SWV Talk ‘The Queens of R&B’ & Still Being the Same ‘Around the Way Girls’
Written by djfrosty on March 13, 2023
SWV and Xscape: The Queens of R&B premiered March 5 on Bravo, and to celebrate the reality series, SWV sat down with Billboard‘s Gail Mitchell to discuss their incredible career.
“It’s a blessing,” Lelee said of the trio’s success. “We didn’t even know we were going to make it, let alone be here 30 years later. I mean, as long as the fans want us here, we’re going to show up.”
As for what it is about SWV that still resonates with music fans after all these years, Taj says that it’s all about consistency. “We haven’t changed one bit from day one. This is us,” she shares. “We were always the quirky, around the way girls who just love to have fun and sing. We’re still that, but we’re just much older.”
The six-episode Queens of R&B series follows SWV and Xscape as they prepare for a joint concert and navigate personal drama that could derail their stage plans. The reality series explores “the inner working of putting on a live concert performance” while exposing “the discord and complex dynamics of sisterhood within singing groups.”
The hardest part, Taj says, was being away from their families during filming. “You just want to be portrayed the right way,” Lelee adds. “Everybody don’t take your life and your story serious. It’s not their baby. It’s television.”
“Don’t get caught up in the hype,” Coko replies when asked what she wants fans to take away from the show, before adding with a laugh, “Enjoy it and don’t at me.”
Watch SWV’s full interview with Billboard above, included a gorgeous a cappella rendition of “Weak.”