As the deadline for their Kickstarter album campaign inches closer, TLC revealed an important lesson from the experience in a piece for the Huffington Post titled, "An Open Letter to Artists Past, Present and Future."

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Receiving over 3,000 donations and all-around support from fans, as well as fellow artists (like Katy Perry, who donated $5,000 to the Kickstarter fund), helped R&B’s most successful girl group identify a shift in music.

“As we listen and read the support of our fellow artists, our musical family, we see that something is happening in music,” the duo writes. “Were we given the opportunity to travel back in time, we would start laying the foundation for this change much earlier on for we believe that nothing but good can come of what's happening.”

The “change” surrounds mentoring, and other “examples of artists taking chances for fellow artists in order to watch them grow.”  

This practice is “not a unique idea,” as TLC noted, using Smokey Robinson as an example of someone who channeled “his creative energy into the success of his fellow artists” at Motown. Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Prince, Missy Elliott and Pharrell Williams also earned shotouts for their support of burgeoning talent.

In closing, TLC says the examples have shown them how to “nurture each other and protect the integrity of music,” along with changing their perspective. "Yes, our last album came out a while ago, but thousands of people raised their voices telling us to come back, that we are not done making music. We both said, ‘God, allow us to continue making music and we will be happy.’ And now we realize that this final album is much more than we originally imagined. We are inspired by our fans to make more work, always. And after the showing of support we've seen, we are inspired by our fellow artists to lead and make a path.”    

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(Photo: Ben Gabbe/Getty Images)