Freedom” artists are passing the torch.
“It should be another song now with the new generation of artists that would show people that we’re sticking together,” T-Boz says. “I think it’s needed again, especially with the state of the world today.”
Melanie C aka Sporty Spice of the Spice Girls took the opportunity this week to celebrate her debut solo album, 1999’s ‘Northern Star‘, with the weekly pop podcast Track By Track to discuss the album in detail, track-by-track.
The year 2000 was a special time in music. TLC were on hiatus after the success of their mega-selling ‘FanMail‘ album and the record-breaking tour to support it, while the Spice Girls were also taking a break from world domination to focus on their solo projects.
Melanie C decided to team up with Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes on her debut solo album, which led to Melanie earning her first solo number one single in the UK in the summer of 2000, an exciting time for both TLC and Spice Girls fans!
The single in question was “Never Be The Same Again“. Melanie C gave us some beautiful memories of her time working with Lisa around the time of the single being released.
Melanie proudly states that the Spice Girls were huge fans of TLC. “I couldn’t believe my luck when I had the opportunity to work with [Lisa]. And she was perfect!”, Melanie exclaims.
Lisa was the only rapper Mel C wanted on the track with her. “She was the only person I wanted on that song. I was writing with Rhett Lawrence & we got to the middle 8 & all I could hear was a Lisa-style rap”, she recalls. “He gave her a call & next thing I knew she was on the track. So that was a wonderful experience”.
Melanie states that she shot the spiritual video with Lisa in Malibu, which features a scene with Lisa and Melanie performing tai chi moves together while Lisa lays down her iconic verse, once again proving why she was the perfect choice for the track.
Following the success of the single in March 2000, Melanie invited Lisa to promote the single with her in London for a couple of performances and interviews to help keep the track at number one for a second week!
At the time of the promotional run, Lisa told Top Of The Pops: Backstage how she felt about being part of the success with Melanie. “Now that we might be number one twice in a row, I feel like I’m running a marathon and I’m almost at the finish line!”, she says excitedly.
The solo recognition also meant a lot to Lisa, as she was seeking to launch her solo career in the UK. “It is important. I’m going to be coming back over here to do a solo project of mine, so it is always good to be recognised and especially if you can make that number one slot”.
Lisa and Mel C also stopped by at BBC Radio One, where Lisa further discusses her need to have her voice heard solo. “I’ve always wanted to do a solo album. I am an emcee, and I love TLC — but I’m very limited to the amount of work that I can actually do. It’s usually a few songs, 16 bars here and there, and I like to really strut my stuff.”
“But as far as the rumors, we’re fine. We haven’t broken up. We went through a little something last year, but it’s not the first time that we’ve been through something, it’s just the first time that it was publicized”, Lisa explains.
“The issues that have existed?”, Lisa continues, “personal differences when it comes to business decisions and the direction that we move forward in. It’s one group, with three different people with three different visions, so which direction do we go in?”.
Mel C co-signs with Lisa about the struggles of being in a group. “We have earned the right to yell at each other”, Lisa jests. “You spend so much time together that you become like sisters”, Mel adds. “And no matter what’s said you still love each other. You iron out your differences and you sort it out”.
Never Be The Same Again, my 1st UK No1 & my collaboration w/ the wonderful Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes. Myself & the @spicegirls were huge @OfficialTLC fans. Couldn't believe my luck when I had the opportunity to work w/ her. And she was perfect 😍 @trackbytrackuk#TBTNorthernStar
“Never Be The Same Again” will always be special to Mel C, not just because it blessed her with her first number one, but because Lisa was a part of it with her. “This will always be a very important song to me, obviously being my first UK No. 1 and really launching the whole album to new heights, but also sadly losing Lisa was so tragic, she was so young and such a huge talent, so I feel very lucky I was able to work with her and we have this piece of music, that we worked on together, forever”.
Melanie eventually got the chance to meet the rest of TLC in 2018 at the Mighty Hoopla in London, 19 years since she first worked with Lisa. Fans can always live in hope that the two biggest girl groups in history unite one day on tour. Lisa would have loved the idea.
Leon@TLCArmy
