Kandi Lenice Burruss Tucker (born May 17, 1976), known professionally by her mononym Kandi, is an American producer, television personality, singer, songwriter and actress. She first gained notice in 1992 as a member of the female vocal group Xscape. In 2000, she won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for her writing contributions on the TLC hit song "No Scrubs". Burruss has starred in the Bravo reality television series The Real Housewives of Atlanta since its second-season premiere on July 30, 2009. 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), and Xscape: Still Kickin' It (2017), all of which were aired by Bravo. Burruss also appeared as a guest in Kim Zolciak-Biermann's wedding special Don't Be Tardy for the Wedding in 2012. Burruss's sixth Bravo companion series appearance, and fifth series overall to focus on Burruss, is called Kandi & the Gang, which premiered on March 6, 2022. Burruss had a recurring role as Roselyn Perry in the third season of the Showtime drama series The Chi. She also won the third season of the Fox competition series The Masked Singer, and placed fifth on the second season of Celebrity Big Brother on CBS. Early life Burruss was born 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. Career 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