Many fans have speculated why the members of Xscape went their separate ways in the late 1990s. Now, Jermaine Dupri, who discovered the R&B group, is revealing his answer.
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The Atlanta producer and songwriter recently appeared on an episode of TV One’s “Uncensored” and explained how he thinks he was directly involved with the group’s disbandment.
He revealed the songs he wrote for the quartet were tailored to Kandi Burruss’ voice. However, LaTocha Scott had been singing the lead parts on most of their tunes before Dupri came into the picture.
“I’m gon’ give y’all a real understanding of why I feel like my songs actually broke XSCAPE up,” Dupri said. “Xscape was Tocha’s group. Whoever’s group it is, that means they think they’re the lead singer. They meet Jermaine Dupri, and Jermaine Dupri writes a song and he gives the song to Kandi because Kandi’s voice sounds like mine. It’s no other reason that I gave it to her besides the fact that I wanted her to sing the way I was having T-Boz sing. That created friction already from jump.”
He also revealed tensions grew when he began a romantic relationship with Burruss. Although he denied giving her special attention, he said he understands why people make that assumption.
“It’s very easy for you to railroad it right into each other, but it wasn’t nothing like that,” he continued. “I wasn’t even thinking like that. I was thinking about the sound I heard in my head.”
Take a look at the full clip below.
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