Wednesday, April 16, 2008

TLC "3D" Review

Last week I had the chance to listen to TLC's "3D" album. I immediately jumped at the chance to take a listen, because this album is extremely hard to find in stores these days. I am not sure if it is still on shelves. Upon listening to I was extremely surprised. It shocked me of how good an album it was. Maybe because of the lackluster solo material that group member Chilli, has been putting out ("Dumb, Dumb, Dumb", "Gliding", "Straight Jackin' Em"). The album starts out with the 3D intro. It talks about the 3 different dimensions of TLC in a brief computerized explanation. 3 personalities, 3 desires, 3 girls. Then in comes TBoz. It's nice to hear her voice again. The chorus talks about their friendship or their relationship with their fans. "I'll never let you forget me, you know I'm the best friend you've ever seen". It sounds good to hear them together again.
Then they flow into a dimension that they are known best for, MALE BASHING! "Quickie" The school lesson track, which could be directed to other up and coming female groups or others in the game (Destiny's Child, Danity Kane, Pussycat Dolls, Cherish, etc.), talks about getting with a guy who is very intriguing, but when it's time to get down, his sexual performance is not up to par. Left Eye throws in her two cents, "you need some ginseng for yo ping we can do it!" and kicks a beautiful lyrically extravagant flow. Following "Quickie" is the anything you can do, I can do better anthem, "Girl Talk". It could very well be the second chapter of Quickie". They pick up where the previous track left off. They sing about how if a guy is not doing what he's supposed to be doing in bed, he best believe that he is going to get talked about. With lyrics like, "girls talk about the booty too, the way a brotha is hanging too", they are basically saying, just like men talk about their sexual escapades, women can do it too, and when they do it, they are not gonna like it. Chilli confirms that by saying, "put in work, if you don't want the girl to talk, and you don't want your feelings hurt..".
Throughout the album they continue on in their trademark men-dissing ways through songs such as, "Hands Up" in which they decided to hit up the club and when they get their to their surprise they find their man creeping. It's a tell him off track in which they sing, "you had hoochies everywhere, all on you, it's like I almost didn't know you, tryna shake that ass playa, you don't even dance, whats up with you.." Then there is "So, So, Dumb", "Hey, Hey, Hey" and "Over Me". The tracks surely
Although the girls seem at their best when dissing the men, they do stop and take the time to show that even though they give them a hard time, they still got love for them. They show that in the Neptunes produced "In Your Arms" in which they sing, "I just wanna have a good time, in your arms tonight..". Chilli sings "let's ride tonight and forget what we've ever known.." Forget what, the quickie? The girl talk? Even when showing love to the guys, T-Boz manages to slip in what could be a kick below the groin by saying, "let's take this moment slow, cause we don't know how long we gon live.." Maybe she was hinting at him not being up to par?
This album also marks another turning point in the girls' career. Not only is it their third album, but their last album as a threesome. During the making of this album, they suffered a traumatic loss. The death of member and friend and MC of the group, Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopez. You can feel an absense of her from the album. She's probably on about 4 tracks if that many? And the tracks that she does bless with her flow, they are short and abrupt. They leave you wanting more of her, but she does them in the way that only Left-Eye could do them. Classic.
They showcase their vulnerability and sadness in tracks such as the heart-broken "Damaged" which is one of the albums highlights, and "Turntable" in which they sing about how everything could be one way at one point in time and before you know it, the tables can turn and you don't know what could happen next, in which they were probably referring to the death of their friend.
Throughout all the male-dogging and the heartbreak, they do find time to have a good time in the party track "Dirty, Dirty" in which they show love to their hometown, ATL and their friend Left-Eye in which they give her a moment of silence, and breaks it down, how she would have wanted them too.
The album is classic and timeless. It's them passing the torch to someone else, in this case maybe to Destiny's Child, who two years later took the world by storm with their "Destiny Fulfilled". They went out in style and the best way they knew how, on top!