Cottle was born in College Park, Georgia to a Caucasian mother, Dianne Cottle (b. 1945) and an 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. Cottle joined the 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. Dupri immediately signed the group to his then new record label, So So Def Recordings.\n', '

As a member of the group, Cottle has contributed to three of the band\'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 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.\n', '

In 2000, Cottle and fellow former 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 T.I., 8Ball & MJG, Lil\' Kim and Bow Wow.\n', '

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