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Announcement, Appearance, Awards, Interview, News, Tribute

GloRilla Pays Homage to TLC’s Left Eye at 2024 MTV Video Music Awards

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GloRilla had social media buzzing when she made her appearance on the red carpet at New York City’s UBS Arena on September 12 for the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards.

GloRilla decided to pay tribute to the late TLC star, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, rocking a similar hairstyle to Lisa from her appearance at the 2000 Soul Train Awards,  where she served as the host that year.

“I sat with my stylist EJ [King] and we came up with a few ideas,” GloRilla tells Vogue. “This vibe just felt right.”

Left Eye’s Former Hairstylist Speaks On Late Rapper’s Edgy Looks
Left Eye at the 2000 Soul Train Awards

GloRilla and EJ enlisted designer Bent Kahina for the custom red carpet ensemble. Sadai Banks was tapped for makeup, and Coca Michelle for nails. Hairstylist and wig maker Tokyo Stylez was tasked with recreating Lopes’s famous hairstyle—marked by multiple three-plait braids morphing into rings, and heavy bangs.

“I’m a fan of a lot of great female artists that came before me, so I wanted to pay a tribute to them,” Glorilla says, adding that the opportunity to perform at the VMAs “meant everything,” to her. “I’m truly blessed!”

GloRilla at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards

Marie Brown (formerly Davis), was TLC’s original and long-term hairstylist. She was also responsible for many of Left Eye’s most iconic hairdos, including the afro-futuristic braids she wore at the 2000 Soul Train Awards.

“The circles are the little round pieces of styrofoam”, Marie tells Essence. “Styrofoam from Michael’s. You wrap them around, and they’re just braided on and connected onto her hair. I was just always trying to do something different. I was trying to always reach a different level with her and she was just free to do it.”

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GloRilla didn’t win any of the awards in her nominated categories, but she stole the show as she rapped her hit singles “Yeah Glo!” and “TGIF”.

GloRilla, real name Gloria Woods, is very much a fan of TLC and is honored to share her appreciation for the ladies at every opportunity she can.

This isn’t the first time GloRilla has paid homage to Left Eye. She also paid tribute to Left Eye with her fashion choices at the 2023 BET Hip Hop Awards.

GloRilla struck up a close relationship with the surviving members of TLC earlier this year at the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards, where she was honored with introducing T-Boz and Chilli to the stage for a special performance.

TLC surprised the audience with a performance of their hit single, “Waterfalls,” featuring a guest appearance by Latto.

What were your thoughts on GloRilla paying homage to Left Eye. Did she pull off the look?

Appearance, Event, News, Tribute

GloRilla Pays Homage to Left Eye at the BET Hip Hop Awards 2O23

Leon@TLCArmy's avatarLeon@TLCArmy 1 Comment

TLC fans love it when the girls are given props for inspiring other artists, as their style has always been so trendsetting and fashionable. So, it was pleasant to see the talented rap superstar GloRilla paying homage to the late, great Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes!

GloRilla decided to show some love to Left Eye this week at the BET Hip Hop Awards 2O23, by taking inspiration from Left Eye’s wardrobe that she wore at the Source Hip Hop Awards 1999, designed by her late uncle, Kyle Young.

Left Eye wore a brown suede outfit with a fur skirt and a thigh-high slit. She completed her unique outfit with a pair of knee-high, square-toe boots and drop earrings. As detailed by Popsugar, Glorilla’s skirt featured a strip of fabric around the waist mirroring her top, similar to Left Eye.

The skirt also included a thigh-high slit that exposed her pointed-toe boots. Though GloRilla’s colour scheme was noticeably darker than the original, her outfit was a beautiful nod to Left Eye from every angle. GloRilla even took a moment to pose for the camera with her arms outstretched, just like Left Eye did.

Fans immediately noticed the similarities between Glo’s outfit and Left Eye’s outfit and began posting about it on social media. GloRilla’s stylist EJ King soon confirmed that the similarities were indeed correct and that he thrives on seeing artists pay homage to Left Eye and TLC, as he too is a fan.

“When Glo said that she wanted to pay homage to Left Eye, I was excited to bring it to life”, EJ said on his Instagram post. “I think it’s so important and special to give the legendary girls their flowers and respect. And with it being the 50th year of Hip Hop, what better way to do it”. He went on to thank the team that helped him make the outfit on short notice — Daniel’s Leather and Angel Brinks.

GloRilla also posted the side-by-side image of herself and Left Eye with their outfits to further confirm who she was paying homage to.

EJ further stated his feelings on the homage on our Instagram post. “I get so overjoyed when I see Left Eye homage and flowers”, he said. “Because she really was that girl!”.

Even Lil’ Mama gave the tribute her seal of approval, saying, “I see what you did there”, on GloRilla’s post. Lil’ Mama has a strong connection with Left Eye, as she played the role of Left Eye in the smash TLC biopic, ‘CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story‘, in 2013.

What are your thoughts on GloRilla paying homage to Left Eye?

Interview, News

Nicki Minaj Addresses Her Thoughts on Left Eye, Lil Kim and Female Rappers Before Her

Leon@TLCArmy's avatarLeon@TLCArmy 1 Comment

Nicki Minaj is celebrating 15 years in the music business this year, and is riding high on the Billboard charts with her record-breaking number one smash hit single, “Super Freaky Girl“.

Nicki spoke to Jada Pinkett-Smith this week for publication Interview Magazine (Oct 18). During the interview, Nicki opened up about how she is balancing motherhood with being a super force in the music industry, whilst remaining true to her artistic legacy.

She also shared her views on what she thinks about the current state of the music industry today. “I wish there was some more singing. I remember listening to Monica’s first album, for instance, and I couldn’t put it down. Or, of course, ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill‘.”

Nicki also touched on how she wishes the new era of rappers focused more on originality. “So many new artists are trying to become the person they looked up to instead of giving us a new flavor. And it’s irking the crap out of me!”, Nicki admits during the interview. “I know I could see so much talent in some of the new artists, females, males, whatever. But they lose me when I’m seeing the person who they are trying to be like or sound like more than I’m seeing who they are.”

While discussing the rappers that came before and inspired her to become a rapper herself, Nicki explains that each artist stood out and sounded much different to the next artist. “When I started falling in love with rap, I felt like everybody was their own unique thing. Whether it was the Jay-Z‘s and the DMX‘s or the Wu-Tang Clan‘s or the Nas‘s or the Pac‘s or the Biggies.”

“Even the female rappers, whether it was Eve, MC Lyte, who I’ve always loved, even Left Eye’s voice was so unique, to Salt-N-Pepa. [Lil] Kim and Foxy [Brown] never even sounded alike to me. Everyone had their own thing.”

Left Eye in the Calvin Klein Jeans campaign (1998)

Although we know Nicki has praised her inspirations in the past, it’s always a blessing to see her acknowledge Left Eye, as we know Left Eye gets heavily overlooked when it comes to the industry acknowledging legendry female rappers and respecting her work and talent.

Despite being a member of TLC, Left Eye still made sure her style and creativity stood out in the group and on features with other artists. If she was still here today, she would have loved Nicki Minaj — maybe even blessed us with a collaboration. One can dream.

Check out the full Nicki Minaj interview HERE