In January 2015, the '90s girl band TLC launched a Kickstarter to fund one more album. The group, which is known for hits like "No Scrubs" and "Waterfalls," needed to hit their goal of $150,000 before they could begin production on the album. They raised a whopping $430,255.
Since then, however, progress has been slow going. The duo was in the middle of their first arena tour since The FanMail Tour during the campaign, and therefore were extremely busy. There were also issues with scheduling.
"It took a lot more time to coordinate schedules with writers, TLC’s executive producer Ron Fair and recording sessions than anticipated," their manager, Bill Diggins, wrote in an update on Kickstarter. "I could go on in more detail to explain how TLC’s touring, schedule, writing schedule and producing schedule was delayed but the simple fact is that Tboz & Chilli were inspired to make a record that they could be proud of and they would not settle for less and sometimes you just cannot rush art."
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Because the group is so focused on making this album the perfect note to end on, they're not working with a label. This allows for them to take more creative risks, and it also means we have to follow whatever schedule works best for the artists. Luckily, 2017 is slated to be the year that new TLC music comes to our ears.
It's also the year the group will return to touring. It was announced on Wednesday that TLC will headline the I Love the 90’s – The Party Continues Tour, kicking off on July 7th. It will be their first time playing live music in over 15 years.
Fans know that this album will be particularly meaningful due to the death of TLC member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes in 2002. This is not the group's first album without her — their latest album, 3D, also came out after her death — but it is a meaningful last chapter that we're sure she'll be a part of in spirit. Crossing our fingers we get to hear it soon!