Meet Egypt (also known as Ejypt), an American R&B/Pop all singing girl group Lisa mentored, and managed. You saw them in 'Last Days of Left Eye' singing in a circle for Honduran inmates as Lisa played the drum. Over years the group has had a number of 6 member: Katrina Gibson (aka Akila and Kat), Joy Lonon (aka Zada), Sophia Gibson (aka Isis and SoSo), T'Melle Rawlings (aka T'Nef), Smiley Joans (aka Ley Joans), and Amber Quivers. This is their story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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(Ejypt on their way to Honduras, posing in the Women's bathroom at the airport)

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The group originated in their hometown Philadelphia, PA in Elementary School. It started off with Katrina with her sister Sophia, then Joy, and then T' Melle. The girls were a local girl group who started singing Gospel music at Third Eternal Baptist Church. The Lopes Family, and The Gibson Family used to go to church together. Lisa knew Katrina and Sophia since they were kids. It wasn't until years later when they were teenagers that the girls decided to become a girl group. The girls performed at shows, even won a Coca-Cola sponsored contest in California. Lisa's uncle, Kyle Young, discovered they were doing an all girl group in 2001 and decided to manage them. He tried getting them signed to Sony/BMG, but it didn't work out. When the girls were to work with Max Gousse, Uncle Kyle ran them by his niece Lisa. She came to New York City, and heard them sing at a restaurant. That very day is when she decided to take over as their manager, and mentor them. According to T' Melle, just like TLC were to be the female version of Bell Biv DeVoe, Ejypt were to be the female Boyz II Men. She flew them to Atlanta, GA to live with her, and to work on a demo. Lisa began putting the girls in Artist Development, having them perform in various locations, getting them signed to Dreamworks Records. Lisa came up with their name during a photo shoot the group was having. Their image and Gospel harmony also reminded her of Egyptian Goddesses. Egyptian royalty was to be an image for these beautiful young black women. Lisa also came up with the nicknames Isis (Sophia), Akila (Katrina) , T'Nef (T' Melle), and Zada (Joy). Lisa's favorite song for them to sing, their go-to song, is a cover of Destiny's Child's gospel song "Thank You" from their 3rd album 'Survivor'.

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(Lisa recording "Crush on You" with Joy and Katrina who did background vocals on the song)

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(unofficial artwork)

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Lisa decided to take the girls to Honduras with her on March 30th, 2002. 'Last Days of Left Eye' was actually supposed to be a reality film to not only show how she enjoys her vacations in Honduras, and some of her holistic experiences there, but for a spiritual & self part of their Artist Development. She wanted them to be mentally, physically, and spiritually ready for the Music Industry before dropping their debut single "Crush on You", featuring herself as N.I.N.A. for their upcoming project. The song is written, and lead by T' Melle. Lisa liked the song, and thought they should record it. She decided to write a rap for it. Sophia lead the pre-chorus. The song was recorded at Lisa's home studio called UNI Studios. They were also supposed to be on a song Lisa intended on recording for her sophomore album as N.I.N.A. under Tha Row that may have not got to record. She booked them to perform for Honduran inmates, join her yoga sessions, meditation sessions, and cleansing treatments, hiking, and also to get a good feel of her experience there, site seeing with other friends, family members, and co-workers. Lisa recorded their time there, but it became more personal on Lisa's (you can also see more clips on the bonus DVD of 'Eye Legacy', a remixed album of Lisa's solo album 'Supernova').

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Unfortunately, the trip had to end early due to the car accident that killed Lisa on April 25th, 2002. Lisa was taking the girls (including her sister, fellow female rapper Phobia from Tha Row, and 3 camera men) to Sambo Creek for a farewell celebration with the Natives, take photos, and have the girls perform again before going back home to the U.S. in a 5 days. All 4 members were in the car with Lisa, and were seriously injured. All had cuts and bruises as well as (Katrina, 22) with lower back pain, (Sophia, 19) a fractured clavicle, (Joy, 20) a damaged leg, and (T'Melle, 19) who suffered a dislocated hip, almost losing one of her legs. T'Melle was forced to stay behind by her parents, and ended up not making the funeral. Her mother, Yvonne Rawlings, demanded she stayed there in the hospital for emergency surgery as her father Dwayne Rawlings flew to La Ceiba to be there by his daughter's side. Although they were injured, at Lisa's funeral, Joy, Sophia, and Katrina performed one last time for Lisa at her funeral, but without T' Melle, saying their goodbyes, singing "Thank You", a Gospel song they covered often that Lisa favored before laying her to rest. Before it was shelved, a slower version of "Crush on You" did get radio play. Before the girls played it, it was slated as the last song Lisa recorded. A fan recorded the song when it played on radio, and posted it online back in 2002 until 2017 when the CD quality finally officially released, a faster version with different mixing. You can only find the song on YouTube and SoundCloud. The girls were still together for some time later after healing more from their injuries although later dropped from Dreamworks Records. In 2003, the girls made an appearance on BET's 106 & Park for the first time, but on the first year anniversary of Lisa's passing. The girls shared their thoughts on Lisa, that Kyle was their manager again, and decided to perform "Thank You" again on TV for the last time a s a quartet. They knew Lisa's heart was always in the right place, but for medical, financial, and legal reasons, members of the group felt they had to sue Lisa's estate for negligence on Lisa's behalf during the accident. You can only look up the Rawlings v. Coleman Case online however, but the other members of the group confirm this in an interview that they sued as well. T'Melle and Lisa's estate together sued the company who made Lisa's car as they didn't make it clear to their audience at the time that their vehicles were known for rolling over faster then most SUVs. Even though legal actions have been taken, reconciliation was made, and everyone is on positive terms with each other.

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(Official Front Artwork)

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(Official Back Artwork)

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The group took it's first extremely long break, and before it could end, T' Melle officially decided to leave the group, and to work as a solo artist. It was around the making of 'Eye Legacy' in 2008, a posthumous album for Lisa by The Lopes Family. The family also released an EP that next year in 2009 called 'Forever... The EP' where Ejypt finally got an officially released song called "By The Way", an original song, their very own "thank you" that's a ballad, dedicated to Lisa this time - Joy taking the first half, Katrina taking the middle of the song, and Sophia taking it home towards the end. They also released a song called "Changes", and released it on their Myspace page that year. They also did a song with Phobia and Yung Joc called "Knockoffs" (which is currently shelved). A year later, in 2010, when it was announced that the they were finally dropping a project, a mixtape called 'The Jonres of Music', however, fans ended up seeing only 2 familiar faces on the cover: Katrina and Sophia. Joy was no longer apart of the group, and was replaced by a new face by the name of Ley Joans. The girls decided to abandon the names Lisa gave them individually, and created new names - Katrina decided to go by Kat, Sophia decided to go by SoSo, and Ley became Smiley. Hosted by DJ Ace McCloud, the mixtape is full of remixes, testing different waters, remixing The Black Eye Peas "I'mma Be", Usher's "OMG", remaking Drake's "Find Your Love" entitled "A Better Love", remaking Alicia Key's "Unthinkable (I'm Ready)" retitled "Awkward", and remaking Michael Jackson's "Human Nature" retitled "Doing Her Wrong". They also sing the Haitian National Anthem in tribute to those affected by the earthquakes in Haiti in 2010. 

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The mixtape was getting some attention. However, Smiley decided to leave the group to pursue more in a solo career like T' Melle. She simply just goes by the name of Ley Joans. She made appearances on shows and events including the "Miss Black Penn State University Pageant", Sean "P. Diddy" Combs 'Making the Band' seasons 3, and also in "Oprah Winfrey's Talent Search". She released her first solo project, an EP titled 'I Wanna Dance' in 2012. It received good reviews and she released her first music video for the song off the EP, "Made 4 This", in 2014. She dropped a new single in 2017 called "Warrior".

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Ley wasn't the only one coming hard solo, T' Melle is coming even harder, making hell of noises underground! T' Melle ended up working with Usher when started performing as a solo artist. She went on one of his tours with him as his background singer. She also started working with famous R&B songwriter Michael B. Cox on her solo music, plus working with Waka Flocka Flame, Future, T-Pain, and Tricky Stewart, lending her vocals until she decided to drop her own mixtape in 2015 called 'The Interview', hosted by DJ Scream and DJ X-Rated. She released her song "Pill" from the project and released her first music video to her song "Drop it Down". The project gained a lot of good buzz, mainly from Hip-Hop sources such ass Thisis50, Vibe Magazine, and Source Magazine, and T' Melle is still going! She dropped a track covering Rihanna's hit song "Kiss it Better", She dropped her debut single called "Crossed the Line" featuring Kevin Gates and is finishing an EP that is currently untitled, and has been dropping more music videos on her VEVO page on YouTube.

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(Katrina, Sophia, and Joy from their debut 2012 music video to their debut single, "Quarter Girls")

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Back to Ejypt, after Ley left the group back in 2011, Joy ended up re-joining the group. They released a song called "Take it or Leave it" right after. They recorded and shot their first music video to another song they decided to make their official debut single, called "Quarter Girls", and released it in 2012, ten years after the accident and after Lisa's death. After a couple of interviews as a trio, singing on radio again, Joy decided to leave the group once more, but to be a solo artist as well. No details yet on her music. Once again, fans were then introduced with a new face, but this time at time Egypt performed again at the Left Eye Music Festival. Katrina and Sophia are still holding the group down but with a new member, Amber Quivers, and went back to the name Egypt. The girls started working the scene again until Amber decided to leave the group, leaving the group as a duo between Sophia and Katrina.

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(Katrina, Sophia, and Amber.)

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(Amber, Katrina, and Sophia presenting for TLC fan, Phil Tarabola, at the 2014 Left Eye Music festival for "Supernova Loyal Fan Award" with Lisa's sister, Reigndrop Lopes)

 

Katrina and Sophia both been trying to work on more Egypt stuff while doing solo material. They also opened their own beauty shop. Both Joy and Sophia had kids. Katrina and Sophia have been seen hanging with Lisa's other girl duo, Blaque.

 

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They've been posting photos and videos together on their Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter accounts either hanging together, having fun, or singing together before and after Natina's death. There was even an Instagram page they had called BlaquEjypt, announcing that they've merged together, and was working on music together. However, currently, that idea has been shelved. The girls still work together, but on different stuff, and remain friends still. Both Brandi and Shamari even became a client of theirs for the pass few years when they need their hair done for shows. Ejypt has been working on new music , started doing photo shoots again. Their mixtape 'Jonres of Music' is still available for download on DatPiff. You can still find "Quarter Girls", "Crush on You", "Take it or Leave it", and their music on YouTube and SoundCloud.

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Instagram Pages:

Ejypt (@EjyptMusic)

Katrina (@Kat_Eyez)
Sophia (@IAmSophia1111)
Joy (@Joy_the_Singer)

T' Melle (@ItsTmelle)

Smiley (@LeyJoans)

Amber (@Amberleeq)

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Facebook:

Egypt-music

Katrina Gibson

Sophia Gibson

Joy Lonon

T' Melle Rawlings

Ley Joans