#soon! Part Un - The 60s-00s Girl Band Debut Breakthrough Rate

[berserkboi]

I’m impressed we’re kicking off with a >5 average too! Losing a nineties song so early, though...

Kandi has done such great things since this single (such as the aforementioned solo banger Don’t Think I’m Not and of course writing the likes of Bills, Bills, Bills for Destiny’s Child) but, to be fair, this song is just okay. There’s a lot that deserved to go before it but I’m not too worried about it being gone.



Tiny and Kandi are of course a Grammy-winning songwriting team for co-writing TLC’s No Scrubs (which also means they now have writing credits on Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You dddd). Has any other girl group in this rate produced two songwriters that were this successful at writing for other people?

My favourite thing Xscape has done is actually this feature on Mariah’s remix of her #1 hit Always Be My Baby:

Yes Queens!

This shall be added to the list of fun stuff as soon a season I get a chance - great post, my Kelly!

 

[londonrain]

Yes Queens!

This shall be added to the list of fun stuff as soon a season I get a chance - great post, my Kelly!

Kandi actually lost a Grammy to herself when No Scrubs beat Bills, Bills, Bills to the Grammy for Best R&B Song.

She was also the first woman to win a ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Songwriter of the Year award (in 2000). In addition to No Scrubs and Bills, Bills, Bills (as well as several other tracks for TLC and Destiny's Child), her writing credits include all of these:

 

[berserkboi]

Well then, we know how she qualified to become a Real Housewife right there! A shame her writing wasn't at that level on Just Kickin' It (if she contributed to it at all)...

 

[londonrain]

Well then, we know how she qualified to become a Real Housewife right there! A shame her writing wasn't at that level on Just Kickin' It (if she contributed to it at all)...

She didn’t write that song (or the rest of that album). She is the lead vocalist on that track, though.

The members only got writing credits on the second and third albums. All four of them got credits on the second album but Kandi didn’t write anything on the third album - it was just LaTocha and Tamika Scott who got a couple of credits.

Basically Kandi has written more for other girl groups than she ever wrote for Xscape. And now the group has reunited without her, which is... a choice.

 

[berserkboi]

She didn’t write that song (or the rest of that album). She is the lead vocalist on that track, though.

The members only got writing credits on the second and third albums. All four of them got credits on the second album but Kandi didn’t write anything on the third album - it was just LaTocha and Tamika Scott who got a couple of credits.

Basically Kandi has written more for other girl groups than she ever wrote for Xscape. And now the group has reunited without her, which is... a choice.

Indeed it is! A shame too that she couldn't get the opportunity to write from the beginning, sucks to be a fresh face in the music industry!

 

[londonrain]

Indeed it is! A shame too that she couldn't get the opportunity to write from the beginning, sucks to be a fresh face in the music industry!

I think her songwriting career really took off when she paired up with producer Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs in about 1998/1999, which was right after she left Xscape. It's a shame her solo career didn't really go anywhere (despite the minor hit that was Don't Think I'm Not) - perhaps all her best songs went to other people!

 

[berserkboi]

I think her songwriting career really took off when she paired up with producer Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs in about 1998/1999, which was right after she left Xscape. It's a shame her solo career didn't really go anywhere (despite the minor hit that was Don't Think I'm Not) - perhaps all her best songs went to other people!

Sounds a little like what happened to Christina Millian until she had her bit of success...

 

[Russron]

Ooh, how refreshing to be so in tune with the Popjustice crowd -- even I had Xscape as my second-from-bottom (still gave it a 4, I think) so I'm fine with this elimination.

All of which bodes well for my chances to get the actual worst song by far (Don't Cha) out next, right? Right?

 

[DJHazey]

One of the few I didn't provide commentary for and I gave it a 5/10, no issue with being the first cut.

 

[Aester]

I adored "Just Kickin' It" back when it came out, but it sounds really dated now and I couldn't manage more than a 6.5 for it here. (I still love "Don't Think I'm Not," though.)

 

[soratami]

All of which bodes well for my chances to get the actual worst song by far (Don't Cha) out next, right? Right?

In the words of Ms. Scherzinger:

Ha, ha ha, ha ha ha.

 

[tylerc]

Kandi's Don't Think I'm Not is one of my favorite songs of the 2000's. The rest of the album wasn't quite up to much, but she has written so many classics.

 

[DJHazey]

Mini plot twist: I don't care how early "Don't Cha" goes out.

 

[londonrain]

Mini plot twist: I don't care how early "Don't Cha" goes out.

Wait, what?

(I don't care either, but for you not to care? That's news.)

 

[DJHazey]

Wait, what?

(I don't care either, but for you not to care? That's news.)

Most of their debut album sounds dated and dull to my ears.

 

[tylerc]

Don't Cha is in my bottom three Pussycat Dolls single. It's a bit "iconic" but I don't seek it out. Beep and Wait a Minute are similarly bleh to me.

 

[iheartpoptarts]

My earliest memory of Xscape is watching some sort of music video show where the Spice Girls were counting down an A-Z of girl groups and luckily something started with an X. Good times.

 

[londonrain]

The fact that our lowest-rated song has left with such a high average indicates to me that we probably have quite a lot of songs that have both 10s and 0s (Don't Cha included).

This is going to be interesting.

 

[Trouble in Paradise]

I'm also relieved that Xscape is out first cut and that others felt similarly to me. I was a little nervous cause the 90s didn't click with me as much as I expected. Also looking over my scores, I was overall very generous this rate. This was probably one of the hardest rates I've been a part of cause the songs were all so different, how do you effectively compare the Ronettes to the Saturdays? So i think I ended up trying not to be super critical unless I really didn't like the song.

Also I still love "Don't Cha"

 

[soratami]

I think one interesting thing here is seeing how the various groups start having more of an identity and individual sound as the decades pass. Any of the 60s groups could have released any of the 60s songs, but the same definitely isn't true for the later decades.