Let's Imagine A Better World Where Lisa Left Eye Lopes Never Died

"My Hearts At A Low/I'm So Much To Manage/I Think I've Been Damaged."

Those are the brilliant lyrics of TLC, the best selling and greatest female hip hop group of all time, not Danity Kane. You probably don't know these lyrics because their honest and heart wrenching, guitar heavy "Damaged" flopped. Rolling Stone called it the band's best song, but no one knows it because the death of Left Eye (RIP girlfriend) catastrophically ended the career of a band destined to, like Radiohead and Britney Spears only, out last the 1990's both creatively and economically. The trio always kept up with the times. They would never have been VH1 material (sorry, Salt, Pepper, and Spinderella too.)

TLC is hands down my favorite band of all time. I grew up with them. SexyCrazyCool was the soundtrack to my childhood. Unlike the Spice Girls or Destiny's Child, TLC combined discussions of feminism with raw sexual club anthems. "No Scrubs" has the groove of "My Love" and thoughts on the intellectual level of Tori Amos's "Silence All These Years." TLC represents the perfect marriage of commerce and intellectualism. Call them the Where the Wild Things Are of Dallas Austin style R&B. I never got to see them in concert (thanks, you stupid 2000 hurricane) and often imagine what would have happened if Left Eye would have lived to hear Chinese Democracy. Considering they released an album every three to four years, we would have seen two albums. I have decided to contemplate on this post what they would have sound like.

The 2005 Timbaland Album It was the year of Timbaland and why would these queens not work with him? They would definitely need an update and their more mature older woman anthems against his avant hop beats would have been what Hard Candy supposedly was: mature, dance floor ready, urban, insightful, and fun. Imagine a discussion about being a single mother set to the "buh buh dum cha" of Timbaland and Justin. Can you say lost magic? Maybe they could have saved those disastrous Miami VMAS with some out there outfit promoting safe sex.

The 2009 Blackout and Techno Influenced Album Elctro is big and you know these girls would have been all over it. Chances are Lisa would have gotten crazier and the other girls more mature. With all the hell in 2007, I would have expected some TLC drama. While they danced to urbanized french house, they probably would have metaphorically discussed their inner problems and life in their 40's. Perez Hilton would have been all over THIS!

Unfortunately, I can only dream...

R.I.P. Lisa Lopes