Source: Courtesy of / Bravo
SWV & Xscape: The Queens of R&B premiered on Bravo March 5, and the internet has been ablaze ever since.
The highly-anticipated show chronicles the two popular girl groups as they prepare for a joint tour following their epic Verzuz battle. The 6-part docuseries provides us with some black girl nostalgia, life lessons and a whole lot of drama.
Fans may be shocked by the sibling rivalry and mother-daughter dynamic between LaTocha Scott her younger sister Tamika and their mother. We will delve deeper into the show in the near future but right now, we must talk about the Scott sisters because—whew, chile—there’s a lot to unpack.
In the first episode, we learn the Scott sisters are not speaking. LaTocha claims she’s angry with her sister for “body-shaming” her. However, the alleged body-shaming occurred when LaTocha told her bandmates to “kiss her ass” in a group text in which her sister Tamika replied “if you had an ass to kiss.”
Things take a turn for the worse when the sisters met with their mother, Gloria also known as Mama G, to hash out their differences. Instead of being a mediator, Mama G defends LaTocha without listening to her youngest daughter’s side of the story. When Tamika’s back is turned, the mother mouths “she’s jealous” to her eldest daughter. LaTocha smiles in response.
Tamika then drops a bomb. She accuses her sister of stealing $30,000 from her. Mama G immediately yells for production to “cut off the cameras.”
We see the mother-daughter drama through manipulation.
According to Tamika, it was discovered that her royalty checks were mailed to LaTocha’s house and deposited into her husband-manager Rocky’s bank account. LaTocha and her mother accuse Tamika of lying but judging from their reactions, it seems as if they know sis is telling the truth. Xscape member, Kandi took to her YouTube page to support Tamika’s claims.
Although Mrs.Scott-Winston has proof to support her allegations, “family loyalty” prevents her from taking legal action against her sister. She also paid taxes on the money she never received. The singer revealed that her mother defended her eldest daughter’s actions by saying,
“you don’t know what she was going through, maybe she needed the money.”
Tamika was pregnant with her youngest daughter and her oldest daughter was in college. Sis needed her damn money, too. One could not help but to empathize with Tamika as she drove away from her mother’s house in tears of frustration.
Later, we hear a voicemail from Mama G saying Tamika isn’t living righteously and doesn’t have “enough God” in her. LaTocha implies her sister was “possessed.” Using these pseudo religious buzz phrases to invalidate Tamika’s experience is beyond disgusting.
The mother-daughter drama is disappointing.
It’s hard to fathom how a mother would both participate and fuel such animosity between her daughters, but it is apparent that Tamika has suffered greatly as a result. She says that she has always been treated differently than her mother’s “favorite child” and she has been constantly vying for Mama G’s love for her entire life.
The younger Scott sister admits to “blindly following” her sister even when she knew LaTocha was wrong. She said she did so to avoid the wrath and gain the approval of their mother. Tamika even admits spreading harmful lies about her bandmate, Kandi in support of LaTocha.
When the members of Xscape meet to discuss band business, LaTocha claims that she doesn’t want to talk shop because she’s upset with her sister for “disrespecting” their mother. Standing up for oneself is not a form of disrespect. It’s time for us to let go of these harmful rules of respectability that enable elder folk to mentally abuse their younger relatives.
Tamika Scott seems to have removed herself from these toxic family dynamics and the mother-daughter drama. She is finally standing up for herself and we love that for her. It will take a lot of therapy, self-reflection, accountability and apologies for the Scott family to mend their relationship. We hope they can do that one day, but as for now, we are proud of Tamika for advocating for herself. We wish her well and hope she is getting the care that she deserves.
SWV & Xscape: The Queens of R&B airs on Sundays at 8PMon Bravo.
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