Hey Kandi
The girl groupXscapecould sing their butts off and went gold, but they never quite crossed over to mainstream (read: white) audiences. Relegated to ghetto goddess status, Xscape hung up their weaves a few years ago, and each member is now doing her own thang. Chief among them is Kandi Burruss. If the name doesn't ring a bell, Kandi's songs--which include "No Scrubs," "Bills, Bills, Bills" and a host of other smoking-hot, chart-topping collabos with She'kspere--will. They have made her a Grammy-winning, platinum-selling, in-demand writer. Fortunately, as evidenced by her solo debut, Kandi didn't sell all the good stuff. She has a clear, powerful voice that has a welcoming tone even when she's delivering songs that range from "my man done been cheating on me" rump shakers to "my man done been cheating on me" ballads. Yes, her thematic POV is a bit limited, but does that make the finger-wagging glee of "Don't Think I'm Not" any less delicious? Listening in on Kandi's soap opera world can feel like a guilty pleasure at times, and her conversational style matched to She'kspere's shake 'n' bake beats is not great art. But it's good fun.--Amy Linden