Tameka 'Tiny' Cottle

Tameka Dianne Cottle-Harris (née Cottle; born July 14, 1975), known professionally by her nickname Tiny, is an American singer. She rose to fame in the 1990s as a member of the multi-platinum R&B vocal group Xscape. She received a Grammy Award for her writing contributions on the TLC hit "No Scrubs". Cottle is also known for her marriage to T.I. She acquired the nickname "Tiny" due to her small stature of 4'11".
 

Early life

Cottle was born in College Park, Georgia, to a white (British-American) mother, Dianne Cottle (b. 1945) and a black (African-American) father, Charles "Speedy" Pope (1936–2013). Cottle's father and her uncle, Joseph Pope (1933–1996), formed the R&B group The Tams.

Career

In teen years, Cottle joined the female R&B quartet Xscape in 1992 while attending Tri-Cities Performing Arts High School. Xscape was discovered by producer Jermaine Dupri while singing at his birthday celebration in Atlanta, Georgia. Dupri immediately signed the group to his then-new record label, So So Def Recordings.
 

As a member of the group, Cottle has contributed to three of the group's platinum albums: Hummin' Comin' at 'Cha, Off the Hook, and Traces of My Lipstick. As a member of Xscape, she has received two Soul Train Music Awards for Best New R&B Artist and Best R&B Album and the A-Town Music Award for Best Duo/Group. Cottle sang lead vocals on six of Xscape's hit singles: "Understanding", "Do You Want To?", "All I Need", "Love's a Funny Thing", "My Little Secret", and "Am I Dreamin'". She has also recorded on soundtracks for films: The Baby-Sitters Club, Sunset Park, The Mask, Soul Food, Panther, Bad Boys, and Love Jones. In 1998, after the release of Xscape's third album, Traces of My Lipstick, the band parted ways.
 

In 2000, Cottle and fellow ex-Xscape group member Kandi Burruss were honored with a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for penning TLC's hit single "No Scrubs". Cottle's other accomplishments include an American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers award in the R&B and Pop Music categories for "No Scrubs", as well as the ASCAP Rap Award for her work on the Sporty Thievz track "No Pigeons". Cottle has also worked with her husband T.I., 8Ball & MJG, Lil' Kim and Bow Wow.

After a five-year hiatus, Cottle reunited with sisters LaTocha and Tamika Scott and added a new member, Kiesha Miles (replacing Kandi), to release a Xscape album entitled Unchained as well as the single, "What's Up", in 2005.

Cottle is involved in a project with Kiesha Miles called the OMG Girlz. Cottle's daughter, Zonnique, is a part of the musical trio, along Bahja and others. She appeared in her husband's video for "Hello" (feat. Cee Lo), along with their family and the OMG Girlz.

In June 2009, Cottle's reality TV series, Tiny and Toya, made its first premiere on BET, but cancelled in 2010.

On July 22, 2014, Tameka returned to the music industry under her new label Pretty Hustle, with her first solo single "What The F*** You Gon Do?". Within a few hours of "WTFYGD" being released it reached the #5 spot on the iTunes R&B/Soul charts, and less than 24 hours after release it became the #1 song on the charts for the genre.

In 2017, she and her bandmate Kandi Burruss, also have writing credits on the sampled song Shape of You by Ed Sheeran.

In 2018, Cottle took a break from her XSCAP3 EP promo to spend some quality time with her one-year-old daughter Heiress. In 2022, Cottle reunited with Xscape for a performance at the Soul Train Music Awards.

In March 2023, Cottle appeared in the Bravo reality television series SWV & Xscape: The Queens of R&B.