THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 6, 1996 TAG: 9604050066
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARSHA GILBERT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
THIS IS A big year for Tiny.
Tameka ``Tiny'' Cottle, of the multi-platinum R&B quartet Xscape, went into labor the day before the group started rehearsing for the R. Kelly Top Secret Tour.
On March 21, the singer delivered a 6.87 pound baby girl named Zonnique Jaydee Pullens.
``She has my eyes and her dad's forehead,'' Cottle, 20, said. ``She looks like her dad,'' rapper Zeboe Pullens of the group Jagged Edge.
Cottle probably won't be with Xscape at the Hampton Coliseum on Sunday, because she is taking some time off after Zonnique's birth. She hopes to soon join the tour, which will cover 48 cities in the next two months.
``I'll take her with me eventually in the middle of the tour,'' said Cottle.
The other three members of Xscape - LaTocha Scott, 23; her sister Tamika, 21; and Kandi Burrus, 19 - have been rearranging their staging while Cottle is resting at home in Atlanta.
Concertgoers will still be able to hear their favorite Xscape hits like ``Just Kickin' It,'' ``Feel So Good,'' ``Who Can I Run To?'' and ``Do Like Lovers Do.''
``The million dollar girl group,'' as producer Jermaine Dupri calls them, topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was nominated as best R&B group in this year's Soul Train Music Awards. They worked with artists like En Vogue, TLC, Queen Latifah and Mary J. Blige in the female anthem ``Freedom,'' for the soundtrack of the movie ``Panther.'' Xscape is currently filling the airwaves with Mariah Carey and Da Brat on ``Always Be My Baby'' and ``Can't Hang,'' with rapper M.C. Lyte.
The members of the Atlanta-based group met each other while they attended middle school and high school. They used to have a friendly rivalry to see who was the best dancer.
By 1991, they worked up a song and dance routine and performed at the Teen Summit in Atlanta. By 1993, they got the attention of Dupri, who recorded them singing ``Is My Living in Vain'' and offered them a contract.
Their first album on So So Def, ``Hummin' Comin' At `Cha,'' released in 1994, sold over 2.6 million.
Their second album, ``Off the Hook,'' released last August, is already platinum, with more than 1 million copies sold.
``There are more songs on this album,'' Cottle said. ``This one is more mature and it's opened us up to a bigger, older audience. Everybody thought we were rappers. We used to wear big baggy jeans. Now we wear more suits. We dress how we feel that day. This album has more love songs. It's more sophisticated.''
Cottle was groomed for a career in show business by her father and uncle, who were original members of the '50s group The Tams. They are best remembered for songs like ``What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am)'' and ``There Ain't Nothing Like Shagging.''
Cottle is also a first cousin to Shawn Stockman of the R&B group Boyz II Men.
KEYWORDS: PROFILE by CNB