Tiny Explains Why the Fifth Member of Xscape Was Kicked Out of the Group
Long before her marriage to T.I., Tiny had a successful career as a singer alongside RHOA star Kandi Burruss in the R&B group Xscape. The foursome sold three platinum albums before they split in the late 1990s. They later reunited for a sold-out U.S. tour and album. Interestingly, the group started out with five members, but one was kicked out of the group early on.
Xscape began as a quintet but a fourth member was kicked out of the group
In a new interview with DJ Vlad, Tiny explains that prior to signing their record deal with So So Def, Xscape was a quintet of five female singers. She says that she was initially asked to audition to become a member of the group with the group’s manager intending to replace Tamera Coggins.
“She was in the group before me and at first they thought – well, I think when they called me to come in and audition for the group, they were thinking about maybe replacing her because I think they felt that she was not as much into it as the rest of the girls,” Tiny explains.
She continues: “They had me come audition but when they had me audition they wanted me, but they didn’t want to necessarily get rid of Tamera either so it became a fivesome.”
Tiny says the group began working with a different manager and it was he who exiled Coggins out of the group.
“They had a very big argument one time while we were at the studio and it just went left field and he said she was out of the group,” Tiny says.
A TV One television documentary alleges Tamera Coggins was voted out of Xscape
In a 2017 episode of TV One’s Unsung, it was alleged that Coggins was actually voted out of the group out of pressure from their manager in 1991. Buruss’s mom explains in the series that the group’s manager was growing unhappy with Coggins.
“He was having a problem with Tamera,” she alleges. “He was saying that she was not a real singer, that she could not hold up her part [of the songs].”
Related: ‘RHOA:’ Kandi Burruss’s Success Is Being Studied in Colleges
But according to Burruss, Tiny’s recollection of events is correct. In the TV One episode, Burruss corroborates Tiny’s story that Tamera and their manager got into a major blowup. As a result, he gave the other four members an ultimatum: vote Coggins out of the group or he’d drop them as his artists. They chose to vote Coggins out.
As for how Coggins felt, she was hurt but says she preferred to not be in a group with members who did not have her back.
“If the people in the group didn’t think enough to say, ‘Hey, we are a group, we are a family, we are one unit’ then I don’t want to be around you,” Coggins explained. “I just said, ‘OK, that’s fine. I’ll be fine.’ And I’m great [now].”
Where is Tamera Coggins today?
According to Tiny, Coggins remained close friends with both she and Burruss. She even served as a bridesmaid at Burruss’ 2014 wedding.
Coggins left the music industry altogether and began a career in real estate and Tiny says she’s made a great living as a realtor and investor. The former Xscape member also has a non-profit organization in Atlanta.
