After first participating in their historic Verzuz in May 2021, SWV and Xscape reunited in September 2022 for the show that was supposed to kick off their joint 43-city tour to celebrate 30 years as a group, respectively. As of March 2023, it’s unclear if the tour will ever happen.
The hostile behind-the-scenes drama leading up to the one-night-only engagement unfolds on their new show, SWV & Xscape: The Queens Of R&B. The Mona Scott-Young production on Bravo, which premiered on Sunday (March 5), spotlights each group in their own limelight while also pinpointing their obvious similarities and vast differences.
Ahead of the series’ debut, VIBE caught up with each group at the premiere event held on Thursday (March 2) in Hollywood to see if things have remained stagnant or improved since last year.
The evening left Xscape appearing as the crew who just can’t get it together.
Taj, Coco, and Lelee of SWV walked onto the carpet poised and whole. When speaking on their three-decade-long career, Lelee shared, “As long as they want us here, we’re going to be here.” However, don’t expect any new music to come from these sisters with voices. Fans love their classics and for them, “that’s the beauty of having timeless music.” With the tour currently stalled, however, we nudged the trio into doing a set of intimate concerts for fans, which they felt was a great idea.
So, when tickets go on sale, fans have us to thank.
On the other hand, Xscape staggered onto the carpet as individuals and the tension clouded over everyone’s muffled conversations as they posed for group photos. Sisters LaTocha and Tamika Scott were strategically placed on opposite ends of one another while Kandi Burruss and Tiny Harris stood in the middle as their only form of solid ground.
In the series’ pilot, it previews a taste of the internal strife from the quartet, including a body-shaming accusation from Tamika to LaTocha, talks of how the latter scored a solo deal with Motown Gospel in the midst of them planning this tour, and a claim from Tamika that her older sister stole $30,000 of royalties from her.
Prior to our chat, the group, mainly LaTocha, was asked how it felt to see her mother and that aforementioned unresolved situation play out on-screen. Her response prompted the friction with her younger sister to peak, as Tamika stormed away from the interview after LaTocha stated it was going to be difficult to see their mother being “disrespected” in such a way.
It was then when everyone was asked to steer clear of familial questions.
The Scott women stayed relatively quiet when speaking with us, allowing Kandi and Tiny to guide the conversation.
Though they’re unsure of how they intend to commemorate their 30th anniversary as a group, the Real Housewives of Atlanta star explained her biggest worry when it came to taping Queens Of R&B, especially considering she and her bandmates hadn’t seen the show as of the time of our conversation.
“I knew that doing reality TV and putting extra stress on a situation that we haven’t already worked out, I just felt like it wasn’t going to be good for us,” Kandi shared. “And I do feel like it has put us in a predicament right now that we need to figure out. It is real life, though. It is what it is. And I think with our group, we don’t hide anything. We don’t try to fake for TV. Not even faking it for you for this interview. So with us on the reality show, they got the real and it is what it is and it’s something that we are currently still trying to figure out. But that’s our whole life, we’ve always had our moments and then we figure it out and have our moments and that’s just life.”
Despite Xscape collectively feeling their communication is a work in progress, SWV offered a word of advice—much like they did on the show.
“At some point in life, you got to let grudges go,” said Coco. “It will make you sick, yourself sick holding on to grudges. And we’ve been doing this too long. We’ve known each other for years. You have to communicate. You have to say sorry. That’s the big thing, saying sorry. Being big enough to say sorry.”
The six-part limited series is expected to grant fans a VIP look into their personal and professional lives as nostalgia and turmoil fight to steal the show.
Episodes air weekly on Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. The series premiere is now streaming.