It's been twenty years since we lost her. Two decades since the Philly-born, Atlanta-based rapper/singer/songwriter who'd burst onto the scene as the more kinetic and unpredictable third of the chart-busting trio TLC took that tropical excursion for healing and charitable work, harrowingly documented in Lauren Lazin's Last Days Of Left Eye. That fateful trip to Honduras has become burned into pop culture's collective consciousness, and Left Eye has become one of those artists whose loss reverberates across a generation.

From the moment their smash debut Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip was released in February 1992, the trio of Left Eye, Chilli (Rozonda Thomas) and T-Boz (Tionne Watkins) became ubiquitous with the Nineties and their influence looms over Millennial and Gen X, as well as contemporary culture. Their style, personas and endless stream of hits made the girls out of Atlanta one of music's most successful acts; they would most famously become the best-selling girl group of all time on the heels of CrazySexyCool, their diamond-selling 1994 sophomore album, which spawned era-defining hits like "Waterfalls" and "Creep."

Lisa's voice may have seemed marginalized on that blockbuster album, as Left Eye's vocal presence isn't as evident as on their debut. But Left Eye was the creative catalyst for so much; from the songwriting to the album title itself. Her role as the rapper in TLC could nonetheless sometimes be stifling. But her artistry was blossoming even as the group dynamic didn't always work in her favor. By the time the ladies were back in the studio for 1999s FanMail, Lisa was looking towards her own creative outlets. And she distanced herself from her reductive "rapper in TLC" job description.

She was outspoken in a way that seemed to put her at the heart of controversy. She famously called out Dallas Austin at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards.

"I'm just gonna be honest with everybody," she said in an interview. "Dallas recorded some songs with TLC that we hadn't yet gone into record, but Dallas tried to charge us $4.2 million, so he might not be on the project. So, we been fighting with Dallas for about 10 months. We have not yet gone to the studio yet, and hey, don't get mad at me, I just have to tell it like it is... He came down but, he charged us more than Babyface!"

"I do not consider myself a rapper," Lisa said in 1998. "I rather consider myself a singer. I was modeling, dancing. I play the piano. I was sewing outfits for people. I was always involved in something. Rapping was an outlet. It was a way to step out to do other things. I write, I do screenplay writing. If you were to come to my house, you'd be amazed. I do so many things in a day, there's not a lot of time for perfection. I'm running all over the place. If I had a lot of money, I would invest in a multimedia company, and get somebody else to work on all of these ideas."

Even within TLC, such a boldly innovative group, Left Eye stood out as her own voice. Her unique style and unrestrained persona would come to be touchstones for the next wave of pop divas: everyone from Cardi B to Nicki Minaj has shouted-out the influence of Lisa Lopes. She wore her heart on her sleeve and it informed her creativity. That classic "Waterfalls" verse was the first example of who Lisa was working to become, both as a person and as an artist. In the months before her death in a car crash while vacationing in Honduras, Lisa was still recovering from label struggles involving her solo album, Supernova. That project had been a promising one for her, as she was now relishing the opportunity to push herself lyrically.

"This is the first time that I've gotten the chance to dig into myself," she said in 2001. "And really learn how to master my skills as a writer, an MC and a solo artist, in general."

Like Aaliyah, who passed away in that tragic plane crash just months before Lopes, its tempting to think of Left Eye's career in "what if?" terms—albeit in different respects: Whereas the late "Baby Girl" was just coming into her own as an actress and artist and was delivering her first mature musical statement on her eponymous 2001 album; Lisa was still on the cusp of uncharted territory as a solo artist. TLC was still together, but Left Eye was definitely prioritizing her own career in the time prior to her untimely passing. Her solo debut was released in 2001 in certain markets, but shelved in the U.S. We don't know exactly where her solo career was going to go eventually. At the time of her death, she'd regrouped and begun work on a second project, as well as TLC's fourth album.

But, it's unfair when fans and commentators reduce Aaliyah to the untapped potential of her future. That R&B icon gave the world seven years of impactful and timeless music. Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes also gave us so much; don't let her legacy be left to hypotheticals. As the fulcrum on which ...TLC Tip was centered, she became one of the more high-profile examples of a woman rapping on major hit songs in the early 1990s when only Salt-N-Pepa were charting into such mainstream radio territory. And she would become a guiding light for a new kind of forward-pushing Black female pop star entering the new millennium. One can imagine the Kelis collaborations, my goodness. But we don't have to imagine how great Lisa Lopes could have been. We have the songs, the music videos, the artistry. We saw it all. It's why we still miss her so much.