Kandi shares her initial opinion of the group: “The funny thing is we were on the same label. Xscape were on Columbia and so was Destiny’s Child. I had seen them around and whatever. They was cool, I liked them as a group and I liked their first song “No, No, No”, but for me it wasn’t really about them, it was another opportunity to keep writing for other artists. The opportunity had came, and She’kspere and I had become a partnership – he was the producer, I was the writer. We were like a team, so he wanted me there.
The Writing’s On The Wall is the first album where members of the group were credited for writing. Kandi explains the writing process: “Some of the songs I had already wrote, some I did with them. She’kspere had got the opportunity to work with the girls and asked me to come along.
“The first time we took a trip to Texas to work with them, their manager, Beyonce‘s dad, was like, ‘We already know what we want to do with this album, so I don’t really know what you guys are gonna bring to the table, but we’ll see what you come up with.’ He didn’t really think we were going to come up with anything.”
Kandi recalls the creation of “Bills, Bills, Bills”: ”She’kspere and I were in Texas. I think we were in the store or something. He started beat boxing the beat in his head; he was like, ‘It’d be dope if we played off of bills. Can you pay my bills? Pay my automobiles?’ So he was the one who was saying to do a song saying that to a guy. I was like, ‘Ok, but we need to explain why we’re asking the guy that.’
“In the verses, I used a lot of my own relationships. The same guy that kinda inspired “No Scrubs” to me, I kinda used that situation for the verses. When I said ‘You were taking me places I ain’t ever been and now you’re getting comfortable, ain’t doing those things you did no more, you’re making me pay for things that your money should be handling!’ I was using my personal experiences of how the guy’s mama’s number was there more than once – that was true. I didn’t tell the girls that. They did help on some parts but…
“Actually, one of the girls was dating the same guy at that time that I used to date! I didn’t even tell her that some of the things I was saying was about this dude [laughs]. It’s kinda funny. Him driving my car, using my phone – all that kinda stuff was true things that happened to me, but that happens a lot. I make fun of situations I’ve been in.”
Similar emotions inspired the uplifting, anti-hater anthem “So Good” boasting the line: “This is for them haters that said we wouldn’t make it/ Now we doing platinum and now you can’t take it”. Although it was never released as an official single, it received a lot of radio airplay and is still a favourite of many. It’s also alleged they were performing it when they were booed off during Hot 97′s Summer Jam in 2000.
Kandi also landed second single, “Bug-A-Boo”, a song created in the first session with the group. “Before She’k and I had gone down there, we had a couple of ideas that I had already started like the ‘Bug-A-Boo’ idea and I had this idea for, I think, “So Good” that I already had in mind.
“When they was listening to the tracks, at first I was being quiet and letting them say their opinions, but they were listening to those tracks and kinda of like, ‘I don’t like this, I don’t know about that.’ When the track for ‘Bug-A-Boo’ played they were like, ‘I don’t know about this,’ because, you know, if you just listen to that track and they had never heard the song or the concept over it, you’ll be thinking, ‘What can somebody sing over this?’ I remember I was like, ‘Do y’all mind if I sing to you the idea that I was thinking?’ and they was like ‘Cool,’ so I started singing.
“Normally, what I do if I know I’m going to work with an artist, I’ll maybe have the verse and hook already written, so just in case if they do wanna add some of their ideas to it, then feel like it’s something they can collaborate on. I just like to have the basics, the melody, the concept – pretty much everything was done, they can help fill in the blanks or whatever so they can feel like they helped, y’know what I mean? I said, ‘It’d be dope if we said this or that,’ I think they changed around like one thing of what I was saying and they loved it. From that point, as we did that song and I think we did the “So Good” song, they wanted us to come back for another trip to work with them again. I think we had started on “Bills, Bills, Bills” or playing them the idea of the concept, so we came back and finished the rest of the records.”
The single only peaked at #33 on the US Billboard Hot 100, however, “bug-a-boo” made it’s way into slang dictionary to describe anyone that contacts too often. Kandi explains the origins of the word: ‘Me personally, I use a lot of slang, so certain words that I felt like are cool words I just try to take them and make cool songs out of ‘em. Same way with No Scrubs, I’ll just use a slang term that I use with friends. ‘Bug-A-Boo’, that’s a saying I say all the time. I cannot stand when I let a person go through to voicemail, and they keep hanging up and calling back. Or you tell them ‘Hey, call me back in 5 minutes’ and they call back in exactly 4.5 minutes, like ‘Damn, such a bug-a-boo! Back up off me!’
“So, it’s just something I always used to say. I don’t know if it’s a term I created or if it was a general term me and my friends used to say it all the time. I’m always saying something crazy and sometimes I’ll make a song out of it. I think that’s one of the best songs, because it’s relatable.”
“Hey Ladies” is a quintessential Kandi girl power anthem where DC urge ladies to stop holding on and tell unsuitable men “He’s got to go!” Kandi speaks on another real-life situation that inspired it, plus female-empowering movement she’s known for: “It wasn’t a plan, it just happened that way. I was just writing songs inspired by relationships or things that I had wondered. It was just me and my personality on record.
“I didn’t know people were going to look at it as this big girl empowerment movement. I didn’t know that when I was doing it. I’m constantly writing about things that I am going through at that time. For me, if I’m mad or the dude pissed me off or whatever, then I’m talking about it when I’m in the studio. “No Scrubs” and “Bills, Bills, Bills” were inspired by the same dude.
“Hey Ladies” was a different guy I was dating. He had erm, he kinda um, he cheated on me with this chick and she wasn’t even hot! A friend of mine told me about the girl like and he had took her to the mall. I was like ‘What?! He took this chick to the mall? How’s he gonna be taking her to the mall?’ He’s meant to have been buying panties for this [female], y’know what I mean? [Laughs]
“So, for me I was kinda venting on certain songs. A lot of these songs are inspired by previous relationships and I just put it on record and make fun of it. I’m kinda like one of those real sarcastic people anyways, so it’s like I’m making a joke of a bad situation.”
we asked Kandi for her favourite song on the album: “My favorite from Writing’s On The Wall is hard. That was a great album & I did some great songs with them. If I have to pick I’d say “Bills Bills Bills” just because it was a hot single but “Hey Ladies” was super hot… Hell they all were!”
Although the album never received even a Grammy nomination, I’m sure I speak for most of you reading when I say this is easily one of the best albums ever created by a female group. I’ll also go on record to say despite all her success and plaudits, Beyoncé hasn’t been anywhere near close to producing an album as good. That isn’t blogger shade for hits, it’s the truth [disclaimer: in Marvin's opinion].