Eye Legacy

Untitled

Eye Legacy is the first posthumous album by the late rapper Lisa Lopes.

Background

Originally set to be released October 28, 2008, the release date was pushed back to November 11, then to January 27, 2009. The album includes a bonus DVD of previously unreleased footage of Left Eye. The album booklet also contains fan messages that were collected through the Eye Legacy official MySpace page. A percentage of the proceeds from the album sales will go to the Lisa Lopes Foundation and her orphanage in Honduras. Guest appearances include: Chamillionaire, Bone Crusher, Missy Elliott, Bobby Valentino, Chilli, T-Boz, Wanya Morris, Lil Mama, Reigndrop Lopes, Free, Ryan Toby, and Claudette Ortiz. Eye Legacy sold 2,550 copies in its first week of release, just barely missing the Billboard 200, however, it debuted at 15 on the Billboard Top Rap Albums, 44 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and 30 on the Billboard Top Independent Albums. The album dropped to 18 in its second week on the Top Rap Charts, to 54 on the R&B Charts and also out of the top 25 on the Independent Charts. The following week the album dropped out of the Rap and Independent Charts altogether and down to 99 on the R&B Charts. It spent 6 weeks on the R&B album charts, 4 on The Rap albums and 1 on the Independent.

Singles

• "Crank It" was released on the internet as a promo single.
• The first official single "Let's Just Do It" features TLC and Missy Elliott. It was sent to American Radio's in November 2008. The song was released on January 13, 2009 digitally in North America.
• "Block Party" which features Lil Mama and Marcus Amandi was announced on the Official Mass Appeal Youtube as the second Single. The Single went to Number 1 on the Jamster "What's New" Ringtones Chart.

Reception

Initial critical response to Eye Legacy was average. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 48 based on 5 reviews. Entertainment Weekly called the album "...another posthumous compilation matching a much-missed talent's unused vocals (...) with tinny new beats and random guests". Spin said: "Lopes' complex flow rarely sits comfortably in the harder cuts, original guests Tupac Shakur and Esthero have vanished, and the introspection of this unconventional artist's final years too often gets obscured by the updated glitz." The Phoenix called Left Eye a "a spunky studio presence". Allmusic stated: "One of the natural reactions to a release like this — studio scraps and otherwise unfinished material reanimated with new productions and patched-in guest spots, all for the sake of a "new album" from a late artist — is, of course, horror". The Washington Post released a statement saying" Lopes was firecracker-smart, controversy-prone and given to bouts of mysticism. "Eye-Legacy" is powered by the sheer force of her personality, for better or worse. It's a glass-jawed mix of swaggery, rough-edged hip-pop, cool come-ons, non-specific spiritual allusions and go-girl affirmations that can seem one-note and brittle without the ameliorating influence of Lopes's cooler-headed group mates." Through, most critics praised the song "Block Party", with Lil Mama & Clyde McKnight, on a Allmusic track pic and The Phoenix saying: "Block Party," featuring an appearance by the always welcome Lil Mama & Clyde McKnight, works up some energy worthy of the song's title." Urban Music Scene said "This CD is raw, gritty, truthful, and dripping with a deep, southern groove. Lisa brings a style and flavor to all her songs. From the head-nodding "Spread Your Wings" to the club-bangers "Bounce" featuring Chamillionaire and Bone Crusher, and "Crank it" featuring Lisa's sister, Reigndrop, who sounds just like Lisa."

Track listing

All tracks produced by Surefire Music Group and Marcus DL, except where noted.

{{ track listing | extra_column = Producer(s)

| title1 = Spread Your Wings | note1 = featuring Free | extra1 = The Heavy Weights; Marcus DL | length1 = 3:51

| title2 = In The Life | note2 = featuring Bobby Valentino | extra2 = | length2 = 3:46

| title3 = Legendary | note3 = | extra3 = | length3 = 3:26

| title4 = Let's Just Do It | note4 = featuring TLC and Missy Elliott | extra4 = The Heavy Weights; Marcus DL | length4 = 3:37

| title5 = Block Party | note5 = featuring Lil Mama | extra6 = | length5 = 4:17

| title6 = Listen | note6 = | extra6 = Produced by Panauh Kalayeh, Danny Keys and Reigndrop Lopes | length6 = 4:20

| title7 = Bounce | note7 = featuring Chamillionaire and Bone Crusher | extra7 = | length7 = 4:14

| title8 = Let It Out | note8 = featuring Wanya Morris | extra8 = | length8 = 4:47

| title9 = Through the Pain | note9 = featuring Ryan Toby and Claudette Ortiz | extra9 = | length9 = 3:59

| title10 = Forever | note10 = | extra10 = | length10 = 4:28

| title11 = Neva Will Eye Eva | note11 = | extra11 = Andrew Lane, Rei