Attitude Magazine (2001)

Attitude Magazine – Vol. 1 No. 90

Lisa ‘Lefteye’ Lopes has temporarily fled her TLC home and broken loose with her debut solo joint, Supernova. And it’s going to be, she confidently tells Paul Flynn.

In a reprisal of the double or quits law of equilibrium living, we arrive for the occasion of meeting one triple A-list, Grammy flouting American dream machine and end up with another one chucked into the bargain. Give or take the Grammy situation. So Lisa Lopes (the bunches of a mentally deranged prom queen, the eyes of a lamb, the waistline of a 3 year old) is being shot in this studio, right, and who should be next door but irresistible “street” magician David Blaine (the eyes of a braying colt, the sexual presence of a Titan.) The interview must wait. The two are bonding. Phone numbers are being swapped and you’re thinking ‘frame that tableau, honey, it works’. There is chemistry.

The ‘Eye is in London to promote her debut solo platter, Supernova, and its breakout jam, the clearly bonkers, in a Daphne-and-Celeste-does-Get-UR-Freak_on style, The Block Party (head straight for the white hot Dallas Austin re-rub). Tionne (T-Boz) and Chilli, her fledgling TLCivilians, are ‘resting’. And really we must press on. There is the innocent arson of her husband’s house, there is Pebbles, the manageress that bankrupted Atlanta’s favorite babes and there is a multimillion other things we need to know about the woman who famously does no press in Britain whatsoever. Until now. Oh joy! And she doesn’t simper on in an ‘I love everything, me’ Beyonce-esque whimper. She doesn’t mind the fact that people think she’s a crazed old harridan. In fact, she quite likes it. And how cool is that these days, eh?

Do you think Left Eye and Lisa Lopes are two different people?

Definitely. Lisa Lopes is a very quiet, homely, motherly. She’s not tough at all. She wants to help everyone, she wants to feed everybody. Left Eye… let’s see.. is very edgy. She’s dramatic. A lot of it has to do with the stage. Everything that makes Lisa up is also a part of Left Eye. It’s just much more dramatic. My appearance can dictate the way I’m feeling. Left Eye is the one who wears the outfits, the big hair, the make up. The attitude automatically comes with it. It’s show time.

When were solo projects first mentioned?

At the birth of TLC. Seriously, right from the start.

The album’s out there.

It is kind of different. Hip hop artists don’t think that it’s hip hop enough, TLC fans don’t think it’s TLC enough. That makes me feel good because it’s in a category of its own. No one can figure out what it is.

Were TLC better than Destiny’s because you had a rapper?

Let me tell you a story. When I was auditioning, I was 19. I met a singer in Philly and he had a chance to listen to me rap. They weren’t looking for a rapper at the time. They liked my energy, they liked my look, they liked the way I flowed. They thought it might be a pretty neat idea to put a rapper in a girl group. It hadn’t happened before. That situation didn’t work out for me. But instead of going back to Philadelphia, I asked around. It just so happened that somebody was auditioning the very next day. They weren’t looking for a rapper either. But I rapped and danced. I did splits on the floor and twirled around. I looked young and innocent, had loads of energy. And there I was again, this rapper in a singing group.

And this was TLC?

Yes. It was me, Tionne and Crystal. Crystal was the one who held the auditions, Tionne didn’t actually show up. We drove passed some girl’s house and they made me stay in the car because I was the new girl. They went inside and came out and said “Yeah she’ll fit, she sounds good but she gets sick a lot.” And that was T-Boz. We met Pebbles shortly after that, she was having a big problem with Crystal. She replaced her with Rozonda who’s now Chilli, because she had to adapt the C. The rest is history.

How do you feel about Pebbles now?

Let’s talk then. In my mind Pebbles was larger than life. I was in awe when we sat at the dinner table for the first time and saw her. She had a glow. A bright light around her body. It was inspiring. Stuff like the Pebbles situation did not come as a surprise to me, though. It affected Chilli a lot but we always knew we were going to be superstars. I was probably the main one. Pebbles didn’t even give us a record deal, she just signed us to her management company. That’s all. I could already see us at the Grammy’s.

When was the last time you listened to the first TLC record?

When we started recording my solo project. We listened to all three records in order. I’m not that sort of person that keeps a collection of all my material. I might have 4 or 5 magazines in a chest but if I wanted to listen to an old TLC album I’d have to go and buy it.

Tell me about the old block parties.

Oh, wow. I didn’t get a chance to go to many of them at all because my father was pretty strict. But then there were parties on my block and I had a wonderful time. Everybody brought their barbecues out, a lot of people baked sour breads, and sold them off. Girls came around and played jump rope, the guys came around and hooked up the speakers and people were rapping and break dancing. I never really got to go party until I joined TLC, though.

Wasn’t there talk of you doing a triple album?

I really wanted to do one. I wanted to do a challenge between myself and the other two group members. They didn’t take me up on the challenge.

Do you think they were scared?

Probably. This is the thing about Tionne and Chilli. They’re not used to dealing with bad press. I’m the one who got in trouble with Andre and had all these bigger issues. Then there were a lot of stories about me. I didn’t like the way I was portrayed in the press. I was abused and it was a little twisted that they made out like I was crazy. Like I decided to burn Andre’s house down for no reason! Once that happened I learned that even though I didn’t like the way I was being portrayed, it gave me another sort of popularity. More people focused on TLC and we sold more records. That’s when I decided any fuel I could add to make the story great was cool.

Does the way you’ve been portrayed hurt at all?

Yes. Every once in a while it hurts.

How are you feeling now?

I feel positive, I feel healthy. I don’t drink anymore.

Were you drinking a lot?

An awful lot. Since I was 15 until I was 27. My lowest point was probably when me and Andre were in that situation when my house burnt down but that was more an emotional low point mixed with the drinking.

What was your poison?

That particular night I was drinking Mad Dog and a little bit of beer. I started off on beer, then went on to Long Island Iced Teas, then Gin N’ Juice. It just progressed and got stronger and stronger. And then I started to smoke a lot of marijuana.

How big will the album be?

My album? About 20 million at the very least. It will be huge.

What are the plans for TLC afterwards?

TLC are going to go into the studio and work on a fourth LP, which we’ve already started talking about it and have come up with a really cool concept. That I’m not telling you. We hardly see each other, that’s what happens when you get into an argument with your girlfriends and then you don’t want to speak to them. A month later you are so happy to see them and you forget everything. That’s how we feel.

Are things good with Andre now?

Everything is good. We’re having a good time now.

Do you want kids?

I want tons. (Laughs)  I want to tons of kids. Life is special and I just think that I will have special kids.