It's Not Kandi Versus Tamar, It's the Master Versus the Defiant Student

Tamar Braxton has made headlines once again, and per the pattern, it has nothing to do with her coveted five-octave vocal range. Instead, her on-again-off-again rivalry with fellow singer Kandi Burruss has been reignited, and this time, it doesn’t seem any sort of reconciliation or truce is an option.

The latest cause for drama occurred during the 2026 Essence Fest weekend. Video circulated of Tamar verbally congratulating Kandi, Monica, and others who were being honored during an event. Monica refused to acknowledge Tamar at all, not even making eye contact with the “Love & War” singer, while Kandi allowed for the subtle embrace and rolled her eyes with a chuckle, seemingly to say it was all a facade. 

Tamar took a picture with the group and went about her way. Kandi followed it up with a subtly shady social media post referencing the incident, while Tamar said Kandi is part of the “mean girls of Atlanta” and said she has no interest in feuding with anyone but the Devil, a sentence she’s echoed any time she’s gotten into it with someone and gone on a public rant before retreating, only to repeat the cycle. 

Kandi clapped back in a way we’ve never seen before, and unfiltered. She took to her YouTube show Speak On It to share her side of the story, spilled tea - with receipts, including Tamar allegedly sending her a text to say her then-husband was gay and Tamar following her around a party recently. Kandi says Tamar does behind-the-scenes things to agitate her, and made it clear that she does not like Tamar and will not act cordial for the sake of industry politics. 

The internet is split on who is wrong. But after analyzing this ongoing rift for a few years, and watching the behavior of both women, there’s one factor that is arguably undeniable: Tamar’s issue with Kandi (and whoever else is her beef of the week) is a matter of jealous admiration.

The origin of their beef is murky 

There’s a long and complicated history of issues between the two women. Overall, it seems that Tamar’s issues with Kandi initially began when Tamar started having issues with several members in the Kandi Koated clique. 

Tamar and Kandi’s close friend and group member, Tameka “Tiny” Harris, are the godmother to each other’s children (Tiny is Tamar’s son Logan’s godmother, and Tamar is Tiny’s daughter Heiress’ godmother) and have been in each other’s lives since Tamar was 19 years old. Their rift began, at least publicly, after Tamar was embarrassingly fired from The Real, a daytime talk show she co-hosted on Fox for three seasons. 

Tiny supported several of her celebrity friends who appeared on the show on social media - i.e. Monica, Toya Rushing, and Kandi. Like her song, Kandi flew above the drama, as her popular 2010 single notes, and kept moving and making money. Tamar took to social media to unfollow anyone who appeared as a guest on the show or promoted the show online.

Many instances have occurred since, with Tamar at the center of the schemes

Things have been a rollercoaster from there. Despite whatever drama the two had, when Kandi officially reunited with her group Xscape, they embarked on a multi-city U.S. tour in 2017, and guess who was one of the acts on the bill? Tamar. This was just months after The Real fiasco. At some point, Tamar thought it was a good idea to invite rapper Khia and T.S. Madison to appear on stage with her. According to the blogs, Khia and T.S. Madison allegedly planned to publicly diss Toya, whom Tamar had also fallen out with, but Kandi and the concert organizers intervened and kept them off the stage. 

When the two competed against one another in Celebrity Big Brother in 2019, they addressed the touring issue. Tamar claimed she was made to feel uncomfortable at work, and Kandi alleged that drama always followed Tamar. They made up and vowed to stay in a good space. So much so that when Kandi embarked on her Welcome to the Dungeon tour that same year, Tamar was on that bill as well. 

It’s unclear what happened during the second tour, but it’s been hell from there. In 2023, Tamar alleged publicly that Kandi and her then-husband Todd Tucker confronted and threatened her backstage at an event about her talking about Kandi to their peers, which Kandi and Todd deny.  Tamar said in a video she posted on social media that Kandi and Todd’s soul food restaurant, Old Lady Gang, was nasty and didn’t have local patrons. Tamar has said multiple times that Kandi cannot sing. Tamar inserted herself into Kandi and executive producer Carlos King’s issues by siding with Carlos. The list goes on. Until now, Kandi has stayed silent. But she emptied the clip in the Speak On It video.

Kandi’s career has continued to flourish 

Kandi mastered the art of turning negative experiences into financially fruitful business opportunities. When people were critical of her acknowledging an exploratory sex life that played out in a potentially career-ending scandal on RHOA, she produced the Welcome to the Dungeon tour, a sex-themed burlesque show. She took negativity about her family being unsupported of her marriage and created a show and restaurant themed after it. Even her latest one-woman tour, I Do. I Did. I’m Done - is in reference to her divorce from Todd. Not to mention she’s a Grammy-award-winning songwriter, a talent she explored full throttle after her group disbanded in the 90s. 

She spent 14 consecutive seasons as a full-time cast member on RHOA before she exited to pursue other ventures in acting and producing Tony-nominated Broadway plays. At the time of her exit from the show, she was reportedly the highest-paid cast member of any Housewives franchise, and she’d had several spin-off specials and shows under her belt. For the most part, she’s well-liked and well-respected by the general public and her peers. Tamar hasn’t had that same luck.

Tamar’s public persona is tainted 

Before becoming the breakout star of Braxton Family Values, Tamar was a boring and frustrated housewife in her mid-30s married to a big-time music executive who felt stifled after her sought-after solo career didn’t take off as she’d hoped. Her 2000 self-titled debut album is a classic cut to her fans, but it didn’t sell well. She was dropped from five record labels and brilliantly highlighted certain parts of her personality in the first season of her family reality show to make her stand out. And it worked…for some time. 

Tamar was everywhere. She had her family show plus a spinoff centered on her marriage, motherhood, and career in Tamar & Vince. The deals came: a clothing collection, a co-hosting spot on a daytime talk show, hosting gigs, competing on Dancing With the Stars, appearances, and finally the solo career. Her sophomore album Love & War produced two Grammy nominations; she went on tour with John Legend before her own tour, she performed at the main stage at Essence Fest, and released other albums that all sold relatively well. But in the midst of it all, the same personality that made users fall in love with her has become her downfall.

As the reality show and spinoff continued, Tamar appeared insufferable. She was always in conflict with her sisters, was bratty and spoiled, and came off as mean and vile in the way she spoke to them. When her sisters set boundaries in later seasons and weren’t quick to accept her apologies, she claimed to not understand. Family therapy helped for brief moments, but it was always Tamar versus somebody.

One would argue that the dynamic within her family was separate from how she operated in the real world, but it proved to be untrue. There have been rumors that Tamar is difficult to work with, hence her firing from The Real amid reports that she didn’t take executive feedback and didn’t get along with her co-stars. Her relationships with many of her friends have soured, and she’s had no issues explaining her side publicly, many times without warrant. 

Former business associates, such as makeup artists and songwriters, have said that when she doesn’t get her way, or they don’t agree with her, they are discarded and she tries to blackball them. Her romantic relationships have been disastrous, and her business opportunities have dried up. Aside from Kandi and her crew, she’s had too many public feuds to count, including K. Michelle, Loni Love, Claudia Jordan, Nene Leakes, Jason Lee, Tiffany Red, Jessie Woo, Funky Dineva, LaShawn and April Daniels, Tiyon Christian, and her sister Towanda, who remains estranged. 

She’s become a walking crash-out who takes to the internet, and it’s a liability in business because she’s so unpredictable. BFV was cancelled amid her opting not to film, citing pay issues; her spinoff ended amid her divorce from Vincent Herbert; and she was dropped from another label. Outside of live performances and random reality shows, she doesn’t have much going on. As her big sister Toni Braxton said during the last season of The Braxtons, it’s unfortunate that Tamar seems to enjoy being infamous rather than famous. 

Tamar should learn from the master of their craft

It’s sad, because Tamar can sing. But singing isn’t enough. And as we all know, this is the music business, and the business part of Tamar’s career is lacking. Kandi has leveraged every opportunity. There’s no reason Tamar couldn’t do the same, but self-sabotage is her second language. 

Like Kandi, Tamar is a talented songwriter. If you read her discography, she’s co-written many of her songs. She too could write for other artists, but again, she’s proven she doesn’t work well with others or take constructive criticism, which is a major ingredient in a successful collaboration. 

She’s been acting in a few Tubi movies, but to advance to something bigger, that would require a full rebrand. Unfortunately, she may not be capable, and this time, it may be too late, as history has shown she promises to do better only to relapse into the same BS. The general public has largely scoffed whenever she says she’s in a space of possibility and growth. Her words aren’t trustworthy. 

Tamar has been quiet since Kandi’s YouTube video, seemingly focusing on her current City Winery tour. Ironically, as Kandi noted in the YouTube video, whenever Tamar reignites their issues, it's seemingly on the heels of something Kandi has been successful with or ahead of Tamar doing something she needs publicity for. Knowing Tamar, she won’t stay too quiet for long.

Tamar’s issue with Kandi is simple: in her mind, she has the vocal talent that Kandi lacks, yet Kandi has the success. There’s a saying that if you can’t beat them, join them. Tamar should do the latter.