In a string of nine tweets this past Saturday, Solange wrote that R&B has long been experimental, and expressed frustration at music critics for, "acting like it just popped off last year." She suggested a familiarity with Brandy as a pre-requisite for writing about R&B:
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Following Solange's tweets, Brandy fans shared their pet tracks using the hashtag #DeepBrandyAlbumCuts. Whether or not an extensive knowledge of Brandy's back-catalog is really key to thoughtful writing about R&B, her albums are a pleasure to revisit, marked by incomparable singing and well-chosen production (from Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, Kanye West, Sean Garrett and more). Here are 14 favorites, spanning Brandy's five studio albums. For more on her two-decade career, check out this Staff Selects playlist and our 2012 interview with Brandy about her album Two Eleven.
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Human is the fifth studio album by American singer Brandy. It was released on December 5, 2008 by Epic Records, Knockout Entertainment and Koch Records. The album was Norwood's debut Epic Records release, following her split with Atlantic Records in 2005, and her reunion with longtime collaborator and mentor Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, who executively produced and wrote most of the album with his songwriting collective.
Despite being generally well-received by critics, Human debuted at number 15 on the US Billboard 200 with opening week sales of 73,000 copies, becoming Brandy's lowest-charting album since her eponymous debut (1994). As of 2012, Human has sold 214,000 copies in the United States, failing to match the commercial success of predecessors. While leading single "Right Here (Departed)" scored Norwood her biggest chart success since "Full Moon" (2002), the second and final "Long Distance" was not as commercially successful.
Brandy Norwood released her fourth studio album Afrodisiac in June 2004, amidst the well-publicized termination of her short-lived business relationship with record executive and entertainment manager Benny Medina.[3] Norwood ended her contract with his Los Angeles-based Handprint Entertainment after less than a year of representation following controversies surrounding Medina's handling of the lead single "Talk About Our Love", and failed negotiations of a purported co-headlining tour with fellow R&B singer Usher.[3] Despite the negative publicity, Afrodisiac emerged as Norwood's most critically acclaimed album by then, but became a moderate seller on most music markets.[4] The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 albums chart but while it went on to sell more than 416,000 copies in the United States, it generally failed to chart or sell noticeably elsewhere.[5] Kanye West-produced "Talk About Our Love" reached number six on the UK Singles Chart but later singles such as "Afrodisiac" and "Who Is She 2 U" failed to score successfully on the popular music charts and promotion for the album soon ended.[6]
At the end of 2004, after eleven years with the company, Norwood asked for and received an unconditional release from her original label Atlantic Records.[7] By the time her contract expired, several of her longtime patrons such as music producer Darryl Williams and industry executive Sylvia Rhone had left the company and Norwood felt mismanaged by her new team of which she found was "looking more towards the hip-hop artists" on the label and "didn't know what to do with [her]."[6] Completing her contract with Atlantic Records, a compilation album compiling her first four studio albums with the company, entitled The Best of Brandy, was released in March 2005.[5] Thereupon, Norwood reportedly started shopping for a new record deal under Knockout Entertainment, her brother's Ray J's vanity label, which would co-venture her subsequent releases, including her fifth album, which she started recording independently.[8]
Norwood began recording the album in 2005.[9] Breaking away from her usual formula which saw her setting up projects with former main producers such as Keith Crouch, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins and Timbaland, she entered the studio with several songwriters and producers to record new music, including Louis Winding and Frederik Tao from Danish production team Maximum Risk.[9] The duo produced several songs for Norwood, including both "Honey" and "Sweet Nothings", all of which were penned by frequent collaborator Kenisha Pratt.[10][11] Over the following months, Norwood continued recording contract-free with a vast of producers such as Rockwilder and production duo Tim & Bob who finished several demos with her.[12][13] Her new management also arranged further recording sessions with fellow client Bryan Michael Cox and his production partners Adonis Shropshire and WyldCard at the Track Record Studios in North Hollywood.[14] Supposed to produce her whole album at the time,[14] they worked on a number of ballads and midtempo songs reminiscent of their other productions, including a song called "Cry".[15] In June 2006, Cox announced that he would serve as the album's executive producer,[1] but direction changes resulting from additional sessions left his songs unused.[15]
In December 2006, Norwood was involved in a fatal automobile accident on Los Angeles' San Diego (405) Freeway.[16] The accident claimed the life of the 38-year-old driver of a Toyota that was struck by Norwood's Range Rover.[16] Norwood was neither arrested nor charged with vehicular manslaughter due to insufficient evidence.[16] Nevertheless, multiple lawsuits were filed against her, all of which were ultimately settled out of court by her civil attorney.[17][18] Posing an extraordinary hardship for Norwood and her family, she stepped down from her role as a judge on the second season of the amateur talent contest America's Got Talent and went into hiatus.[19] Expanding on dealing with the aftermath of the tragedy, Norwood explained, "I just wanted people to know that this wasn't news. It's not something that should be talked about like it's gossip. You don't like me? Fine. But don't use this situation to try to hurt me, because the guilt of being involved is enough. It's something that I'll never truly, truly get over."[20] While the accident put a halt on the album's production, Norwood soon resumed recording which she found to be therapeutic: "I had to face it and find the strength to move forward. Connecting back with music has definitely helped me through everything. Once I got back in the studio, the butterflies went away."[21]
With most of the album being revamped,[15] other musicians joined the project, including Midi Mafia, RedOne, Toby Gad, Frank Ocean, and Brian Kennedy,[22] the latter of which was consulted to replace Cox as the album's executive producer.[23] Together, they crafted a bunch of new songs, including "Freedom", "One Thing" and "Today" which Norwood later described as sounding "more true to the sound" that she had initially envisioned for the album.[9] However, in early 2008, her A&R manager, Brandon Creed, presented Norwood several demo tracks that were produced by Rodney Jerkins, including "Right Here (Departed)".[24] Her former main producer on previous albums such as Never Say Never (1998) and Full Moon (2002), Jerkins hadn't worked with Norwood since 2002, due to conflicting schedules and a disagreement on her decision to work with Timbaland on Afrodisiac in 2003.[25] Again, the album was reconstructed, with Jerkins taking over executive duties.[1] On her decision to collaborate with Jerkins, Norwood commented: "With Rodney being the person who produced [the first single], I, of course, wanted to go from there because of our history and all the music we have made in the past. It felt like the right thing to do [...] I wanted to see where that chemistry would take us creatively this time round."[26] With Jerkins on board, providing the bulk of Human, the sound of the album shifted drastically, with Norwood and her team abandoning most R&B records in favor of his international pop sounds.[1]
Norwood signed a new record deal with Epic Records in April 2008 and intended to finish the album by September of the same year.[27] Additionally, Norwood worked with producers Timbaland (and his protegÃs J-Roc and James Fauntleroy),[28] Rico Love,[22] Blac Elvis,[22] Rob Knox,[29] The Clutch,[30] and songwriters Chasity Nwagbara,[22] Kara DioGuardi,[31] and Greg Curtis on Human,[32] although their songs remain yet unreleased on any format. Further studio collaborations with Kerry "Krucial" Brothers, Missy Elliott, Yung Berg, and Tonex, by contrast, failed to materialize due to scheduling conflicts.[33][34][35]
Introduced by the words of Brandy's description of a human being on "Human Intro", the album opens with Jerkins-crafted "The Definition", one of the few uptempo recordings on the album.[36] Written by Atlanta-based songwriter Crystal Johnson, the song depicts Brandy rhapsodizing about love.[36] It received generally mixed reviews, with The Boston Globe emphasizing it the most essential track on Human.[36] "Warm It Up (With Love)", another Darkchild production, was created around a piano sample and released to strong positive reactions.[37] Highlighted by AllMusic and Slant Magazine,[37] Newsday writer Glenn Gamboa noted it as "guiding principle" on the album.[38] Lead single "Right Here (Departed)" was not recorded until late into the production of Human and the first song Brandy recorded with Jerkins following their musical reunification in early June 2008.[39] Written by The Writing Camp and recorded with therapeutical background, the track chronicles a woman's talks about mutual support with loved ones.[40][28] Fifth track "Piano Man" was recorded as an ode to the kind of creative relationship cultivated by a vocalist and their producer or DJ.[40][41]
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