As two of the top R&B vocal acts of the ’90s, Xscape and SWV had shown nothing but love, respect, admiration and good will for each other over the years.
Then they signed up to do a reality TV show — the 2023 Bravo miniseries “SWV & Xscape: The Queens of R&B.” And everything drastically changed between the two groups.
“We fell out real bad,” Xscape’s Kandi Burruss remembers during recent Zoom interviews held with both acts. “And we all know it’s a lot of drama and craziness that comes with reality TV. We were friends with SWV for years — since back in the ’90s. But the tension that happens when you are shooting a show — and you have to address every little thing — sometimes things can go left. And we allowed that to happen.”
Yet, things that can go left can also apparently go right, since the two groups were eventually able to mend fences with each other and draw up plans for a hotly anticipated co-headlining tour. The roadshow — appropriately dubbed the Queens of R&B Tour — is set to launch June 27 at Toyota Pavilion at Concord. Showtime is 7 p.m. and tickets start at $41 (subject to change), livenation.com.
“We always love the Bay Area,” says SWV’s Tamara “Taj” George. “We are going to enjoy kicking off the tour there because we know that the fans will come out and really give us their perspective of what they loved about the show and how much they care about the songs and the history of both groups.”
And both acts certainly do have illustrious histories.
Formed in 1988 in New York City, SWV (which stands for Sisters With Voices) landed an album deal with RCA Records and used that platform to become one of the most successful R&B acts of the ’90s. The vocal trio — consisting of George, Cheryl “Coko” Gamble and Leanne “Lelee” Lyons — was a massive hit right from the very start, as the 1992 debut album “It’s About time” soared to triple-platinum heights on the back of the singles “Weak,” “Right Here” and “I’m So into You.”
Xscape experienced similarly great success after coming together, under the watchful eye of hitmaker Jermaine Dupri, in Atlanta in 1990. The vocal group, currently featuring Burruss, Tameka “Tiny” Harris and Tamika Scott, released three platinum-selling albums — 1993’s “Hummin’ Comin’ at ‘Cha,” 1995’s “Off the Hook” and 1998’s “Traces of My Lipstick” — which collectively birthed such hits as “Just Kickin’ It,” “Understanding,” “Who Can I Run To” and “My Little Secret.”
“We are so very excited to have so many dope vocalists on one stage together,” Burruss says of the co-headlining tour. “From the time the show starts until it gets to our performance, it’s going to be nostalgia. We are giving people the hits that they have been singing and knowing for so many years.”
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SWV and Xscape are the headliners — and certainly the main attractions — but fans will also dig seeing opening acts 702, Total and Mýa on the Queens of R&B Tour lineup.
“You can’t forget the great songs that they contributed to the ’90s era,” George says of the support acts. “Mýa was a force with her dance moves and her crossover music. Total was just funky hip-hop. I loved Total — every song they did. And 702 is going to have a whole new meaning to it, because we just lost Irish (Grinstead) last year. So, having 702 out there performing there songs — with the legacy of Irish out there with us — is going to be special for the fans.”
These should indeed be very special evenings for the legions of fans who are still so passionate about this overall era of R&B music.
“I just feel like the ’90s was just a cool time for R&B. That was a decade where there were so many girl groups,” Burruss says. “Everybody was about really singing and having really strong harmonies. And R&B was really doing great on the charts. That whole era — that’s what we call real music, right?”
Well, Lyons, for one, is in certainly full agreement.
“I think back in the ’90s, everybody was real with music,” she says. “You really went in the studio and actually created something. And it wasn’t as microwaveable as it is now. We didn’t have the access that we do now to, like, Pro Tools and the different equipment they have. It’s so easy now — you can make an album in your house. But, back then, things were so different. Producers actually went inside and created something. And they catered that particular sound to whatever artist they wanted to give that music to.”
Another factor that gives ’90s R&B that sense of realness/authenticity is most certainly its connection to gospel music, with many of the performers having grown up singing in church.
“We stayed in the church as kids,” Burruss says. “When you start singing in the church it’s like you have a different type of soul when it comes to your music — an added flare.”
Both SWV and Xscape sound so thrilled as they talk about this upcoming roadshow that it’s strange to think that — not that long ago — the chances of the Queens of R&B Tour ever happening seemed remote at best.
The original plans for this co-headlining jaunt extend back to the last year’s “SWV & Xscape: The Queens of R&B,” a six-part reality TV mini-series aired on the Bravo channel that focused on the two groups as they prepared to hit the road together. (That series followed a popular Verzuz webcast that pitted the two bands against each other.)
Yet, things went sideways quickly during the TV show — amid ego-fueled bickering and trash talk — leaving viewers with the impression that a lengthy feud was more likely than any tangible tour dates.
Fortunately for the fans, the two sides were eventually able to put the bad blood behind them and get on with the show.
“I’m glad that we all came back together and really talked it out,” Burruss says. “They said the things that bothered them. We said the things that bothered us. We talked it through and got on the same page. And I’m so glad we did, because I hated that we had that negativity between us.”
That conversation between the two sides changed the whole equation, allowing SWV and Xscape to move past the drama and onto the music.
“I think everything just comes with a change of mind and a change of heart,” Lyons says. “A lot of stuff that we go through is very petty — and it only requires a conversation. That conversation was had with just the six of us and there was a resolve that came out of it. So, that made it easier for us to move forward and to just focus on the thing that the fans wanted — that’s for us to go on tour again. And that made us want to do it.
“We are in a great place right now. We are looking forward to this tour. We are looking forward to making history.”
