Lisa Nicole Lopes, better known by her stage name Left Eye, was an American rapper and singer. She was a member of the R&B girl group TLC, alongside Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas. Besides rapping and singing backing vocals on TLC recordings, Lopes was one of the creative forces behind the group, receiving more co-writing credits than the other members. She also designed the outfits and staging for the group and contributed to the group's image, album titles, artworks, and music videos. Through her work with TLC, Lopes won four Grammy Awards.
TLC is an American girl group whose original line-up consisted of Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes. Formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1990, the group enjoyed success during the 1990s. After the addition of Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas, they scored nine top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including four number-one singles: "Creep", "Waterfalls", "No Scrubs", and "Unpretty". The group also recorded four multi-platinum albums, including CrazySexyCool (1994), which received a diamond certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). TLC also became the first R&B group in history to receive the Million certification from the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for FanMail (1999).
Salt-N-Pepa is an American hip-hop group formed in New York City in 1985, that comprised Salt, Pepa, and DJ Spinderella. Their debut album, Hot, Cool & Vicious (1986), sold more than 1 million copies in the US, making them the first female rap act to achieve gold and platinum status by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album included the single, "Push It", which was released in 1987 as the B-side to their single "Tramp", and peaked within the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100.
En Vogue is an American vocal girl group whose original lineup consisted of singers Terry Ellis, Dawn Robinson, Cindy Herron, and Maxine Jones. Formed in Oakland, California, in 1989, En Vogue reached No. 2 on the US Hot 100 with the single "Hold On", taken from their 1990 debut album Born to Sing. The group's 1992 follow-up album Funky Divas reached the top 10 in both the US and UK, and included their second US number two hit "My Lovin' " as well as the US top 10 hits "Giving Him Something He Can Feel" and "Free Your Mind".
Kid 'n Play is an American hip-hop duo from New York City that was most popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The duo was composed of Christopher Reid ("Kid") and Christopher Martin ("Play") working alongside their DJ, Mark "DJ Wiz" Eastmond. Besides their musical careers, they are also notable for branching out into acting.
Anthony Criss, better known by his stage name Treach, is an American rapper and actor. He is perhaps best known as the lead rapper of the hip hop group Naughty by Nature.
Perri Arlette Reid, known professionally as the recording artist Pebbles, is an American singer-songwriter, businesswoman, record producer, and music executive. Reid is known for her hit songs during the late 1980s and early 1990s such as "Girlfriend" (1987), "Mercedes Boy" (1988), "Giving You the Benefit" (1990), "Love Makes Things Happen", (1990), and "Backyard" (1991). In addition to a recording career, Reid helped develop the successful contemporary R&B group TLC. She is now an Atlanta-based minister, known as "Sister Perri".
"Push It" is a song by American hip hop group Salt-N-Pepa. It was released as the B-side of the "Tramp" single in 1987. It peaked at number 19 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in early 1988 and, after initially peaking at number 41 in the UK, it re-entered the charts after the group performed the track at Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday concert, eventually peaking at number two in the UK in July 1988. The song has also been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The song is ranked number 446 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and was ranked number nine on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.
"Creep" is a song recorded by American singing group TLC for their second studio album, CrazySexyCool (1994). Dallas Austin, who tried to write the track from a "female perspective", wrote and produced it. It is based on member Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins's experience with infidelity. The lyrics portray the singers as women who cheat on their unfaithful lovers for attention. This context was controversial within the group, and strongly opposed by member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, who threatened to wear black tape over her mouth on its accompanying music video.
"Let's Talk About Sex" is a song by American hip hop trio Salt-n-Pepa, released in August 1991 as a single from their third studio album, Blacks' Magic (1990). It achieved great success in many countries, including Australia, Austria, Germany, The Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland and Zimbabwe where it was a number-one hit.
"Freedom" is a 1995 song released on Mercury Records featuring a chorus of over 60 African-American female artists and groups of note in hip-hop, pop and R&B music including En Vogue, Aaliyah, Vanessa L. Williams, Mary J. Blige, MC Lyte, SWV, TLC, and Monica. It is a cover of Joi's song of the same name from her 1994 album The Pendulum Vibe. Both versions were produced by Dallas Austin and Diamond D.
"What a Man" is a song written by Dave Crawford, and originally recorded for Stax Records' Volt imprint by Linda Lyndell, whose recording reached number 50 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1968. The song was sampled and reinterpreted as "Whatta Man" in 1993 by the trio Salt-N-Pepa with En Vogue, which became a commercial success; reaching the top ten in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 2011, German singer Lena Meyer-Landrut covered the song while retaining the original title and lyrics.
"Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg" is the debut single by American girl group TLC, from their debut album, Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip (1992). It was released by LaFace Records on November 22, 1991 (promo) and late January 1992 (retail). The song would ultimately peak at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. The single also reached the top 20 in the UK Singles Chart. The song describes the group explaining that they don't mind begging for attention from their significant others. Songwriters Dallas Austin and Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes received a nomination for the 1993 Grammy Award for Best R&B Song. The song appeared in video games Dance Central 3 and the 2022 reboot of Saints Row.
"Shoop" is the lead single released from American hip hop group Salt-N-Pepa's fourth studio album, Very Necessary (1993). It was produced by Sandra 'Pepa' Denton, Mark Sparks and group member Salt. The song features an uncredited verse by rapper Otwane "Big Twan Lov-Her" Roberts. Released in September 1993, the song became one of the group's more successful singles, reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping the Hot Rap Singles chart at number one. Two months after its release, "Shoop" was certified gold by the RIAA; it went on to sell 1.2 million copies. The success of both this single and the follow-up single "Whatta Man" propelled Very Necessary to sell over 5 million copies in the US, becoming the group's best-selling album.
"You Showed Me" is a song written by Gene Clark and Jim McGuinn of the Byrds in 1964. It was recorded by the Turtles and released as a single at the end of 1968, becoming the group's last big hit in the U.S. The song has also been covered or partially incorporated into other songs by a number of other acts over the years, including the Lightning Seeds, Salt-N-Pepa, and Lutricia McNeal.
Sandra Jacqueline Denton, better known by her stage name Pepa or Pep, is a Jamaican-American rapper and actress, best known for her work as a member of the female rap trio Salt-N-Pepa. Denton starred in The Salt-N-Pepa Show, a reality TV series focusing on reforming the group which aired on the VH1 network in 2008. Since January 2016, Denton has appeared as a supporting cast member on the music reality television show Growing Up Hip Hop which airs on We TV.
"Do You Want Me" is a song by the American R&B-hip hop group Salt-N-Pepa, released in February 1991 as the third single from their 1990 album, Blacks' Magic. It reached a peak position of No. 21 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and charted at No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart. The song also peaked at No. 9 in Portugal, No. 16 in the Netherlands and No. 19 in Australia.
Always is the second studio album by American recording artist Pebbles. It was released on September 11, 1990 by MCA Records and spawned two Top 20 hits on the U.S. Hot 100, which also hit #1 on the R&B chart: "Giving You the Benefit" and "Love Makes Things Happen", as well as the top-five R&B hit "Backyard", and the top 20 R&B hit "Always".
CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story is a 2013 American biographical television film about the R&B and hip hop musical trio TLC. It derives its title from the title of the group's second album, CrazySexyCool. The film stars Keke Palmer as Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas, Niatia "Lil Mama" Kirkland as Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and Drew Sidora as Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins. The film was directed by Charles Stone III and written by Kate Lanier. Thomas and Watkins also served as executive producers of the film.
"Shake Your Thang" is a 1988 single released by American R&B and hip-hop group Salt-N-Pepa. The single was released as the first single taken from their second studio album A Salt with a Deadly Pepa. It features the Washington, D.C.-based go-go musical band, E.U. The song samples "It's Your Thing" by The Isley Brothers and "Funky President" by James Brown.
