Anniversary

Announcement, Appearance, Event, History, News, Tribute

TLC Honored with an Exclusive Mural Dedication in Atlanta

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TLC were honored with an exclusive Mural dedication and art expedition on October 9, 2022 in their home city of Atlanta, GA. The event served as part of Atlanta’s 2022 ELEVATE Open Spaces Art Festival.

Good As Burgers, Can I Kick It and Press Play Entertainment were the hosts of the community block party and outdoor art mural dedication to multi-platinum, award-winning R&B recording group TLC. The event highlighted Atlanta’s music scene and art culture while bringing awareness to significant issues affecting the community.

The historical TLC mural unveiling is located in Grant Park at the GAB’S House entertainment venue, 670 Terry Street SE in Atlanta, Georgia.

This was the first public art mural dedicated to the legendary group in their hometown of Atlanta. As well as the mural unveiling event, there was also a free VIP Experience before the festivities. Creative agency CAN I KICK IT were the hosts of an interactive art and merchandise experience for VIP registrants featuring lots of TLC personal memorabilia, art pieces, merchandise and displays of other notable hip-hop artists from the Atlanta scene.

Attendees were treated to some performances by rapper Neshanycee and a special dance performance by the D4YL Kids, choreographed by the former TLC dancer Naeemah MC, who also did a phenomenal dance off performance!

BabyFaceBud presents TLC, Reigndrop and Snow with their gifts

Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas finally graced the stage after being introduced by King K of the Crown ME Empire served as the event MC host. Friends and peers of TLC took some time to pay homage to the legends including Inga S Willis, Shanti Das, Ian Burke, Ryan Cameron and Mayor of Atlanta Andre Dickens.

“It’s just crazy. I’m excited to see what this looks like,” Ian Burke told The Atlanta Voice. “New York immortalizes their heroes all the time, it’s about time that Atlanta follows suit. There are a lot of people that have influenced the nation worldwide. It’s important that our heroes are immortalized in this way.”

TLC and their closest friends and family with the mural reveal
Artist Shawn Stewart gifts his portrait to TLC

Long-time TLC fan Allon Plummer also spoke with the publication. “I’ve been a die-hard fan since I was a child, I am currently 37 years old and they were the first people I saw on VH1 and fell in love with them,” Plummer said. “This mural is another chapter in history. They have impacted everything from safe sex to how to stand up for your beliefs.”

TLC fan Allon Plummer & T-Boz

The talented BudBox creator De’Anthony aka BabyFaceBud presented a set of exclusive and individually personalized plaques to T-Boz, Chilli, and a 3rd plaque made for Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes was accepted by her sister, Reigndrop Lopes, and was gifted to Lisa’s best friend, Trena Smith and god daughter Jakia “Snow” Smith.

Talented artist Shawn Stewart presented an exclusive portrait of TLC on stage to T-Boz and Chilli, and vowed to create another portrait so that they don’t have to share the one he made. Another talented artist from Atlanta Jerell Gantt lent his talents to the event and commemorated the occasion with a unique set of TLC portraits. The resin portraits and prints are available to purchase HERE for a limited time.

T-Boz and Chilli (TLC)

The crowd cheered after a countdown to reveal the incredible TLC mural dedication, created by Dan Stone. The mural was based on the Seb Janiak futuristic photo shoot, which was used as the iconic front cover for their Grammy award-winning ‘FanMail‘ album in 1999.

Announcement, Interview, News, Television

TLC Announce Australian Tour and Talk 30th Anniversary on Today Show

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TLC are celebrating their 30th anniversary in style this year. Fresh from an overseas tour in UK & Europe earlier this year, and a sold out tour in Hawaii last week, T-Boz and Chilli are ready to return down under in sunny Australia!

Ever since their first Australian venture back in 2014, the girls have become regulars in Oz, performing sold shows both solo and as part of the RNB Fridays lineups over the years. Their last Australian tour was as recent as 2018 for RNB Vine Days.

RNB Fridays has undergone a bit of a makeover this year and has changed the name of ‘Australia’s biggest party’ to Fridayz Live! TLC will be joining the party down under this November on the 4, 5, 6, 11 and 12. Tickets went on sale on August 12.

Joining TLC on the tour will be Macklemore, Shaggy, Ashanti, Craig David, Jay Sean, Lumidee, Dru Hill and Akon amongst others. Hosted by Fatman Scoop and radio personality Abbie Chatfield, whilst Havana Brown and Yo! Mafia will be behind the DJ decks.

Speaking to the Today Show this morning, Chilli explained how much she loves seeing a new generation of younger fans enjoying their music, 30 years later. “It touches both of us in a way, it’s hard to explain, it just pulls at your heartstrings to see little one’s [enjoying TLC music]”, Chilli said. “They weren’t even born when we first came out, in fact, they weren’t even thought about! It’s amazing.”

T-Boz explained how she feels when the reality sinks in that they have been rocking TLC for 30 years. “Everytime someone says it out loud it’s sounds like a whole other lifetime, like wow, three decades”, T-Boz exclaims. “But it’s still a blessing, to still be here selling out tours, doing shows and living life the way that we are, it’s a blessing”.

One of the many highlights in their 30 year career was being the focal point of fashion during the 90’s. “When we set out to do this originally in the beginning we would say things like, ‘we’re gonna be trendsetters, people are gonna dress like us’, but to see it actually come to fruition and happen is a whole other level”, T-Boz states. “We kinda ran the 90’s with the fashion. We would have Donna Karen and people like that would have our silk pajamas [from the ‘Creep’ video] up there like, this is where fashion is going. Just hearing things like that is amazing”.

“Even like the Spice Girls and Scary Spice [Mel B]”, Chilli adds, “it’s an honor that people want to dress like you or be inspired by you”.

Fridayz Live 2022 dates are:

NOVEMBER
Friday 4 – Melbourne, Rod Laver Arena
Saturday 5 – Perth, HBF Park
Sunday 6 – Adelaide, Entertainment Centre
Friday 11 – Brisbane, Showgrounds
Saturday 12 – Sydney, Giants Stadium

For more details and ticket information head over to https://fridayz.live

Announcement, Appearance, Event, News, Tribute

Left Eye’s Family Host Silent Auction and Announce Release Date For Lisa’s ‘Supernova’ Solo Album

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Reigndrop Lopes decided to celebrate the 51st birthday of her sister Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes on May 27 with a live Silent Auction, where fans were offered the opportunity to bid on a number of one-of-a-kind Left Eye items.

Exclusive items that you have the chance to own in the auction include a stunning custom Left Eye rug, custom and bespoke Left Eye sneakers, a back pack with Lisa’s items inside, a custom Left Eye hoodie, a Supernova LED music box, glow in the dark Left Eye candle set, dinner with the Lopes family and the chance to attend the Red Carpet private screening of the new Left Eye documentary produced by the Lopes family!

Custom Left Eye hoodie
Custom Left Eye sneakers
Left Eye rug

During the event Reigndrop was joined on stage by her brother Ron Lopes and Cemetery Tim, who created the new headstone for Lisa. Reigndrop also met Marqueze Ethridge for the first time and she was delighted to be informed that he co-wrote the TLC classic, “Waterfalls“.

Reigndrop hosted the event via Facebook and Instagram simultaneously whilst she jammed to a selection of TLC’s biggest hits, and was notably unimpressed at the album version of “No Scrubs” being played without Lisa’s iconic rap verse. The Facebook live stream became problematic with the use of copyrighted music being played, so Reigndrop switched it to music from Left Eye’s ‘Supernova‘ and happily told Facebook she owns this music, so they can’t shut her live feed down for using it.

Reigndrop Lopes with Cemetery Tim and Ron Lopes

Fans were delighted to learn that the ‘Supernova‘ album was on the verge of receiving it’s full worldwide release on streaming platforms after continuous demand from the fans. As we know, Lisa’s debut solo album received a limited release in Japan and the UK and was scrapped from receiving a US release.

“We’re working to release ‘Supernova’ to streaming on the date that she originally wanted her album to be released”, Reigndrop announced. “And if you’re a real fan you already know what the date is, so I don’t have to say it”. Although she added that “plans can change”, she was adamant that,”That date meant something to Lisa, so we’re going to stick to that”.

LED Supernova music box

Of course, the date Reigndrop was referring to was August 16th, which was the original date Lisa wanted her album to be released in 2001. Lisa was drawn to this date in particular for a special reason. “My father died on August 16th and his father was born on August 16th”, Lisa explained to MTV News. “And then on January 31st, was the day that [my father] was born and [his father] died. So, they came in and out of each others dates. It’s a very significant release date”.

Reigndrop was also excited to reveal that she is producing a brand new Left Eye documentary.

Energy Never Dies… Happy Birthday Lisa!

The Silent Auction will be live until June 3, 2022. Visit www.Lefteye20th.betterworld.org to place your bids and own a piece of Left Eye history!

Announcement, Interview, News, Tribute

Left Eye Biopic In The Works and Plans to Release Lisa’s Unheard Music

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On the 20th anniversary of the passing of the legendary Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, her sister Reigndrop Lopes took some time out to speak with Essence about her memories of Lisa and forthcoming plans the Lopes family have in store to keep Lisa’s memory alive.

Reigndrop informs the publication that she is still in the process of producing a biopic based on the life of her superstar sister, but she wants to place emphasis on the positive side of Lisa, who was a fun-loving sister-friend with a heart of gold.

Although Lisa was featured in the VH1 biopic, ‘CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story‘ in 2013, Reigndrop wants to go deeper into Lisa’s character with the individual biopic. “I just want to tell the real story,” Reigndrop says. “The story of how she grew up, how she became who she was and then her journey to change from who she was as to who she wanted to be.”

Reigndrop, Lisa & Ronald Lopes

The production team behind the Lisa Lopes biopic includes Elizabeth Hubbard, an executive producer for the Grammy and Oscar-winning ‘Summer of Soul’ documentary. No release date has been set as of yet for the work-in-progress project.

As for some new Left Eye music, Reigndrop assures fans that the Lopes family will indeed release some new music for the world to hear. “We do have some unreleased music. We will release it. I’m not sure if it’s going to be with an album, but we’ll definitely get it out for sure.”

Reigndrop posted a heartfelt tribute to her sister on the 20th anniversary of her passing, where she also teased that there was more Left Eye material to come. “20 Years ago you transcended & Left me The Legacy 2 B Continued… Eye Am My Sisters Keeper! There’s More 2 come!!! Eye Hope Eye Make You Proud! ENERGY NEVER DIES…”

Fans are still eagerly waiting for the Lopes family to release Lisa’s debut solo album, ‘Supernova‘ from 2001 which still remains globally unreleased and has no digital presence on streaming platforms. Reigndrop has previously stated that she wants to release the album at the right time and revealed that the family indeed own the masters to the album. “Timing is everything, it’s going to come out when it’s supposed to come out”, she told fans last year.

So, how does Reigndrop want Lisa to be remembered? “[What] I want the world to remember most is Lisa’s spirit. She was a giver,” Reigndrop says. “She loved to help the underdog. It’s like, if people weren’t drawn to you, she would be drawn to you just because of the fact that she just always saw something in you that other people didn’t.”

Reigndrop accepted a Lifetime Achievement award on behalf of Lisa earlier this year and we will hopefully look forward to seeing more Lisa Lopes attributed honors throughout the year on the 20th anniversary since she transcended.

Read more from Reigndrop’s Essence interview here.

Shop Reigndrop’s accessories dedicated to Lisa here.

Partial proceeds will go to the Lisa Lopes Foundation, which benefits families in need.