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Transcript

Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes: Hit Me Again and I'll Burn Your House Down · DISGRACELAND

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Disgraceland as a production of Double Elvis. There is a
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: well known story about Lisa Lefti Lopez from TLC, and
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: it's crazy. She burned her NFL playing boyfriend's mansion down,
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: apparently over an argument about sneakers. But there are other
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: stories about Lisa that are just as crazy. She was
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: on the run from demons. Demons she dealt with daily.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: One would push her toward the edge, one would try
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: to hold her back, and Lisa feared that, though only
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: thirty years old, death was chasing her down. These stories
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: were well known to her colleagues, and the perception was
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: that Lisa left I Lopez was well the crazy one.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: Maybe I prefer to believe that she was just badass.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: She may have been possessed, but it wasn't by demons,
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: It was by creativity, and Lisa left I Lopez and
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: her group TLC made great music. That music you heard
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: at the top of the show that wasn't great music.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: That was a preset loop from my mellotron called Afro
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: Cuban Organ Low MK one. I played you that loop
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: because I can't afford the license for I swear by
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: all for one and why would I play you that
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: specific slice of adult contemporary cheese could afford it because
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: that was the number one song in America on June ninth,
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: nineteen ninety four, and that was the day that Lisa
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: left I Lopez burned down her boyfriend's mansion, kicking off
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: a spiritual journey that would take her to the windy
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: back roads of Honduras and ultimately to her grave. On
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: this episode, Afro Cuban Organs, a case of the Crazies,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: sixty one inches of Badassory, a match in Lisa Lefti Lopez,
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: I'm Jake Brennan and this is Disgrace Loved Lisa Lefty
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: Lopez came from a long line of artists and musicians.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: From a young age, her natural talent was evident. She sang, wrote, drew, danced.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: Her dad played piano, clarinet, and harmonica. Basically he could
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: play anything he got his hands on. But his hands
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: were also part of the problem. Lisa loved her, but
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: domestic abuse was always in the mix. Maybe it had
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: something to do with his fiery creative nature. Maybe it
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: was due to his stint in the military. Maybe, but
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: most likely it was his drinking. Lisa's dad was super
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: strict about everything except drinking. In fact, from the time
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: Lisa was a preteen, they bonded over booze. Daddy daughter
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: days would just as well be a trip to the
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: movies as they would be a drinking competition in the backyard.
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: Look at little Lisa get after that beer. For some musicians,
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: drinking and creativity go hand in hand, often the one
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: begets the other. For Lisa, her creativity and her drinking
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: were at odds. From the jub Lisa would joke that
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: when she got too drunk, all of her behavior could
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: be blamed on her alter ego, Nicki. But despite Nicky's
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: presence causing plenty of trouble during Lisa's school days, Lisa
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: this is creativity won the day. She acted in school productions,
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: sometimes as a star, sometimes as a backup dancer. She
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: modeled and used her gifts as an illustrator to design
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: her own outfits. Her brain was filled with a million
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: different creative endeavors, each as compelling to her as the next.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: She wrote poetry, and of course rhymes. Rhymes were the
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: ticket to the future. It was nineteen ninety hip hop
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: was exploding, and for a young Lisa Lopez, potentially transformative.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: Just up the road in Atlanta, the South spurgeoning hip
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: hop scene was making waves. Two ambitious local movers and shakers,
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: Antonio La Reid and Kenneth's Babyface Edmunds, were busy promoting
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: and producing a well spring of homegrown talent. Artists like
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: outcasts Tony Braxton and Usher were about to bring the
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: Dirty South to Middle America. So in nineteen nine, nineteen
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: year old Lisa Lopez hit Atlanta with seven hundred and
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: fifty dollars in her pocket. When you're nineteen years old
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: and possessed by creativity, the universe has a way of
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: making it all just kind of happen. It delicately pushes
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: and pulls and presents you with opportunities. If you're smart,
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: you listen to what the universe has to say. Lisa
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: Lopez was no dummy, so when she finally connected with
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: Tioni Watkins aka t Bas and Rosonda Jones aka Chili,
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: she knew that as a musical trifecta, they'd be unstoppable.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: So TLC was born and there was no time to waste. Yeah.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: T Bos took her stage name to show she was
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: a boss, but it was left eye with a nickname
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: co opted from an offhand pickup line fed to her
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: by some dude who was calling the creative shots. T
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: BOS had the voice, sultry, smooth, instantly recognizable. Chili was
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: the dancer with it seemed new moves every damn day
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: of the week. So that left Lisa. She was the
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: wild card. She'd play the crazy one if the shoe fit.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: It didn't matter. She knew she'd stand out in a
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: trio of outstanding talent and style, regardless of whatever role
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: she had to play to sell an image and ultimately records,
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: and the shoe did fit. With Nikki's presence, Crazy was
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: something Lisa was well acquainted with, but TLC was much
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: more than just talent attitude in style. It was the
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: nineties and TLC was very much of the moment. They
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: immediately tapped into the social consciousness of the decade, promoting
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: safe sex with the style of the MTV generation. Equal
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: parts en Vogue, Salt and Pepper, and some sugar high
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: cartoon that jumped off the back of your little sister's
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: cereal box, TLC were something completely new. Their first out,
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: Ooh on the TLC Tip, was released in nineteen ninety two.
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: The video, Ain't too proud to bey Left Eye with
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: those massive sunglasses, the enormous green neon hat, undeniable energy, Jesus,
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: who the hell was TLC? You'd never seen anything like
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: them before. You just knew the song was going to
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: be a hit. And a little rapper with the dirty
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: mouth and the condom over her eye, she was fucking
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: crazy ooh on. The TLC tip would eventually sell six
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: million records, not a bad opening statement for the group
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: of three young female artists from Atlanta's burgeoning hip hop scene.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: Left Eye wrapped and sang and had her hands all
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: over the album, art and video concepts. She designed the
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: stage sets, dressed the band, and it was in large
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: part responsible for the group's image, an image that would
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: help push the group over the top and into American
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: living rooms via MTV and late night television appearances. At
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: a time when mainstream hip hop fashion was becoming predictable,
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: gold chains, red, black, and green African flag color schemes
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: matching stage outfits, Lisa Lopez added bombastic colors, originality, and
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: social consciousness to her look. One day, while getting ready,
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: she took note of the condom in the safety pin
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: on her dresser. HIV was on the rise, a scary
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: time to be a sexually active young adult. Not talking
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: about it wasn't doing anyone any goods. So why accept
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: the fact that carrying a condom for a young woman
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: was anything but responsible? Why rely on a guide to
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: protect you when you could do it yourself? And why
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: hide the fact? Rather than throwing the condom and the
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: safety pin in her purse before heading out, she pinned
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: them to her pants, and that simple couldn't give a shit.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: Subversive fashion statement by one of America's rising young stars
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: went a long way and making it okay to talk
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: about safe sex publicly. It was an answer to Salt
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: and Peppa's Let's talk about Sex single from two years earlier.
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: A chorus of young, empowered female musical voices was helping
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: shape the national conversation around HIV and Lisa Lefti. Lopez
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: was adding her voice and making the conversation fun. At
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: least that's how some took it. Others just saw it
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: as some crazy famous chick with condoms pin to her clothes, which,
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: given Lisa's behavior at the time, wasn't so hard to believe.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: As her success increased, so did her drinking, Nikki was
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: bum rushing the show, and Lisa wasn't afraid to cast
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: blame after whatever crazy behavior would land her in trouble.
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: Lisa would claim that ain't me, that's Nicky, my evil
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: twin who came from within, whom I blame for all
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: of my sins. Getting up on the bar at the club, dancing,
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: mugging for the camera with a condom over her eye,
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: being a relentless flirt when it suited her. Sure, to some,
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: I guess that behavior can be categorized as crazy. To me,
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: it's just a pop star being a pop star. I
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: bet Lisa's crazy rep had less to do with condoms
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: as a fashion statement and more to do with her
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: outspoken criticism of her music industry starmakers. She called out
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: her producer Dallas Austen for overcharging TLC on production, and
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: on the night TLC took home six Grammys. Six Grammys
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: from the press podium. After the show, Lisa claimed that
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: the group was broke and insinuated that it was due
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: to her greedy record label in producers. Not exactly the
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: message the music industry wants to hear. After it, coroinates
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: a young group of stars Lisa's outspokenness an occasional drunken
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: visit from Nicki were only part of the problem. Lisa's
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: new boyfriend, Atlanta Falcon's wide receiver, Andrea Risen, wasn't doing
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: her any favors. Lisa was crazy for Andrea, and Andrea
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: was crazy for Lisa. He liked the idea of having
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: a famous girlfriend, so the two quickly moved in together.
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: But despite her desire for a stable, monogamous relationship, Andrea
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: could not be tied down to one woman. He was unfaithful, jealous, possessive,
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: short tempered, violent, and went not on the football field,
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: almost always drunk and belligerent. One night outside in Atlanta nightclub,
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: Lisa refused to pick up whatever bullshit Andrea was putting down,
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: and the argument became physical, escalating to the point of
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: shots being fired off by Andrea in an effort to
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: gain control of the situation and his girlfriend. Cops were
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: on the scene quickly. Intentions diffused, but Lisa unwisely refused
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: to press charges. She loved the big thug. Number eighty
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: was a handful, but she'd break him. She had so
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: much faith in Andrea that she had his digits tattooed
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: on her left bicep. The lyrics for TLC's smash single
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: Creep seemed to have spun out of Lisa and Andrea's tumultuous,
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: unfaithful relationship. The message was clear, cheat on me and
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: I'll give it right back. But Lisa hated the song Mainly,
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: she hated the sentiment. She believed in fidelity to her core.
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: Despite the outrageous clothes, fiery attitude, and over the top behavior,
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: Lisa left Di Lopez from TLC was a one man
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: woman crazy. We'll be right back after this word word word.
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: Everybody thought they knew Lisa Lopez, but most people didn't.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: They knew Nicki. Nicki was who'd come around after the
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: drinks started flowing. Nicki was who'd bring the party to
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: the next level. Hell, Nicki was a party under herself
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: and she took zero shit from anyone, kind of like
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: a scrappy little pitbull. She was cute but had a
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: lot of biting her. You'd be wise to watch what
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: you said to her. Lisa, on the other hand, hung
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: back quiet for the most part, head in the clouds,
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: wondering about this, ready to get into that. She had
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: poems dance moves outfits, she was designing beats on the
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: brain movies. She was going to star in one day
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: TV show, as she planned on hosting a documentary in Hondura,
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: as she wanted to shoot together. Nicki and Lisa were unstoppable.
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: One was filled with careless electric feel and magnetism and
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: the other with boundless creativity. But they hated each other.
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: So that's where Nina came in. Nina would come around
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: when Nicki was so drunk she'd be fucking up Lisa's plans.
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: Nina had the thankless job of being the referee. She
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: even had one of those black and white striped referee
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: Jersey said the Zebras who ran around the field with
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: Andrea war Nicki hated Nina and Lisa could take her
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: a leaver. Lisa knew her creativity would overpower Nicki's drunken
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: bullshit one day or another. Then Nicki wouldn't be showing
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: up at any more parties. It was Nicki gone, It'd
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: just be Lisa and Andrea alone at last, and that's
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: what happened. Lisa got it together, put all of her
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: shit in one bag, so to speak, and moved into
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: Andrea's big ass house over in Alpharetta. Cut back on
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: the drinking, not entirely, but just enough to keep Nikki
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: at bay. She thought that mellowing out and moving in
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: with Andrea would bring calm to the hectic life that
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: comes with being a major pop artist dating in an
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: NFL star. But Andrea Risin's demons ran deep and best
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: she tried, Lisa was no match for Andrea's jealous, narcissistic ways.
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: The man could not keep his dick in his pants
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: out all night, every night, full of shit all the time.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: After catching him in bed in the guest room with
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: that slut from Velvet or the Cheetah or wherever Andrea
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: happened to be partying that night, Lisa knew she'd taken
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: this as far as she could on her own. There
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: was no way to break this dude, and she loved him,
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: so breaking him was the only option. But Lisa didn't
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: give up easy, So the decision was made. She needed Nicki.
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: Nicki was a crazy, drunk fool, but that type of
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: crazy issued respect for men like Andrea. So on the
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: night of June ninth, nineteen ninety four, Lisa decided that
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: the party was on. She got dressed up and headed downtown.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: If Andrea was going to go out all night every
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: night and openly cheat on her, then Lisa left Eye
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: Lopez of TLC was going to go out and get hers.
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: Show Andrea what exactly it was that he was missing.
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: Let him experience what it's like to wait up all
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: night for someone to come home, wondering where they're at,
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: who they're with, what they're doing with your mind. Darting
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: down a dozen dirty roads, each dirtier than the last,
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: each presenting potholes to make the pit and your stomach
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: grow wider, each driving Nikki a little closer to the edge. Yeah, fuck, Andrea,
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: stay out all night, come home wearing that dress that
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: drives him wild, the short one with the slit that
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: runs high up the side, and show him exactly what
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: he's been missing. Five am. She figured that was late enough.
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: Even if Andrea went on himself, he'd be home by
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: then and with the ample time to stew over where
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: she was. So when Lisa pulled in Andre's driveway just
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: after five in the morning and realized Andre wasn't even
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: home yet himself, Nicki went through the fucking roof. Uh
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: oh that prick and just as I thought, hit her lips,
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: Andrea's bends pulled in the driveway behind her. Oh boy,
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: Andre get out of the car, saw what Lisa was
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: wearing and that she herself was just getting home and
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: freaked the fuck out. Who did this woman think she
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: was dressing like that and staying out all night? Uh? Huh?
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: Lisa smacked Andrea in the face. Fuck this guy, who
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: do you think he was? From there, the fight moved
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: into the house, both of them drunk and screaming nonsense
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: at each other at the top of their lungs, taking
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: turns throwing random shit at each other until it came
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: to blows. Andrea wasn't a small man either. Lisa was
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: a very small woman. The blow to the face came
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: and went. Lisa didn't know when or how Nicki was
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: in control now. Nina was nowhere to be found, typical.
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: Once the fight died down, Lisa went into the bathroom
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: to clean up. She looked in the mirror and didn't
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: recognize the face looking back at her badly bruised, and
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: she became enraged. You know what you gotta do, right,
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: Nicky pushed the issue, killed the prick. Lisa stormed out,
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: of the bathroom intent and didn't just that, but Nina
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: intervened to get control of the situation. Lisa took a beat,
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: retreated to the walk in closet off in her bedroom
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: to get some headspace and calm down. That's when she
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: saw the shoes, hundreds of them, brand new, sparkling white
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: tennis shoes, all of them sized twelve in men's. That
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: selfish prick all men's, NICKI wanted to know where Lisa's
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: shoes were. Oh yeah, that asshole didn't buy you any
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: He bought himself a new identical pair for every goddamn
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: day of the year. But he didn't buy you jack shit.
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: Shut up, Nicky, fuck you, Nna. Lisa grabbed the shoes
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: and had back into the bathroom. She threw them in
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: the tub, hit the closet and grabbed a lighter fluid
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: and some matches. Back to the bathroom, past the stranger
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: in the mirror, douse the shoes of the lighter fluid,
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: and then lit a match. The fire went up quick,
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: like real quick, it immediately started spreading. How Lisa had
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: no idea. At first, she was frozen in fear. Then
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: she moved fast and the next thing she knew she
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: was watching her boyfriend's house burn down on the six
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: o'clock morning news, just like that. She didn't mean to
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: do it, really, but fuck them, he deserved it. Crazy.
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: The news covers the next day was ridiculous, almost entirely
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: one sided against Lisa. Sure, she burned her boyfriend's mansion down,
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: but it was because he beat the piss out of her.
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: And let's not forget the dude was a professional football player.
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: The guy who openly cheated on her, controlled her, abused her.
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: The guy whose fist imprint could practically still be seen
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: on the massive bruise on Lisa's face and her mugshot
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: from that day. That guy was the victim, Yes, a mugshot.
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: Lisa had turned herself in and eventually pleaded guilty and
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: was sentenced to five months probation and locked up in
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: a halfway house for a month. Andre Risen played football,
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: and I guess kept banging strippers on his nights off.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Lisa voluntarily went to rehab and with a clear head,
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: wrote the smash TLC hit Waterfalls, which was included on
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: the album Crazy Sexy Cool, released later in the fall
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: of nineteen ninety four. The song helped propel the album
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: to twenty three million in record sales. My God, what
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: a hit. But the success wouldn't last. Lisa eventually fell
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: out with Tea Baws and Chili. The fire, the rehab,
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: and the elevated success achieved largely through Lisa's writing of
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: Waterfalls changed things for the young star. She now knew
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: what she alone was capable of with a clear head
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: anyway creatively, Waterfalls made her, in her mind, at least
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: a proven commodity, so betting on herself was a safe bet.
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: The only bet relying on the influence of others was
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: only fucking up Lisa's plans. She'd come to realize that
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: Chile and Tea Baws were proxies for Nicky and Nina,
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: and Lisa after rehab, was hell bent on not being
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: held back by anyone. No more TLC, no more Nicki,
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: no more Nina. Lisa Lopez had arrived. She wanted it
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: her way or nothing at all. Time to move fast.
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: Lisa went on to sign with Suge Knight's Death Row
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: Records and began talks with David Bowie of all people,
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: about a collaboration. Now that's crazy, before heading into the
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: studio to complete her next album. Lisa headed to Honduras
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: for a retreat. She had this clear headed vibe on lock,
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: but the trip wasn't going as planned. Lisa started picking
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: up bad vibes, having premonitions that an evil spirit was
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: haunting her, that death was on the creep. One night,
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: her and her assistant hopped in their car to go
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: for a ride. The heavy, humid Honduran air was stifling
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: and a drive would do them good, or so they thought.
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: Once in the car, the bad vibes started up again.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: Immediately as they zipped down the windy road from their
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: village past the straw huts, they passed a dead horse
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: on the side of the road. In Unison, A flock
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: of birds up above let out a screeching death rattle
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: as it moved from one tree to another, and then
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: a blunt thud against their moving car. They immediately pulled
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: over on the road. At their feet in front of
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: their suv, a critically injured ten year old boy. Quickly
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: they pulled him into the car and raced off to
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: the nearest hospital, Lisa holding him the whole way, his
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: blood sticking to her sweaty skin. In the sweltering Central
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: American night Air. The boy died at the hospital. Lisa
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: paid his medical and eventual funeral bills, and later compensated
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: the family for their loss. The guilt was immense. Lisa
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: couldn't shake the feeling that the accident was supposed to
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: take her life, not the boys. She was convinced that
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: an evil spirit was following her. A few weeks after
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: the accident, on April twenty fifth, two thousand and two,
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: Lisa Lopez changed out of the outfit she was wearing
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: that day, was all white. She then, for unknown reasons,
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: chosen outfit of all black. Gut dressed, and without a
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: destination in mind, decided to ride was needed to get
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: some headspace. Still racked with guilt, Lisa jumped into her
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: RESUV and took off out of the village. She zipped
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: by those huts again and passed the dead horse, now
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: just a loosely assembled pile of bones being picked over
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: by a few vultures. Vultures death more signs. Lisa sped away,
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: trying to outrun her demons. She was distracted with driving
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: way too fast, her head in the clouds, wondering about this,
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: ready to get into that the guilt was crippling, an
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: aching pit in her stomach, part of her thoughts she'd
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: never recovered. How could she ride or perform again with
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: this feeling rolling around in her gut, with death chasing
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: her down? She accelerated. The breeze felt good on her skin,
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: and then her SUV's rear end seemed to get out
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: ahead of itself. Lisa lost control. She swerved, pulled the
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: wheel to the left, but overcompensated, then to the right.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: At the speed she was going, there was no recovery.
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: The suv flew violently off the side of the road,
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: into the air, and then down into the ditch. The
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: vehicle was totaled. Lisa Lopez died on the scene almost immediately,
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: at the age of thirty. With a clear head and
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: a wide open future creeping around the corner. Lisa left
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: Di Lopes, had left Crazy behind. When she shed herself
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: of Nikki and Nina. She was about to move on
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: to her second act creatively. Lisa had gotten her way,
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: and now, in a flash, after speeding away from her
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: demons in a fast moving suv, it was over. There
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: was nothing. The last two lines of the chorus from
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: TLC's Waterfalls, I know that You're gonna have it your
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: way for nothing at all. But I think you're moving
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: too fast crazy. I'm Jake Brennan, and this is Disgraceland.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is produced in
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: found on the show notes page at disgracelamdpod dot com.
• 26:43
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• 26:46
  Speaker 1: you for supporting the show. We really appreciate it. And
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• 26:51
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• 27:00
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• 27:13
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• 27:26
  Speaker 1: then man