Xscape Prior to joining
Xscape,
LaTocha Scott had been performing with a group called Precise. While attending Tri-Cities performing arts high school in East Point, Georgia, Scott's sister
Tamika met Kandi Burruss. The three began singing together and recruited a fourth member, Tamera Coggins, though her time with the group was short-lived. Soon
Tameka "Tiny" Cottle was asked to audition for the girls, and Xscape was officially formed. After the group's major debut performance at BET's Teen Summit in 1992, the girls were introduced to record executive Ian Burke, who later became the group's manager. Xscape soon caught the attention of
Jermaine Dupri, who later signed the group to his recording label So So Def Recordings. On October 12, 1993, the group released their debut album, ''
Hummin' Comin' at 'Cha. 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 ten singles. After their debut album's success, Xscape released their second studio album,
Off the Hook, in 1995. The album eventually went
platinum. Their third and final studio album
Traces of My Lipstick debuted at twenty-eight on the
Billboard 200 and at six on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop album chart; over a million copies were sold in the U.S. After
Traces of My Lipstick, LaTocha Scott initially left the group to pursue a solo career. The ladies soon regrouped and made appearances on the ''
Big Momma's House and Hardball'' soundtracks, before going on another hiatus until 2005. In 2017,
TV One had planned to produce an unauthorized movie about
Xscape. Kandi called the other band members to discuss starting a show of their own. The show was named ''Xscape: Still Kickin' It'', and set as a four-episode miniseries, which premiered on
BravoTV on November 5, 2017. Before Kandi could rejoin the group, she wanted an apology from band member Tamika Scott, who claimed in a 2007 interview that Burruss broke up the group by sleeping with their label head
Jermaine Dupri and his father,
Michael Mauldin. Kandi wanted an apology for the false statement that Scott told regarding Mauldin, but did confirm that she and Dupri had been involved (though Burruss claims that wasn't the reason why the group broke up). Burruss received an apology from Scott on stage during a concert in Detroit in 2017.
Solo work and production After the disbanding of Xscape, Burruss focused on production and songwriting. In 1999, Burruss co-wrote, along with
Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs, three major hit songs: "
No Scrubs" for
TLC, "
Bills, Bills, Bills" for
Destiny's Child, and "
There You Go",
Pink's debut single. Burruss rewrote and executive produced the 2009 song "
Tardy for the Party" for her
Real Housewives of Atlanta co-star
Kim Zolciak. On March 12, 2013, Kandi Burruss, and her collaborating songwriter/producer,
Rodney "Don Vito" Richard, filed suit against Zolciak for profits earned from "Tardy for the Party". In the documents filed by Burruss' attorney and
RHOA castmate
Phaedra Parks, Parks alleged her clients wrote the song for Zolciak and Zolciak released and sold the single "without [the] plaintiffs' authorization, license or consent." Burruss was also seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent future sales of the song and the "destruction of all copies of the infringing single and any other product of defendant's that infringe plaintiffs' copyrights", punitive damages, attorney's fees, and a jury trial. The lawsuit was dismissed on October 12, 2013, after the presiding judge deemed that Burruss failed to furnish enough evidence of copyright infringement. Following a hiatus from music, Burruss recorded her first EP, The
Fly Above EP, which was released on October 29, 2009. In December 2009, Burruss announced she had signed a deal with
Asylum Records after her deal with
Capitol Records fell through. Her second album,
Kandi Koated, was released in December 2010. Burruss also teamed with
Atlanta female rapper
Rasheeda to form the duo Peach Candy. The 2017 song "
Shape of You" by
Ed Sheeran, which ranks as one of the most successful singles of all time, drew comparisons in its lyrical rhythm to "No Scrubs", particularly in the pre-chorus line, "Boy, let's not talk too much/ Grab on my waist and put that body on me." As a result, Burruss, Cottle, and Briggs were awarded co-writing credits on "Shape of You". From 2009 to 2023, she had appeared in every subsequent season of the show, becoming the series' longest-serving cast member. On a grander scale, she is currently tied with Teresa Giudice from
The Real Housewives of New Jersey as the longest-serving full-time cast members of the entire
Real Housewives franchise as of the premiere of
RHOA's
fifteenth season in May 2023, surpassing original Housewives
Vicki Gunvalson of
Orange County and
Ramona Singer of
New York City's joint record of thirteen full-time seasons. When she first joined the show, she had recently become engaged to her boyfriend A.J. and was shown expressing interest in reviving her music career. A feud developed between her and
Nene Leakes after Burruss became friends with Zolciak and helped her record her single "
Tardy for the Party". In the third season, Zolciak and Burruss continued recording music together, although they clashed over their creative differences. A conflict between Burruss, Leakes, and Zolciak later ensued while the latter two women embarked on a promotional concert tour. In later seasons, Burruss struck up a friendship with castmates Phaedra Parks and Porsha Williams, even starring the latter a role in her production of ''A Mother's Love'', a play that Burruss and her husband, Todd Tucker, created and produced. Sometime during her pregnancy with son Ace, a rift was shown between Phaedra and Kandi, eventually souring due to unpaid production fees that Parks owed Tucker. In February 2024, Burruss announced she had departed the series. Burruss received the second
spin-off from
The Real Housewives of Atlanta,
The Kandi Factory, in 2012. It was originally planned as a one-time television special, but eventually ran for a full season. It followed Burruss and her record producers as they attempted to launch the music careers of undiscovered artists, with a new artist selected every episode. Burruss and Tucker then got another spin-off series on Bravo, titled ''
Kandi's Wedding, which aired for five episodes in June and July 2014 and showed the two getting married. Kandi's Wedding'' brought in very high ratings for Bravo, and topped NeNe Leakes and Kim Zolciak's previous spin-offs. Her third spin-off series, ''
Kandi's Ski Trip, was a three-part special that aired in 2015 after the conclusion of the seventh season of The Real Housewives of Atlanta''. Burruss was a contestant on the
second season of the reality competition show
Celebrity Big Brother. She placed fifth in the competition and was a fan favorite during her run on the show. She appeared as a guest judge on the "From Farm to Runway" episode of
season 11 of ''
RuPaul's Drag Race'' alongside model and actress
Amber Valletta, which aired on April 11, 2019. In 2020, she competed in the
third season of
The Masked Singer as "Night Angel". Burruss had been originally asked to compete in the first season, but was unable to participate due to other commitments. After watching
T-Pain perform as "Monster" and having producers approach her again however, she reconsidered. Burruss won her season as the show's first female winner. In 2022, Burruss began starring in Bravo's
Kandi & The Gang.
Other ventures In 2018, she made her
Broadway debut as Mama Morton in the company of
Chicago. She later returned to the
Broadway stage in 2025 and 2026 as Angélique in
& Juliet. Burruss has made
cameo appearances on series such as
Single Ladies,
Thicker Than Water: The Tankards,
Chef Roblé & Co., and ''
Let's Stay Together''. Burruss also owns a
sex toy company called
Bedroom Kandi. Burruss and four friends started
Kandi Koated Nights, a "sex and relationship" web series on
Ustream. The show began airing on television in 2018. Burruss starred in the holiday themed
BET+ original film,
Whatever It Takes on December 21, 2023. In 2025, both Burruss and husband Todd Tucker became part of the production team behind Broadway's
Othello, starring
Denzel Washington and
Jake Gyllenhaal. Othello brought in $2.8 million in just its second week of previews. It consistently boasted 100 percent capacity to claim the record as the top-grossing play in Broadway history. == Personal life ==