I didn’t really think about “Is this song going to be a hit? Is it going to be this? Is it going to be that?” I just wanted to be honest, and I just wanted to see what it would be like to just write my own story. It just poured out of me so naturally, and I trusted it. To be able take on a lot of the writing, it felt so natural for me because it felt like music for me was a way for me to just get so much out, so much of my story, so much of what I wanted to say. It took a long time, but I’m so grateful that I’m in this position right now, and I feel so proud of the work that I was able to do in this time.Īlong with creating your own imprint, you also reclaimed independence as a writer on this album. I went forward in that light and I was able to team up with eOne and create my own imprint, my own label from there and start the process of creating B7. From there, I really wanted to create a body of work. I released a few songs, just for the fun of it, just to feel the interaction with my fans. From there, I started to go into the studio again and record. Just being able to feel my voice in that way, being able to feel a crowd in that way, it opened up a lot of dreams that I didn’t know I still had. I had never felt so inspired the way I felt when I was on Broadway, I felt so free every night when I was performing. I went to Broadway, and Broadway was an eye-opener for me. What were the actions that you had to take in your life, besides getting out of that bad label contract, to feel that freedom on a day-to-day basis? I just didn’t want to start creating music and not feel inspired, not feel moved by life or the things that I was going through. Then I also wanted to be inspired in my music. I had to find that type of bravery, and I finally got to a place where I did, and I’m so grateful for that. At first, I had to muster up enough courage to actually get that process going. I really wanted to get myself in a place where I could feel I could be creatively free. It was immediate for me to deal with my label issues. What was the original plan after Two Eleven? Were you planning on releasing a new album soon after, or did the issues need to be taken care of immediately? There were a lot of legal and personal issues over the last eight years that kept new music delayed. What would I want it to sound like? How would I want to express myself? I took my time in that way. For me, I approached this album like this is my last project. I really don’t like that it took me this long, but I’m glad that I didn’t rush it because when you’ve been absent from music for so long you want to make sure that it’s your best work. I was able to really get a lot of things off of my chest, really use music as a way to escape and heal. It was so freeing for me, because I did get a chance to really dig in and write from my heart of hearts. I put everything I could into this project. I was balancing television and studio time. I feel like it started about three years ago. When would you say that the process for this album started for you? This is the longest between two albums for you in your career. As Brandy prepared for the release while self-isolating in Los Angeles with her family, she spoke with Rolling Stone about what it took to get to this moment. The final product is Brandy Norwood at her purest: an eclectic mix of modern and classic R&B sounds strung together by her distinctive, powerful voice. A settlement in 2017 led to Brandy realizing what musical freedom actually looks like: creating her own imprint, Brand Nu, and becoming the primary writer and creative force behind her long-awaited new LP, B7. Chameleon Entertainment, her former label, claimed she breached her contract by releasing music without their permission, while she countersued over unpaid production costs. Her sophomore LP would feature “The Boy Is Mine,” a massive duet with Monica that would become a karaoke staple, and her film appearances became bigger in the years following her Disney debut.īy the 2000s, Brandy’s musical output became more ambitious, but she was soon plagued with label troubles that led to an eight year hiatus following 2012’s Two Eleven. By the release of 1998’s Never Say Never, she was on her way to becoming a full-fledged film star as well, after starring in the Whitney Houston-produced Cinderella adaptation. Following the release of her self-titled debut, which spawned an early hit with the single “Baby,” she landed a starring role on the popular sitcom Moesha. Brandy’s ascent in the Nineties was meteoric.
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