Blaque!

In 1997, the late Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes of the girl group TLC would discover another female R&B group known as Blaque and launch their successful but short-lived career. The group's name Blaque, an acronym for " Believing in Life and Achieving a Quest for Unity", consisted of Shamari Fears (lead singer), Brand Williams (singer), and Natina Reed(rapper/songwriter). Selling an estimated 2 million albums during the peak of their carer (1997-2000), the girl group yielded two hit singles and reached platinum success with their album. Their eponymous debut album, Blaque, recorded in 1998, produced the lead hit single 808 and peaked at #8 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. After receiving a Gold certification by the RIAA, the follow-up single to 808 would be an even more successful song entitled Bring It All To Me. The single, featuring N Sync's JC Chasez, peaked at #4 on Billboard's Hot 100 and was also certified Gold. The final single of the album, I Do, experienced little success and failed to chart on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. The lack of success for their last single marked the sharp decline in their career. Although their second album, Blaque Out, was set to be released in 2001, Columbia Records dropped them from their label for reasons that were never disclosed. Many have suggested that the death of their mentor, Lisa Lopes, who was killed in a car crash in 2002, severely affected the success of the band. Upon her death, Blaque signed with Elektra Records but still found very little improvement in their sales and promotion. Their next effort came in 2003 with their third album, Torch. Although much hype was made surrounding the album, the release date was pushed back two times and was never physically released. The digital music company, iTunes, had secured a deal with Blaque to release Torch in 2008 as a digital album, but this too never came to be. Now, seven years after the album's recording, the album is set to be released digitally through Beechurst Inc. music label in 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfkF977UhRo&feature=player_detailpage