I stacked my lead to sound a little bit stronger. And my lead was a challenge, because I had to do it twice. “I had to be convinced that this was the right first single, because I loved ‘Best Friend’ so much. And this song was the first time I’d felt that feeling outside of the church.” I love singing backgrounds more than I do lead. So I love playing with different notes, and feeling that union with different harmonies and sounds. I come from a church where I grew up singing a capella. I loved ‘Best Friend’ because I got a chance to do my own backgrounds.
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I love singing in my lowest register, that’s where I got a chance to play around with that. And it had that flute and everything, it was different. That didn’t work out, but it started off that way. Just pull from your own life and you’ll connect more.’” Keith would say, ‘I mean for real, you can hear when you’re just trying to do vocals and it doesn’t have passion behind it. It was a cute baby crush, but I was able to pull from that feeling. But when I started to sing it, I was thinking about this guy I liked and it started to connect. “I remember being in the studio with Keith and hearing this track, and I didn’t like it at first because I was afraid that I wasn’t old enough. It was a soul song, and the end of that song really shows where I got my inspiration. “I was inspired by Whitney Houston and the Clark Sisters, and trying to do everything they were doing - the runs, the range, everything. Here, Brandy shares the stories of every song, from rushing a session to make a Magic Mountain play-date and working with a young Robin Thicke to her recent reunion with the ladies of the “I Wanna Be Down” remix and a new gospel rendition of a fan-favorite album cut. 7 (“I’m in the reinventing phase right now,” she says), but looking back 20 years later there still ain’t nothing like the first time. The album itself was certified double platinum and spent 89 weeks on the Billboard 200, and helped Brandy net two Grammy nominations the following year, including a nod for Best New Artist.īrandy has released five full-lengths since her debut, and is in the early process of recording Album No. The album yielded her four top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including three top 10s (“I Wanna Be Down,” “Brokenhearted” and “Baby”), and two No. My dream.”īrandy’s wide-eyed innocence and songs of first crushes and heartbreak connected almost instantly, and proved to be a major breakthrough for the singer.
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“Of course, it was about 19 keys down from what Whitney and Mariah were singing, but I gave it my all and they signed me. “I went back to Darryl when I was 14 and I sang ‘Greatest Love Of All’ and ‘Vision Of Love’ for him and Sylvia Rhone,” Brandy says.
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Though Brandy grew up idolizing mezzo sopranos Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, and even tried to score a record contract with Atlantic’s A&R director Darryl Williams at the age of 12 by auditioning with their songs, it took her a few years to embrace the subtle power of her own alto range. Fellow 15-year-old Aaliyah’s Age Ain’t Nothin’ But A Number had just been released months prior, a 14-year-old upstart named Usher had just released his own self-titled debut in late August, pre-teen vocal trio Immature scored a top hit 10 with ballad “Never Lie” and a 13-year-old named Monica was waiting in the wings to release her debut Miss Thang the following summer.īut there was something special about Brandy, from its throwback, funk-soul production (led by then-21-year-old writer-producer Keith Crouch and R&B group Somethin’ For The People, best known for slow jam “My Love is The Shhh”) to the smoky, evocative vocals coming from its lead performer. 27, 1994) and herald its singer as the latest fresh face of R&B at a time when youth was just starting to rule the airwaves. The single helped introduce the then-15-year-old’s self-titled debut Brandy (released Sept. “Remember how DJs, they talk in the beginning and the song is playing a little bit? And then they’d say, ‘Here’s Brandy with a new song.’ It was like, ‘Thank you God, this is everything for me.’ And I was with my friends at Taco Bell. “I remember being at Taco Bell, in the drive-thru, and hearing it on the radio, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m on the radio!’” Brandy, now 35, recalls to Billboard. Like many of her fans 20 years later, Brandy can still remember the first time she heard her debut single “I Wanna Be Down” on the radio in the late summer of 1994.īrandy, ‘Brandy’ at 20: Classic Track-by-Track Review