By: Taren Vaughan
Since the demise of the So So Def girl group Xscape, Kandi Burruss has continued her journey in the music industry, writing songs for other R&B talents and even managing to put Kim Zolciak’s non-singing self on the map with “Tardy For The Party”. Still dabbling in it here and there, Kandi is no longer just a name in the music but the reality TV show world as well. Becoming an Atlanta Housewife, she created mixed emotions from those who have followed her career. Some thought it was a huge mistake for Kandi to be a midst all that catty drama while others thought it would be a good look for her and the show itself. Reality TV may seem like a cash cow and the place where stars are made to many people. But to others, it is nothing more than a horrid display of classless females, thirsty for a check. And those that despise them the most lost their minds when these women were even thought of as being people to look up to.
One of VIBE Magazine’s most controversial issues had Kandi Burruss, Evelyn Lozada, Chrissy Lampkin and Tamar Braxton plastered on the front cover. The picture alone didn’t send people over the edge for it was the title that went along with it, coining them as role models.
Surely almost immune to the critics’ chatter that comes her way from being apart of the The Real Housewives of Atlanta cast, Kandi told VIBE that the amount of negative talk however was way more than she was used to:
“Oh my gosh, I felt like it was overwhelmingly negative. So many people were just like, They are not role models. I mean, I got a lot of people that said, ‘You’re the only person that should be considered a role model.’ But any time I’m a part of a group or whatever, I don’t want to separate myself like I’m any better than anyone else. We’re all apart of reality TV. None of us knew that it was going have that title on the cover. We all know that reality TV can be a bit much sometimes.”
Truth be told, Kandi was the only person on the cover who has had an established, successful career outside of reality TV. But when you are associated with, or pictured with other women who have done nothing but make a fortune off of slapping chicks in public and talking about their faulty relationships episode after episode, what you came to the table with has a tendency to slip people’s minds.
Sigh…I respect Kandi for getting her own money but she comes off like one of the biggest h-e freaks of Atlanta. Her little UStream show and sex toy line is why people felt some type way that she was on a magazine cover that touted her as one of our new role models. I hate to say it, but even NeNe Leakes is classier than Kandi.
Exactly!