TLC's Chilli Reveals She Once Worried the Group Was 'Over' Thanks to This 'Innocent Mistake'

You can't talk about the '90s without TLC's CrazySexyCool.

T-Boz and Chilli — who are currently on tour celebrating the iconic 1994 LP — chat with PEOPLE about the '90s, how they honor Left Eye's legacy and the moment they thought TLC was "over."

"It's funny, because I haven't listened to it straight on in a thousand years," Chilli, 50, tells PEOPLE about the record. "And I did before rehearsals, and I was like, 'This song is jamming, hey!' I would like these songs even if I weren't in TLC. And this just really brings back a lot of memories too."

"The name CrazySexyCool means 'I'm every woman,''" she adds. "Because every woman does have a CrazySexyCool side."

Talking to PEOPLE (the TV Show!), the singers reflected on the legacy of Left Eye, who died in a car crash in 2002.

"People, I think, didn't know how overgiving and sweet she was. In the end, she kinda took toward the burning of the house," T-Boz, 51, says, referring to when she accidentally set her boyfriend's house on fire.

"And they also thought that we weren't that close and we were," adds Chilli. "Every time we'd fall out and go through things, the thought of never being in a group never entered our minds. Ever."

Chilli also recalled the moment she worried TLC was "over" after the girls did a magazine photoshoot — in full firefighter outfits! — following Left Eye's arson charges.

"It was an accident, let's be clear on that," she says. "It was horrible. And we had this shoot coming up with Vibe magazine, and so we going in and we're looking at the wardrobe. I remember I went in there, and I was like, 'I want to see police uniforms, firemen uniforms.' And I promise you, I never connected the dots. I was just thinking, 'This is dope.' I didn't even think about like, 'Are they trying to be funny because of what just happened?' And so none of that hit me yet. Clearly, it didn't hit the girls."

What turned out was a cover shoot of the girls wearing firefighter outfits with the headline: "TLC FIRES IT UP: Burning up the charts, burning down the house."

"It didn't click until the freaking cover came out. I said, 'Lord it's over!'" she says. "It was like the light came on way after the fact. It was bad because the judge [in Left Eye's case] thought we were poking fun at something so serious, but that wasn't it! It was an honest, innocent mistake."

"And that was their best-selling cover, of course," she adds.

Reflecting on the legacy of the music of the '90s, Chilli says it wasn't just the sounds of the era but the lyrical content that set it apart from music from newer music.

"The tracks were crazy, but the lyrical content was there. And that, to me, is the meat of a song," she says. "I think that after that period of time, and going into 2000s on up, it's like the lyrical content just got a little watered down."

"The songs are still jamming, and the beats are crazy, but the depth of the song, the music, the lyrics was missing," she adds. "And I think that's probably why your generation and younger than you gravitates towards [the '90s]. Because it's really saying something."

Chilli also spoke about some of her favorite songs on CrazySexyCool, such as "Kick Your Game" and "Case of the Fake People." Her ultimate favorite? "Something Wicked This Way Comes," thanks to a verse from Andre 3000.

"He is my number one favorite rapper of all time — I love him. It's his delivery, his tone, it's everything about him that I just love so much, and we were so happy to have him on there," says Chilli. "And now when I listen back, it's like... because he's hard to get to. And I'm like, 'Whew, I'm glad we had that.' I'm glad we had that special moment with Andre as a part of our legacy."

As they embark on their tour, the girls hope that the tour inspires nostalgia in every attendee — regardless of age.

"When you have gone through something and you get past it, and you can look back with a song and say, 'Wow! You grew from it,'" Chilli says. "I hope that it's moments like that. After the storm comes the sun. And so I hope that there are moments like that. And we're happy that we're going to be able to share that with our fans."

TLC is currently on the Celebration of CrazySexyCool tour with Bone Thugs N' Harmony.