Kandi Burruss Was Surprised ‘Legs, Hips, Body’ Went Viral

Kandi Burruss’ pen is the gift that keeps on giving. Even when it comes to memes.

Last month, the “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star went viral for a song she wrote in 2014. In a video posted to her TikTok page on May 18, Kandi steps down from her trailer at the Lovers and Friends festival — where her group Xscape performed — and gives a little spin and dance to show off what she’s working with. As both the song and caption she used to reflect the mood, she was giving “Legs, Hips, Body.”

Shortly after posting that, the sound took off as some were reminded of the tune from her original stage play “A Mother’s Love” and others were just hearing it for the first time. In an old clip from a scene, Kandi sings about how good her man has it with her at home and does a choreographed dance alongside singer D. Woods, former “Housewives” co-star Porsha Williams and social media personality Funky Dineva.

Kandi said Jami Zeigler, who helps with her YouTube and social media, deserves the credit for resurfacing the song. She placed it on top of the video because the topic fit Kandi flaunting her body-ody backstage. 

“At first, even when I first came back from the trip or whatever, I didn’t even post it immediately when she sent it to me. I had waited a few days and then I was thinking, I was like, ‘Dang, I ain’t even posted nothing on a TikTok in a minute. I’m just going to throw this on there,’” she told HuffPost. “So it was so random. I just posted it up on a Thursday, I guess. Then by Saturday morning, my friends were calling me like, ‘Girl, you going viral.’ I was like, ‘Oh, please don’t let it be something bad.’”

When she realized that the song had people talking, she didn’t initially understand why.

“I guess, people were making fun of the little African drums at the beginning. I was like, really? I didn’t think that it was that big of a deal, but OK.”

Since then, “Legs, Hips, Body” has been unavoidable on the internet. Social media users have placed the song with its jungle-esque beat over screen recordings of Temple Run, renditions of the scene from the play, and of course, videos of them flaunting their curves. Kandi also hosted a twerk class with her girls.

In addition to “Legs, Hips and Body,” Kandi wrote the play and all of the songs on the soundtrack to “A Mother’s love.” It’s autobiographical, she said, noting the viral song was inspired by the drama between her mom, Joyce Jones and her now-husband Todd Tucker right before they got married. 

Tucker directed the play, which also stars Shirley Murdock and Eddie Levert.

“[The play] was supposed to be a girl that was in a girl group, which obviously was just one of the songs that her group performed in the play,” she said, noting that most of what she writes is based on her own experiences.

It’s clear now that a play lasts a few hours but “legs and hips and body” are forever.  

“A Mother’s Love” is available to stream on BET+.