Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes Remembered — 7 Years Later

I found this online. Apparently, this individual, calling herself soykitty, makes little dolls like this. This seems to be the only one named after a real person. Does look like her and I thought it was cute. Check out her other dolls@www.flickr.com/photos/soykitty.

Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes (May 27, 1971 — April 25, 2002).

It’s been 7 years since Ms. Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes was taken from us.  TLC and the world have never quite been the same since.  In January of this year her family in conjunction with Mass Appeal Entertainment released her first (and, hopefully, not only) posthumous solo release, Eye Legacy. 

It’s somewhat a reworking of Supernova (her first true solo release that was only released overseas in 2001) with some songs from thoses sessions and from FanMail as well that were not released. 

In anticipation of that release I interviewed her brother, Ron Lopes, in a popolio podcast.  I also dedicated a MY TOP 10 to her videos counting down to the release date of Eye Legacy on January 27, 2009.

Let’s remember Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, her exploits (both solo and with TLC), and never forget.  Here’s to the dynamic and outspoken personality, the great music left behind, and a legacy that was cut way, way too short.  LEFT EYE FOREVER!!!

Check out the popolio podcast with Ron Lopes here and
the MY TOP 10 here… intro, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, and outro.

 

MY TOP 10: Left Eye Videos — OUTRODUCTION

1971-2002

Outroduction

So, today’s the day.  Eye Legacy is out and my tribute countdown is complete.  I did a MY TOP 10: TLC Videos once on my MySpace Page, which is  a little silly because they only really have about 1o videos.  This was a little different because it was about Left Eye.

I hope the CD does well, but there’s some stiff competition from the likes of Bruce Springsteen and others.  As a fan I was happy to celebrate Lisa’s memory in the form of this MY TOP 10.  I’ve ordered my copy of Eye Legacy online, so I should be getting it in the mail in the next few days.

It’s about more than the CD and the music to me as a TLC and Left Eye fan.  It is really just nice to have another artifact to remember and celebrate her life and memory.  It does make it extra special that it is a CD, though, because a solo career seemed be her next aspiration after conquering the world as part of the world’s biggest girl group.

I hope you enjoyed the videos.  For those close to my age, I hope it was a nice trip down memory lane.  And, for those not my age or not familiar with TLC’s work , I hope you were exposed to something you hadn’t seen before and that you ended up liking it.  Everything cycles, so I’m still waiting for that TLC-like funkiness to come back to music.  I’m ready to get my groove back.

Not much more to say except for Left Eye Forever!

Sincerely,

freddie beat
popolio editor

 

MY TOP 10: Left Eye Videos — 1. Panther Soundtrack “Freedom”

1. Various Artists including Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes
“Freedom (Theme from Panther)”
From Panther:  The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Released:  1995

If you listened to my podcast interview with Ron Lopes, brother of the late, great Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, you know I asked him what his favorite all-time Left Eye rap was.  Well, he didn’t just give me one; he gave me a few.  This was one of them.  And his mention of “Freedom” tickled me in a way the others didn’t. 

Originally written and performed by Joi for her debut album, The Pendulum Vibe, someone had the genius idea to include it on this soundtrack and make it an ensemble piece.  It’s a great song and I think it still stands the test of time.  Really an anthemic song.  I know I called “No Scrubs” anthemic, but this is a truly anthemic song.  “No Scrubs” is fun, but “Freedom” is anthemic in a whole ‘nother way.  I think it speaks for itself.

I think this is a nice song to end the countdown with (though I’ll post my OUTRODUCTION tomorrow) especially in the wake of our new president’s inauguration last week and our continued celebration of MLK’s legacy. 

I wish everyone freedom.  Freedom of expression.  Freedom to love whom you want to love.  Freedom to love them how you want to love them.   Freedom to learn, explore, and grow.  And, mostly, freedom to be yourself  fearlessly, fiercely, and unabashedly without fear of judgement, rejection, or regret, which is how I think Lisa lived.

I remember I posted a poem I wrote on a TLC fansite message board once.  Lisa opined on it right away.  She had nice things to say.  I’ll never forget that.

By th way – you get the rap version and the original R&B version as a BONUS! (T-Boz and Chilli representin’, too!)

And, yes, she kilt it.

 

MY TOP 10: Left Eye Videos — 2. TLC “Waterfalls”

2. TLC “Waterfalls”
From CrazySexyCool
Released:  May 29, 1995

So, I said it had to be “No Scrubs” for Number 4, but really “Waterfalls” had to be the top TLC song of the countdown.  It is one of my favorites, but it’s so obvious that I would have chosen another, but I don’t think that would have been true to Left Eye’s memory.  This is the song the put TLC over the top and turned them from an R&B/hip-pop girl group to  a super-pop megastar girl group.

Ms. Lopes’ rap in this song is the one that she will most be remembered for.  It’s even engraved on her tombstone.  This video was one of the most expensive videos ever made and one of the few that actually visually interpreted the story/lyrics of the song.  Very cinematic, it won a ton of awards, and director F. Gary Gray went on to direct hit films such as Set It Off, The Negotiator, and The Italian Job.

I remember that each TLC album came out at a significant time in my life.  I was a freshman in high school when Ooooooohhh…On The TLC Tip was released.  CrazySexyCool marked my senior year of high school.  I was about to graduate college with my Bachelors when FanMail came out.  (3D not so much, but I don’t really count that one because Lisa had already passed.  Don’t get me wrong, I like a lot of it, but that release became a different kind of thing just because of how things happened to go down.)

 

MY TOP 10: Left Eye Videos — 3. Donell Jones “U Know What’s Up”

3. Donell Jones  featuring Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes
“U Know What’s Up”
From Where I Wanna Be
Released:  September 14, 1999

So, this came out the same year that TLC came back with FanMail and “No Scrubs” was such a huge hit.  This is Donell Jones’ biggest hit.  And I think it goes without saying that that’s due in part to the Left Eye factor.  A lot of the songs by other artists that featured her climbed to Number 1 on various charts.

I think Ms. Lopes is underrated and doesn’t get enough credit for her individual contributions to modern pop, hip hop, and R&B music.  No, she never got to establish a solo career, but if her life hadn’t been cut short she more than likely would have.  She’ll always be most known as one-third of TLC and she’ll always get props for that, but she worked with a lot of other artists and to be able to enhance another artist’s song while still allowing them their individuality and maintaining yours takes some talent.

I remember when Number 4, “No Scrubs,” came out  I was in my last year of undergrad at UT.  I lived in the Jester Center dorms.  East Side!  When the video premiered on MTV I ran back to my dorm from one of my classes just to catch it.  I was blown away by that video.

 

MY TOP 10: Left Eye Videos — 4. TLC “No Scrubs”

4. TLC “No Scrubs”
From FanMail
Released:  Spring 1999

Oh, yes!  It had to be “No Scrubs.”  When I first heard this song…Well, first off I was just so happy to have TLC back after 4 years.  I’ve always said that an artist has to come back strong with that first single off of a new project after they’ve been away for awhile.  And the promotional single, “Silly Ho,” just didn’t do it for me.  It sounded like a wannabe Missy song. 

So, I was weary of the first official single.  But this, just sounded like something else.  Today it just sounds like “No Scrubs.”  But, when I first heard it.  I knew it was TLC, but it was like I hadn’t heard them before.  Chilli hadn’t ever been in the front really.  And the harmonies were just bananas to me.  And the beat was so infectiously sweet that I…I don’t know…I was going to say got tooth decay, but that’s just corny.  It was just anthemic and the video was first class with all the extras.  And what made it extra extra special was Left Eye’s call-outs all over it, which is signature TLC, and her rap, of course. (I don’t understand why this wasn’t the version on the album from the gitty-up.  Why wouldn’t the record company want all 3 girls on the album version? It’s obviously better by far.)

I remember thinking that one reason TLC was so popular was because they had a nice balance of masculine and feminine (though all 3 got sexier and more womanly as they “grew up”).  Chilli was the most girly.  Left Eye was the most tomboyish.  And, T-Boz was right in the middle with a nice balance of both.  There was something for everyone; something for every taste.

 

MY TOP 10: Left Eye Videos — 5. Lil’ Kim “Not Tonight (Remix)”

5. Lil’ Kim  featuring Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, Angie Martinez, Da Brat, and Missy Elliott  “Not Tonight (Remix)”
From Hard Core
Released:  June 24, 1997

Now, this was the jam back in the day and it was also used for some Martin Lawrence movie soundtrack (that explains those scenes).  Obviously, it samples another great jam from even further back in the day.  Goes without saying which one.  You had a nice showing of female rappers, which didn’t happen and doesn’t happen enough.  I think we got to hear Queen Latifah sing for the first time.  Who knew she sang?  Now it’s old hat with her jazz standards and all.

I’m partial, but I always thought Left Eye had the best rap.  I guess that’s open to debate. Who’s the only one who brought the whole dance crew, though?  Now, that’s a consummate entertainer!  And she called out the house fire, too, and that, that right there was pure genius.

I remember my 18th birthday party was at my friend’s house.  I don’t always celebrate birthdays, but I wanted to mark this occasion.  My house was too small, so I asked if I could have it at his.  There was a point when we were all dancing to TLC’s “Creep” from CrazySexyCool.  We were trying to do the dance moves from the video. 

 

MY TOP 10: Left Eye Videos — 6. TLC “What About Your Friends”

6. TLC “What About Your Friends”
From Ooooooohhh…On The TLC Tip
Released:  August 28, 1992

On the third single from the debut album, Left Eye continued to show herself to be the Mad Hatter (no pun intended) of  the bunch.  Like on Number 1 the rap is the song or at least a major part of it.  Lisa’s nasally clever in-and-out-up-and-around-again raps were really a big part of the show and how TLC presented themselves to the world in the beginning.  She’s all over that first record. 

Sure they had sexy songs, but they had relationship songs, rumor songs, abuse songs, and friend songs just like this one.   It wasn’t so much that they were sexually provocative, though that helped.  It was that they weren’t like anyone else before or since and that they were being themselves and having ball doing it.  Not just being an R&B trio set them apart, too.  They had an in-house rapper and had no need for all those featured appearances everyone else was doing.

I remember I used to go over to a friend’s house in high school and we’d play-act the songs to the first album.  You know — sing along and dance as we played the tape.  In the living room and in the kitchen.  On the couches and on the floor.  Interesting tidbit, we had the same birthday 2 years apart.  Anyway, I think I would be T-Boz and she would be Chilli.  I think we shared Left Eye’s parts. 

 

MY TOP 10: Left Eye Videos — 7. Keith Sweat “How Do You Like It?”

7. Keith Sweat Featuring Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes “How Do You Like It?”
From Get Up on It
Released:  March 10, 1994

The first single from Keith Sweat’s 1994 release, this was Lisa’s first official foray into featured rapperdom.  With a successful solo effort she didn’t forget where she came from shouting out her TLC sisters with her first few words.  I like how she puts her voice all over a track with her little Left Eye-isms like honey finding its way all over the nooks and crannies of a biscuit.  You hear it here and you hear it on Number 9, Mel C’s song, too.  Let’s be real, she put it down like that on all her collabos putting her stamp all over them.

This feels like a transition point between the Ooooooohhh… and CrazySexyCool eras.  Definitely, a hot jam, Keith and Left Eye were doing their thing.  I remember reading that Left Eye was supposed to be on MC Lyte’s “Ruffneck,” which I remember coming out around the same time give or take a year or two.  Interestingly, I hear hints of “Ruffneck” on this joint.  (And I don’t mean the beginning of the video, which is, obviously, the “Ruffneck” video ending before this one begins.) 

I remember when she passed.  A co-worker called me and woke me up.  I hadn’t even gotten up yet to start getting ready for work.  My co-worker caught it on the morning news and knew I was a huge TLC fan, so she called me to see if I had heard yet.  That was a sad day and getting through work that day was hard for me.  But, let us not dwell on that.  Let’s remember the joy her talent brought us with Number 7.

 

Letter from the Editor

Monday, January 19, 2009
4:55 PM

Well, it’s the beginning of 2009 and MLK Day.  In terms of popolio and music what does that mean?

I don’t consider popolio a social, political, or news blog, but without the activists and freedom fighters (and I’m addressing them with a very broad brushstroke here) I wouldn’t be able to express myself here.  I will make inferences or social commentary when I feel it necessary, but it will be very light.  My focus is music entertainment.  If it’s relevant to popolio as I’ve stated in the past, I will address it.  We did with the tragedies involving DJ AM, Travis Barker, and Jennifer Hudson last year.  And, I’ll reiterate that, I don’t want to be a gossip blog.  There are enough of those out there.  I don’t want to regurgitate and recycle the same pieces that are seen out there over and over.

The other part of this is that I know music is powerful and I know it can cause people to be politicized and organized.  MLK’s and President Obama’s speeches are not quite music, but they work in the same way.  Words can inspire and words set to music can light fires that can burn out quickly or indefinitely.

What do I want for popolio in 2009?  I want to light a fire that burns brighter and brighter for a long time.  I want to grow it.  I want to make it bigger and better.  What does that mean?  That means more features, more content, and better content.  That means me trying to step up my game to bring you a better quality blog overall.  I want to be unique, entertaining, and quality.  Hopefully, I can achieve this in 2009.

We’ve successfully operated on the two levels that I want to continue to operate on.  Mainstream and Local.  Established and Up-and-Coming.  popolio is up-and-coming; independent; underground.  It doesn’t mean popolio can’t be established, collaborative, and mainstream, too.

This month I posted a popolio podcast interview on which I spoke with Ron Lopes, brother of the late, great Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes about her forthcoming posthumous release, Eye Legacy.  Thanks again to Mass Appeal Entertainment and Ron Lopes for participating in the interview.  I’m also in the middle of a MY TOP 10: Left Eye Videos, counting down to the release date of Eye Legacy on January 27, 2009.  So, in a certain way, it’s Left Eye Month at popolio.  I am a self-proclaimed die-hard TLC fan, so TLC and Left Eye Forever!

Co-editor, JW Richard, presented a nice MY TOP 10 Countdown of his own.  He counted down his Top Hot Tracks from 2008 on his Last.fm account.  He’s more of an audio guy whereas I think I’m more of a video guy, so he made it an audio countdown.  It was a nice change of pace from my countdowns.  We got to experience someone else’s taste and that’s always nice.

2 pop quizzes this month as usual.  First off, earlier in the month we featured the pop/club stylings of Brian Kent and coming up this week is homohop pioneer, Tim’m West’s pop quiz.  I can’t wait for that one.  Now, I love our pop quizzes.  I’d like to get some feedback from you all on them.  I think it’s one of, if not the, best feature we offer at popolio.  I’d like to hear from you all.  Maybe I’ll do a survey.  I don’t know.

I’ve actively started to get out there into the Austin music scene more this month to meet and feature some local artists.  I plan to do more of that.  Just one foray into the wild urban jungles of The Live Music Capital of the World and I was turned onto artists such as Vitera, Jeder, and The Executive Life.  I plan to go to more shows, take pictures, and post those.  I also want to hear about any upcoming shows you all are excited about.  I’ll post them. Give me at least one week out, though.  I think that gives people enough time to dig for pennies if they want to go to a certain show.

Well, here’s to a progressive, productive, and impressive 2009 for popolio.

5:40PM

Cheers,
Freddie Rodriguez aka freddie beat
popolio creator/editor