Just last week, SWV, one of the most iconic girl groups in the world, graced NPR’s Tiny Desk, backed by a full band. The Sisters With Voices have always been a soulful lot, swelling rooms with the kind of harmonies that could put a traditional instrument to shame.
The ’90s lent itself to beautiful, Black, impenetrably strong girl groups who dominated R&B, and you couldn’t mention SWV without its friendly rival, Xscape. For decades, these legendary lineups went head-to-head, note-for-note, eager to prove who the true queens of R&B were. But as we learned from their joint show at Planet Hollywood on June 29, it’s more than enough—if not better—for two female powerhouses to co-exist.
SWV and Xscape’s Queens of R&B Tour is what happens when mutual respect for the craft overrides competition. Both girl groups have toyed with touring in the past (see the drama-filled Bravo series about their attempt at co-headlining a reunion show), and many requested it after watching SWV and Xscape vocally duke it out in a Verzuz battle that aired in 2021.
Vegas marked SWV and Xscape’s second date on the tour, and it couldn’t have come at a better time after fans lost out on seeing them at the canceled Lovers & Friends festival this year. I wouldn’t consider myself a longtime fan, as much as I would a fan by association. I grew up listening to SWV’s “Weak” and Xscape’s “Just Kickin’ It” at the house parties my mom used to host. She loved to entertain and never missed a chance to curate a good mixtape. The smell of incense still makes me think of the first time I heard Xscape’s “Who Can I Run To” at the top of my childhood home’s stairs.
“The ’90s were the best, it was the music era,” my mother tells me as we’re seated at the Bakkt Theater on Saturday night. “There was a lot of competition but, at the same time, a lot of unity. It was about making overall good music, not just competing but who could put out good music. Each group that stepped out had to give that, back to back to back.”
And that’s precisely how SWV and Xscape approached their co-headlining set. Each trio had their moment in the sun, trading off hit for hit. Vocally, we couldn’t ask for a better matchup. Both groups glowed in their harmonies, instinctually picking up where the other had left off without missing a note. At one point, Xscape’s Kandi Burruss (who some might recognize from The Real Housewives of Atlanta) emphasized “the mics are on and they gon’ stay on,” and stay on they did. I can’t recall hearing a single backing track.
During a gospel segment of the show, SWV and Xscape joined forces for a performance powerful enough to rival a mega church’s Sunday service. I mean, I can attest to the miracle of girl groups — I saw one woman stand up from her wheelchair for crying out loud. Each woman bodied their roles as melody makers and soloists. SWV’s Coko Gamble wielded such a magnetism on “Downtown” and what Xscape’s Tiny Harris lacked in size, she made up for in mighty, stadium-tier vocals.
Watching these women gave me a renewed sense of appreciation for the girl group, for the power and camaraderie of it and what it means to be a woman. Together, they lifted each other up, merging their talents into a celebration of decades-long legacy. That’s the ultimate truce, if you ask me.
