Songs In The Key Of Tlc

An army of 1,500 fans have blocked traffic in New York's already-jammed Times Square. The crowd, many of whom wear a painted black line under their left eye, don't seem to mind the incessant honking and dirty looks from cabdrivers. They are transfixed by the premiere of TLC's new video, "Girl Talk," playing on the outdoor JumboTron. On screen, Rozonda (Chilli) Thomas and Tionne (T-Boz) Watkins do what comes naturally to TLC--bust fluid dance moves in baggy pants and T's, sing lines like "thinking you got powers like Austin but you're more like Mini Me" and size up a parade of ultrahunky men as if they were questionable market produce. The crowd pops and sways to the beat, though it's clear to everyone there's one major element missing: TLC's tempestuous third member, Lisa (Left-Eye) Lopes. The 30-year-old singer, who wore a trademark swath of black under her left eye, died six months ago in a car crash in Honduras. TLC had recorded more than half the songs for their new album, "3D," before Lopes's death. You don't see her in the video. But you do hear her voice, and as she raps, "Remember me, Left-Eye, from TLC," some fans start to cry so hard their face paint smudges.

Lopes may be gone, but her voice remains oddly triumphant on "3D." The CD's bouncing beats and tongue-in-cheek raps seem a fitting memorial. "The whole album is a tribute to Lisa and she's not a sad girl, she's a party girl," says Watkins, 32, in her Manhattan hotel room the day before the video premiere. "She's always having fun and saying what's on her mind." Watkins and Thomas still talk about Lopes as if she's in the next room. But of course, she's not. And the stakes for the two surviving members are high. TLC is the most successful girl group of all time, with 27 million albums sold worldwide. They're also one of R&B's most influential forces, setting the standard for the '90s explosion of girl groups, all off the power of three albums. Now, TLC's remaining twosome face an uneasy future, knowing that "3D" may be their last, and most important, album.

The new CD almost never happened. After Lopes's death, Arista suggested the band put out a greatest-hits record with a few new songs, but Watkins and Thomas declined. "Greatest-hits albums are for old bands," says Watkins, pulling a fuzzy knit cap defiantly over her head. "We ain't there yet." The two went back into the studio with producers Dallas Austin, Rodney Jerkins and Timbaland to finish the album they had started with Lopes. "We wouldn't listen to her raps in the studio," says Thomas, 31. "It was kind of like being in denial, pretending like she's just out of town or something. It's like we did the album in another world." They sing about being Atlanta girls in "Dirty Dirty," joke ruthlessly about inadequate men in "Quickie," rock the dance floor in "Over Me" and offer up the ballad "Turntable" as a tribute to Lisa. Sappy goodbyes are few. In the liner notes, Watkins simply wrote, "Lisa, I hope you're proud of us."

The three girls in TLC practically grew up together. They started as an Atlanta teenage trio in 1991, put out their debut album in 1992 and went on to release their blockbuster "CrazySexyCool" in 1994. "When we released 'Waterfalls' "--one of the album's hit singles--"it was one of the first black videos ever played on VH-1," says Watkins. "Now you see everybody with their shirts off, pants sagging, holding their crotch, hollerin', 'Me and my crew. Whoo hoo hoo!' " It would be nice to say that TLC gained notoriety strictly for their amazing harmonies and cool-as-hell performances, but they also became pop's favorite soap opera.

During their 11-year reign, Lopes set fire to the million-dollar mansion of her boyfriend, NFL player Andre Rison; the group filed for bankruptcy as their second album went multiplatinum; Lopes entered rehab; TLC split with manager and mentor Perri (Pebbles) Reid; Watkins was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia; Lopes got engaged to Rison; Thomas hooked up with superstar Usher and a nasty public feud broke out among TLC over who could make the best solo album. "We thought about leaving each other, but we couldn't do it," says Watkins, who lives in Atlanta with her husband, rapper Mack 10, and their 2-year-old daughter. "It's like your own family. You can't choose the mom you have, you just accept who they are and live with them." Thomas, who lives near Watkins with her 5-year-old son, agrees: "Our ridiculous fights are countless. We need to produce and direct a movie, like the one about the Temptations. First we'll finish promoting this album, maybe do a greatest hits." She rolls her eyes. "Then we'll get on that."

In truth, TLC's future plans are hazy at best. They know for sure they won't be touring and won't even talk about what's next for TLC as a band. They will say, however, that they have become closer since Lopes's death. Back in the hotel room, they rib each other like siblings. "You so small, girl, your feet are dangling off the edge of that couch," says Watkins to Thomas. "I am not, I'm five-eight," says Thomas proudly. Watkins laughs. "Oh girl, you lie! You're like five-one, 'cause Lisa's five feet and I'm five-two. Perfect symmetry!" They still haven't dealt entirely with the fact that their youngest "sister" is gone--let alone figured out what to do beyond TLC. "We are not your average group," says Thomas. "In Destiny's Child, as long as Beyonce is the frontwoman, the whole Destiny Child sound is her voice and it doesn't matter who's replaced. We've never been like that. You can't replace T-Boz, cannot replace Chilli, cannot replace Left-Eye." And her legacy lives on in "3D."