VISUAL ART BY BROTHER ANIEKAN UDOFIA
by BYPO PHOENIX
I remember growing up in DC in the 80s and 90s. I don't remember the birth of hip-hop, but I vividly remember the moment when hip-hop started to connect with my own life... TLC was part of that... they broke out during the heyday of female leadership in the hip hop scene, but took things to a whole new level. Flaunting their energetic sense of style, championing women's empowerment, and breaking all kinds of new ground, TLC hit the scene with a bang.
I'll never forget songs like WATERFALL, narrating the struggles of so many with addiction, self-medication, unprotected sex in the age of HIV, and more... its chorus echoing ancient folk wisdom traditions. I still groove out to WHAT ABOUT YOUR FRIENDS, a piece I've come back to again and again, especially during low moments when I've been deeply dissapointed, even betrayed, by people I'd always thought would be there for me...
There's so much more to say about TLC... the powerful anthem CREEP, opening up about the reality of sex outside of monogamy, not celebrating infidelity, but explaining it, and acknowledging realities that have more recently flowered in the open relationship/sex-positive currents of thought now percolating in progressive circles.
Sadly, TLC is no more, largely because of the tragic early death of Lisa "LEFT EYE" Lopez, the most traditionally MC oriented of TLC's trio of modern day vixens and radical divas.... I join with many far more recognized names in singing LEFT EYE's praises...
we lost an ANGEL among us when she passed. REST IN PEACE SISTER LISA... the LEFT EYE forever seeks the truth...
PEACE.LOVE.REVOLUTION
MAD LOVE THE GLOBAL BYPO TRIBE
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