Description:
Supernova, the debut album from this famously combustible member of R&B group TLC isn't the out of this world experience its title suggests, though it has its stellar moments. The singer who pleaded guilty to arson on her boyfriend's home, visited rehab twice and dueted with Mel C positions herself firmly as a rapper not a singer. This is a problem because she can't really rap. Which may explain why Tupac spookily pops up on "Untouchable", a track he apparently produced. Tupac died in September 1996, which gives you some idea of how long Left Eye's solo project has been in gestation. Supernova's best cut is undoubt
Supernova, the debut album from this famously combustible member of R&B group TLC isn't the out of this world experience its title suggests, though it has its stellar moments. The singer who pleaded guilty to arson on her boyfriend's home, visited rehab twice and dueted with Mel C positions herself firmly as a rapper not a singer. This is a problem because she can't really rap. Which may explain why Tupac spookily pops up on "Untouchable", a track he apparently produced. Tupac died in September 1996, which gives you some idea of how long Left Eye's solo project has been in gestation. Supernova's best cut is undoubtedly the oriental influenced first single "Block Party" with its high-pitched Chinese chorus. Also good and very much in the P Funk for the new millennia vein of Outkast is "Jenny" and the introspective "Universal Quest" which benefits from Esthero's sharp background vocals. However tracks such as "I Believe In Me" and "A New Star" Is Born have as much depth as cardboard as Ms Lopes blurts out self-affirmation after self-affirmation. Fame and too much Oprah Winfrey have turned her into a rap version of Ronald Dahl's "me me me!" character Veruca Salt. Unlike other artists such as Missy Elliot or India.Arie, Left Eye isn't saying anything. The clichéd "Rags To Riches" gives a potted personal history (I was a drug dealer, had a poor background etc.) but Lopes could be reading from a crib sheet. Compare this to Macy Gray's "Sweet Baby", which doesn't lean on a personal CV to convince you of her artistic credibility. Sadly Supernova doesn't contain a cover of Talking Heads' "Burning Down The House". --Jake Barnes
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Manufacturer: Arista
Release date: 29 October 2001
Number of discs: 1
EAN: 0078221467322 UPC: 078221467322
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