Fans funded the project by making pledges online for autographed records and even a movie night with Chilli or T-Boz, reaching the $150,000 (R1,9 million) goal in a week. The funding continued and TLC closed down the fundraiser three weeks later after scoring over $430,000 (R5,5 million) in donations.
The release delay irked some fans who felt cheated and created a "#TLCIsGoingToJailParty" hashtag on Twitter.
In his new Kickstarter statement, Diggins has apologised, revealing the TLC stars had to complete an arena tour before starting work on the album.
"I could go on in more detail ... but the simple fact is that T-Boz & Chilli were inspired to make a record that they could be proud of and they would not settle for less and sometimes you just cannot rush art."
The new album will be the No Scrubs hitmakers' first studio album since the death of bandmate Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes in 2002.
