Left Eye Signs With Suge Knight's Tha Row! (2002)

 01.03.2002

Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes' storied solo career, which has seen her debut album delayed numerous times and still not properly released in the U.S., has taken another strange turn.

The TLC rapper is now recording a second solo album for Tha Row, the new name of Suge Knight's Death Row Records, the empire that was once home to Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.

Lopes is recording the album in Los Angeles under the name N.I.N.A., an acronym for "New Identity Non Applicable," and the street name for the 9mm handgun, according to her publicist.

Supernova, Left Eye's solo debut, was released internationally last year and streamed on her Web site (www.eyenetics.com) in August (see "Left Eye Plans To Stream Delayed Album"). Arista Records chose not to release the album in the States.

A spokesperson for Tha Row said the as-yet-untitled album will be released soon.

Meanwhile, Lopes is also recording with TLC for their next album. The R&B; trio have been working with producers Dallas Austin, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and Eddie Hustle. Other possible collaborators include Dr. Dre, Missy Elliott and Raphael Saadiq. Left Eye is the first member of TLC to release a solo album, though

Chilli is reportedly recording without the group (see "Reconciled TLC Recording New Album, Solo Projects").

—Corey Moss and Tina Johnson