Left Eye Plans To Stream Delayed Album (2001)

 08.10.2001

To quote Sunshine Anderson, we've "heard it all before."

After years of talk and no delivery, nobody should be surprised that Arista has announced it will push back the in-store date for Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes' solo debut, Supernova, from summer to fall.

However, the self-proclaimed "crazy" of TLC said she'll have her music out to the people on August 16 by hook or by crook.

"I picked the 16th as the release date because something weird happened in my family," she explained. "My father died and his father was born on August 16. And January 31 was the day that he was born and his father died. So they came in and out on each other's dates, and they were both 40 when they died."

Left Eye is so adamant about the album coming out next week that she said she'll stream the album's 13 tracks on her Web site (www.eyenetics.com) starting at 12:01 a.m. on that fateful day. She's getting support from the label online; an Arista spokesperson said the tracks will also be streamed on parent company BMG's click2music.com. "

It's a very significant release date for me," Left Eye said. "It was something that has been sitting in the back of my mind for a couple of years now like, 'Wow, I wonder what that means?' There's magic in those numbers for me, because 162001 equals 10, which in numerology is symbolic of a star, and the album is called Supernova. It all ties in. It's a conceptual thing but there's a deep meaning buried in it. Everything has a double meaning."

A fair share of stars guest on the album. Look for appearances by Carl Thomas, Esthero, Blaque and Tupac Shakur.

"The track with Tupac is titled 'Untouchable,' and it speaks for itself," Left Eye said. "Tupac and everything about him is untouchable to me. I didn't record the song with him. I got a copy of the song and his lyrics were on the track. If you want to talk about whether I recorded it before or after his death, I can't answer that. It's still a mystery to me."

Left Eye said she asks about the mysteries of life, and the mysteries of Pac's life, on the track.

"I'm basically asking him to answer those questions for me," she said. "In the third verse he gives me his view from the other side. Some of the song's lyrics are so heavy. He says things like, 'You remember me legendary, I live eternally.' He produced the song. It's dynamite to me because he isn't known as a producer. It's like a double whammy because I get a song produced by Tupac — a song featuring him that actually features me. I'm featured on a Tupac song on my album."

As to why Arista has decided to push back the album's release after confirming it would be out on August 14 a month ago (see "Left Eye Delivering Solo Supernova ... Finally"), a label spokesperson said Arista wanted Left Eye to record more tracks for the album as well as lay vocals for the new TLC disc. The spokesperson added that Lopes would promote her album overseas during breaks in recording between now and October.

The first video from Supernova is the Hype Williams-directed "Block Party," which should air any day. The video depicts Left Eye dancing with children on a computer-generated neighborhood block.

All three members of TLC are in the studio, and Arista said their album should come out before the end of the year.

— Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by Curtis Waller