Brow Beat

TLC Return With Plan to Crowdfund Their Final Album

TLC haven’t released a new studio album since 2002’s 3D, and after the death of member Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes that same year, it seemed likely they never would. Since then, the group’s surviving members, T-Boz and Chilli, have made a slow comeback with a feature on J. Cole’s “Crooked Smile” and two new songs—as well as a VH1 biopic (for which they served as executive producers) in 2013. Now, T-Boz and Chilli have announced their fifth and “final” studio album, which they’re asking fans to crowdfund via Kickstarter.

To make the album, TLC (who once famously declared themselves “broke as broke can be”) have set a goal of raising $150,000 by Feb. 19, which they say will pay for studio time, hiring writers and producers, and “allowing them to do it on their own.” Pledges start at $5 and go as high as $7,500 or more with an assortment of rewards that include a scrapbook, concert tickets, and even a “slumber party” with both members. As for Left Eye, it’s not entirely clear yet whether her voice will appear on the new album—in an interview with Billboard, Chilli said the group is open to using unreleased recordings.

While there’s no announced release date, TLC say they’ve already started making new songs and have set September 2015 as the estimated delivery date for the digital album download. So far, it’s looking like they should have no trouble hitting their goal: As of Jan. 20, after only a little more than a day, the group has already raised $68,000.