Friday, May 11, 2012

What Happened? Xscape

Xscape
LaTocha and Tamika Scott's father, Rev. Randolf Scott, was part of the 1971 R&B group Scott Three during the early '70s. The sisters were trained to sing by their father at an early age. They sang in church and competed in talent shows around the area while growing up. In the early '90s, they met Xscape's other three members, Kandi Burruss, Tamera Coggins, and Tameka "Tiny" Cottle-Harris at the magnet performing arts high school, Tri-Cities, in East Point, Georgia, a city outside of Atlanta.
After Coggins left the group in 1993, Xscape became a quartet. They were later discovered by Jermaine Dupri while singing at an annual Martin Luther King, Jr. festival in Atlanta. Dupri immediately signed the group to his up and coming So So Def label. He debuted the quartet at his birthday party in 1991. The group released their debut album, Hummin' Comin' at 'Cha, on October 12, 1993. The album peaked at number seventeen the U.S. Billboard 200 and number three on the Top R&B Albums chart. It was a critical and commercial success, certified platinum within a year, and launched two top 10 singles. The debut single, "Just Kickin' It", and second single, "Understanding", both entered the top 10 of the official Hot 100 and became platinum and gold certified number-one hits on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The follow-up singles, "Love on My Mind" and "Tonight", did not achieve the same success.
The group's lyrics, chiefly written and produced by Dupri, had strong, female-empowering, soulful, and powerful vocals with harmonization. The musical formula was augmented by the girls' baggy and cool down-to-earth Atlanta style.
The group later appeared on The Mask soundtrack with a song Tameka Scott penned.
At the conclusion of Hummin' Comin' at 'Cha, the group appeared on "Freedom (Theme from Panther)" for the movie of the same name, and the film's soundtrack in 1995.
After much success, Xscape released their second studio album, Off the Hook, in 1995. The lead single, "Feels So Good", reached the top 40 of the US Hot 100, while "Who Can I Run To" peaked at #8. The follow-up singles, "Do You Want To" and "Can't Hang", the latter featuring rapper MC Lyte, were released as a double A-side single. It went only as high as number 50 on the Hot 100, but peaked at #9 on the "Hot R&B/Hip Hop" charts. The album eventually went platinum.
In 1996, the group was featured on MC Lyte's single "Keep On, Keepin' On", which appeared on the Sunset Park soundtrack. The single reached the top 10 on the Hot 100 and #3 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts.
In 1997, the group's popularity was growing and their songs appeared on the soundtracks to the films Love Jones and Soul Food.
In early 1998, Xscape was featured on the Keith Sweat produced single, "Am I Dreamin'", by R&B new-comer group Ol' Skool. The single was a success in North America, peaking at #31 on the "Hot 100", and was later featured on Xscape's third album Traces of My Lipstick.

Traces of My Lipstick debuted at #28 on the Billboard 200 and at #6 on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop album chart; over a million copies were sold in the U.S. The album featured the top 10 hit "The Arms of the One Who Loves You", which reached #7 on the Hot 100 chart, and "My Little Secret", which reached #9. Although there no official third single was released, "Softest Place on Earth" reached #28 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

After Traces of My Lipstick,  Kandi Burruss left the group to pursue a solo career. The remaining trio made appearances on the Big Momma's House and Hardball soundtracks before going on hiatus.
In 1999, Kandi Burruss appeared on Solé's debut album and was in a video for the single, titled "4, 5, 6".
In 1999,Tiny Cottle and fellow former Xscape band member Kandi Burruss were honored with a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for penning TLC's hit single "No Scrubs".Cottle's other accomplishments include an American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers award in the R&B and Pop Music categories for "No Scrubs", as well as the ASCAP Rap Award for her work on the Sporty Thievz track "No Pigeons."
After the disbanding of Xscape, Burruss began to focus on production and songwriting. In 1999, Burruss teamed with bandmate Tameka "Tiny" Cottle to score the international number one hit "No Scrubs" for TLC. The single received a Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, MTV Video Music Award, Billboard Music Award and Soul Train Music Award. That same year, Burruss scored a hit for Destiny's Child on their second album, "The Writing's on the Wall". "Bills, Bills, Bills", also topped the Billboard "Hot 100" chart & was followed by their second single "Bug a Boo", also penned by Burruss. Kandi would go on to work with then newcomer Pink by penning her debut single "There You Go" off Pink's debut album "Can't Take Me Home".
Destiny's Child had released the marginally catchy "No, No, No" and were putting together their sophomore (and way more successful) album, The Writing's On the Wall. Kandi and She'kspeare put together some of the most popular singles on the record, including "Bills, Bills, Bills" and "Bug-a-Boo." In fact, the ex-boyfriend that inspired Kandi to write "No Scrubs" was the same guy who inspired "Bills, Bills, Bills," and that's not where the freaky coincidences end. One of the girls in Destiny's Child was dating same the guy while they were working on the song with Kandi.
Burruss was the first African-American woman ever to win ASCAP's Songwriter of the Year award in 2000. She won for Songwriter of the year in the Rhythm & Soul category. She won for songwriting credits such as Destiny Child's "Bills, Bills, Bills" and TLC's No Scrubs.  The Grammys started rolling in for Kandi Burruss after her R&B girl group Xscape broke up, and she moved on to songwriting. The Real Housewife of Atlanta penned TLC's "No Scrubs" which cleaned up at the 2000 Grammy Awards, but before the song was even released, she made another fateful collab with the most successful R&B girl group in history, Destiny's Child.

Kandi Burruss has co-written songs for artists such as Mariah Carey, Faith Evans, Pink, Whitney Houston, and Alicia Keys. She has also written songs for the groups TLC, Destiny's Child, 'N Sync, and Boyz II Men. In 2000, Columbia Records released her solo debut, Hey Kandi, which featured the hit song "Don't Think I'm Not She is also responsible for discovering the male R&B quartet Jagged Edge
In 2001, Cottle began dating rapper T.I.
After a five-year hiatus, sisters "LaTocha Scott" and "Tamika Scott" reunited with Tameka "Tiny" Cottle to record a fourth album, Unchained in 2004. The new single, "What's Up", was released on a mixtape and later got some airplay in hometown Atlanta. However, the album was not released due to lack of promotion from the record label.
She also appeared in the 2004 Tyler Perry play, Meet the Browns, originating the role of Millet Jenay Baptiste-Brown. She also has written, produced, and arranged four songs for and is featured as a solo artist performing "Greatest Gift" for Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls, movie and Tyler Perry's "Why Did I Get Married" movie. Tamika wrote three songs for Tyler Perry's stage play "What's Done In The Dark" wrote and co-produced Yolanda Adams "Step Aside" which was also featured on Tamala Mann new gospel CD. Tamika has written songs for artist such as Yolanda Adams, Tamala Mann, Anthony Hamilton, Musiq Soulchild, Jaheim, Xscape and Latoya Luckett.  
After a five-year hiatus, Cottle reunited with sisters LaTocha and Tamika Scott and added a new member, Kiesha Miles, to release a new Xscape album entitled Unchained and released the single "What's Up" in 2005.
LaTocha ScottScott recorded a solo album, titled Solo Flight 404, featuring "Night Stand", Scott's first solo R&B single. She also appears on "Liar, Liar" from the soundtrack of The Best Man,
Kandi briefly dated Gerald Levert.
In early 2006, Kandi began work on her second album. The first single, "I Need", was a promotional single only. It featured rap duo 8Ball and MJG. Another song, "Keep It Gangsta" featuring rapper Lil Scrappy, was also set to appear on the album, although it was never released as a promo single.
Failing to generate any buzz, plans for the new album were temporarily put on hold. Burruss then teamed with Atlanta female rapper Rasheeda to form the duo Peach Candy, signed to D-Lo Entertainment. Their first single, titled "Bam", got little airplay and plans for this album were also put on hold. PeachCandy EP was released on iTunes with a 5-track lineup.
In late 2008, Kandi began a relationship with Ashley "A.J." Jewell and after dating several months, the couple became engaged to be married in January 2009. Tensions began to rise between Jewell, who participated in the second season of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, and Kandi's mother over Jewell's having six children of his own with four different mothers. In June 2009, Burruss and Jewell called off the engagement and later dissolved their romantic relationship completely, though Jewell was quoted as saying they remained "good friends". He moved out of Burruss' home, although his 12-year-old twin daughters remain in her care.

In
Cottle is still in the music business, and has branched out into television. She stars in the BET reality show Tiny & Toya, which follows Cottle and her friendship with Antonia "Toya" Johnson Carter, the ex-wife of rap artist Lil’ Wayne
In 2009, Kandi joined the second season of the Bravo reality series, The Real Housewives of Atlanta, and went back to work on her second album, then titled B.L.O.G.. Her debut EP, the Fly Above EP, was released on October 29, 2009. The album will be released on her own record label, Kandi Koated Entertainment, and possibly Capitol Records, although the EP will only be released on Kandi Koated Entertainment. The album is confirmed to feature appearances from artists such as Rick Ross, Rasheeda, Gucci Mane and possibly Missy Elliott. Despite speculation that the lead single would be either "I Like Him" featuring Rick Ross and Rasheeda or "Trade Him In" featuring Gucci Mane, the lead single, "Fly Above", was released on October 6, 2009.
Kandi has since rewritten and executive produced "Tardy For The Party" for Real Housewives of Atlanta co-star Kim Zolciak's debut album. The song was made available to iTunes on September 1, 2009.

Less than four months after separating from Burruss, on October 2, 2009, Jewell was killed outside of a club's parking lot in a fight. He suffered massive head trauma in a heated argument at the Body Tap Club, an Atlanta strip club. The police arrested a club manager named Fredrick Richardson. He has been charged with voluntary manslaughter. However, sickle-cell anemia may have played a significant role in the death. According to the medical examiner, it is likely that Jewell was worked up from the fight and because of his condition, could not replenish the oxygen he lost during the incident, which the doctor says could have fatal consequences. Two days after Jewell's death, Kandi posted an open-letter expressing her heartfelt grief over her loss.
 Kandi signed a record deal with Asylum Records in early 2010 and released her second album, Kandi Koated, on December 14, 2010. The lead single "Leave U" debuted at #89 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Kandi also made a cameo appearance along with Atlanta producer Jermaine Dupri on the first episode in the new television series, Single Ladies.
On December 18, 2010, Tameka Scott  performed in a musical play, Christmas in the Hood.
Kandi and three of her friends started a "sex and relationship" webshow on Ustream titled Kandi Koated Nights. They have had numerous guests, including Katt Stacks, Tionna T. Smalls, Grand Hustle, Jazze Pha, Young Joc. The show began to air on television beginning in 2011

In June 2009, Cottle's reality series, Tiny and Toya, made its debut on BET.
On July 31, 2010, Cottle and T.I. were married in Miami. After several years of dating Tiny and T.I. tied the knot.
On September 1, 2010, Cottle and T.I. were arrested following a motor vehicle stop in Los Angeles. The police reported that an odor of burnt marijuana was coming from the vehicle and the couple were found to be in possession of a controlled substance; namely, ecstasy. They released on bail after posting $10,000 bail.
Tamika wrote and produced four songs for Tyler Perry’s movie soundtrack “Daddy’s Little Girls”. Tamika also has a song on the soundtrack titled “Greatest Gift,” which is said to be the love song of the century! On December 14, 2010, Burruss released the album Kandi Koated, featuring tracks "Fly Above" and "Leave U".
In 2011 She starred in BET's "Strangers In My House" alongside of Vivica Fox and Clifton Powell. She's currently touring with the gospel stage play "Shh Please Dont Tell"
The VH1 reality series T.I. and Tiny: The Family Hustle premiered on Dec 5, 2011. T.I. reunited with wife and children after a year prison sentence.
Kandi is now working on her music and Bravo has greenlit her new reality show, The Kandi Factory. "The Kandi Factory will capture a unique look at her successful music career as Kandi transforms two music hopefuls into the next big pop star."
LaTocha Scott recently released a new single in 2012 entitled 'Bad Timing' and will soon release a new studio album .

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