10 Things That Would Be Different If Left Eye Was Alive

April 25, 2012 - 4:30 pm by VIBE

Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes. The name alone evokes memories of a woman who was funny, intellectual, had endless bars on the mic, and, unfortunately, is no longer with us. 10 years ago today, Left Eye was involved in a car crash in La Ceiba, Honduras where her car swerved off the road. Of all the passengers in the vehicle, Lisa was the only one who perished.

Making her claim to fame as the rapping persona of diamond-selling trio TLC, Lisa—along with Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas—took the 1990s by storm and became an R&B/Hip-Hop legend in her own right with hits such as "Creep," "Waterfalls," "No Scrubs," and "Unpretty" just to name a few.

When an artist with such personality and virtuosity as Left Eye possessed passes away, a world of potential and 'what-if's' go drifting away from us. We at VIBE decided to take the day to remember our fallen sister and reimagine life in the industry, and in general, had that fatal accident never occurred. Here's our list of 10 things we think would be different if Left Eye was alive today. R.I.P. Queen...—Keenan Higgins

VIBE Remembers Left Eye

The U.S. Release Of "Supernova"

Its a shame that Left Eye never released her debut solo album Supernova stateside. While it did get a release in the UK—and found some success with the single "The Block Party" on their singles charts—her label at the time, Arista Records, cancelled the U.S. release of the album for unknown reasons. Creative-wise, it's almost reminiscent of a female answer to Stankonia. Here's the video to "The Block Party":[videoembed size="full_width" alignment="center"][/videoembed]

A Few More Current TLC Albums

Oh, what we wouldn't give for another TLC album with fresh Left Eye verses! Together as a trio, they brought us music that seemed to change the world. The HIV/AIDS awareness in "Waterfalls," accepting who you are in "Unpretty," and the female empowerment—although a little male bashing, but we digress—of "No Scrubs" showed that TLC had a universal appeal that not just spoke to the urban platform, but the world as a whole. Aside from missing Lisa, we miss these ladies together. TLC - "Waterfalls"[videoembed size="full_width" alignment="center"][/videoembed]

Ladies Night, Part II

This was definitely the ultimate female hip-hop anthem. The cool thing about this video and track is that, not only did all the ladies involved come with their A game, but the female camaraderie was at an all-time high. This wasn't the platform to compete, but rather to just come together and rock the mic as a collective of dope female MCs. If Lisa was alive, it would be cool to do a Part 2 and show the girls in the game today a thing or two about coming together as opposed to breaking each other down. Angie Martinez, Lil' Kim, Left Eye, Da Brat & Missy Elliott - "Ladies Night"[videoembed size="full_width" alignment="center"][/videoembed]

An Album On Death Row Records Under The Name "N.I.N.A."

I think we all scratched our heads a little bit when we heard this news. Apparently, around the time Lisa was distancing herself from TLC, she had plans to reinvent herself as N.I.N.A., meaning New Indentity Not Applicable. The fact that Suge Knight and Death Row Records would be involved was even more of a mind-fuck. Regardless of the extreme randomness, it would have been interesting to see a perhaps darker, more rugged street side of Left Eye. Here she is on 106 and Park in 2002, officially as N.I.N.A.[videoembed size="full_width" alignment="center"][/videoembed]

More Left Eye-Endorsed Products and Campaign Ads

From the condom-over-the-left-eye early TLC day to her later Calvin Klein ads and the "Give A Little Bit" Gap ad commercials, it was clear that Lisa's larger than life persona could sell a product. It would've been great to see what other products she could have helped endorse. Left Eye For Adidas? M.A.C. Cosmetics For The "Left Eye"? The possibilities... Left Eye's "Give A Little Bit" Gap Commercial: [videoembed size="full_width" alignment="center"][/videoembed]

A More Completed Version Of "3D"

TLC's 4th, and currently last as a trio, studio album 3D was the first project released after Left Eye's death. With delays from T-Boz's ongoing sickle-cell anemia and Lisa's humanitarian work and production on her own solo music, TLC was put on the back burner for a while. However, just when things seemed to be getting back on track, tragedy struck. Due to inadequate recorded material for the 4th album from Left Eye prior to her death, they had to use unreleased verses from her solo debut Supernova and other unreleased tracks. While the album proved to be successful, the overall mood of the album, both creatively and emotionally, would have been much greater with Lisa physically on board. TLC - "Girl Talk" [videoembed size="full_width" alignment="center"][/videoembed]

More Female MCs In The Game Today

It's no secret that in today's hip-hop game, the female component that was so prevalent during the 90s and early 00s is severely lacking. Even though Nicki Minaj has proved that it isn't completely dead, and new artist like Azealia Banks and Iggy Azalea are coming on the scene, it's still not the same feeling we got when we had the choice of Missy Elliott, Queen Latifah, Lil' Kim, Foxy Brown, Eve, and of course Left Eye—and that's just to name a few female MCs! While we can't definitely predict that Left Eye would still even be making music, it's hard to imagine that she would stray away from the craft that she did so well.

A Host Of New Artists Getting Put On From Left Eye Productions

Left Eye was definitely for spreading the love and fame. When she started Left Eye Productions, she helped put on R&B girl groups like Blaque and Egypt. If given more time on this Earth, who's to say where the company could've gone. The female Diddy? She certainly had the creativity to pull off such a feat. Like we said, who's to say it couldn't be... Check Lisa's cameo in the video from Blaque's 1999 hit "808":[videoembed size="full_width" alignment="center"][/videoembed]

More Humanitatian Work With The Lisa Lopes Foundation

Much of her last days on Earth were spent outside of the U.S. doing humanitarian work in Central America. According to the official website for The Lisa Lopes Foundation, "[Left Eye] was in the process of bringing to fruition her dream of establishing a non-profit educational and medical center on some property she owned near the coastal cities of La Ceiba and Jutiapa. Today, the Lisa Lopes Foundation is poised to make Lisa’s dream a reality." Here's some of Left Eye's time in Honduras, heavily documented in the documentary Last Days Of Left Eye:[videoembed size="full_width" alignment="center"][/videoembed]

A Booming Solo Career

This seemed to be the path that Lisa was going down later in her life, shortly before passing. Even if 3D was to be the last TLC album we heard, it would've been interesting to see where Left Eye, or N.I.N.A., took her career in the years to follow. She certainly had the talent, personality, and critical acclaim to have a sustaining solo career. Let's not forget a 'little singing Bee' that started off in a R&B group and later went solo, taking over the industry by storm. The rap version of Beyonce? Maybe. Here's another solo effort from Left Eye called "I Believe In Me"[videoembed size="full_width" alignment="center"][/videoembed]

In This Story: