Kandi Lenice Burruss (born May 17, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She first gained notice in 1992 as a member of the multi-platinum R&B female vocal group Xscape. As a songwriter, she has received writing credits on the singles "Bills, Bills, Bills" by Destiny's Child, "There You Go" by Pink, "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" by Ariana Grande, and "Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran. In 2000, she won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for her work on the TLC hit song "No Scrubs".
Burruss' debut single "Don't Think I'm Not", as well as her appearances on the singles "4, 5, 6" by Solé, and E-40's "U and Dat" alongside T-Pain, have all reached the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100. Additionally, she starred on the Bravo reality television series The Real Housewives of Atlanta from its second to fifteenth season, making her one of the longest-serving cast members in The Real Housewives franchise. Burruss has appeared in six Real Housewives spinoff and companion series as of 2022, beginning with 2012's The Kandi Factory, and continuing on with Kandi's Wedding (2014), Kandi's Ski Trip (2015), Xscape: Still Kickin' It (2017), and Kandi & the Gang (2022), all of which were aired by Bravo. Burruss also appeared as a guest in fellow housewife castmate Kim Zolciak's wedding special Don't Be Tardy for the Wedding (2012).
Burruss had a recurring role as Roselyn Perry in the third season of the Showtime drama series The Chi. She won the third season of the Fox competition series The Masked Singer, and became the show's first female champion. Additionally, she also placed fifth on the second season of Celebrity Big Brother on CBS. In 2023, her production work on a 2022 Broadway production of the play The Piano Lesson earned her a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play.
Early life
Burruss was born May 17, 1976 in College Park, Georgia, the daughter of the Reverend Titus Burruss Jr. and Joyce Jones. She had an older brother, Patrick Riley (1968–1991), who died in a car crash. Burruss attended Tri-Cities High School in East Point, Georgia, graduating in 1994. She first appeared on the BET series Teen Summit at age 15.
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. All three songs had writing involvement by their respective artists, and "No Scrubs" was also co-written by Burruss's former groupmate Tameka "Tiny" Cottle.
In 2000, Kandi released her debut album, Hey Kandi..., which spawned the singles "Don't Think I'm Not" and "Cheatin' on Me". "Don't Think I'm Not" reached number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album did not do as well on the chart as the lead single did, reaching on the Billboard 200.
Burruss won the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers's Songwriter of the Year award in 2000, in the Rhythm & Soul category. She was the first African-American woman to win the award.
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".
Reality television
Replacing DeShawn Snow, Burruss joined The Real Housewives of Atlanta in its second season, which began airing in July 2009. 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…