This Philadelphia native that moved to Stone Mountain when she was 17 was the "rapper" for the Atlanta-based musical group TLC (for "T-Bos", "Left Eye" and "Chilli," the nicknames of the girls in the group).

She made headlines across the nation in 1994 when she was arrested for burning down then boyfriend (and Atlanta Falcons wide receiver) Andre Rison's home in an upscale North Fulton housing complex. Lopes was considered volatile, and had serious problems with the group before the recording of their final album, FanMail, including openly telling them in Vibe Magazine that "I cannot stand 100 per cent behind this TLC project...". Six months later Lopes was urging them in Entertainment Weekly to record separate solo albums and release them as a boxed set. At this time Lopes called her co-members "Player" and "Hater." She also referred to herself as "Diana Ross and not a Supreme."

Driving in Honduras while on vacation, Lopes was passing another vehicle in a late-model SUV when she veered to avoid an oncoming car. The SUV spun out of control, flipping multiple times. Lopes was the only fatality of the seven people in the car. Honduran police reported that the SUV she was driving had earlier been involved in a hit and run accident where a child had been killed.