The Official Return of Brandy
Over a week has passed since my all-time favorite singer, Brandy, released her first official single in 8 years. “Baby Mama”, the title of the new banger, serves as a beautiful reminder that the iconic R& B songstress, who got her start in the ’90s, truly fits into multiple generations of music, which is fitting because she is often cited as being one of the main influences of the sound of many new singers. The song has occupied about 90 percent of my musical space and I am still excited by it and I am still discovering new aspects of its texture. These are exciting times for music all around because there are many legendary artists from various genres making comebacks, and many of these artists have great music to offer. As a music lover, I think it is important to celebrate veteran musicians when they decide to release new music, but this sentiment is sometimes not shown. There is a tendency to focus on the people who are new in music, and I get it, but celebrating both can also be done without taking away from new talent. Let’s talk about Brandy!
As I love telling people, Brandy is my first musical memory. I can remember being four years old and hearing her first song, “I Wanna Be Down”, on the radio in my mother’s car. I was in owe of her distinct voice and from that moment on she was my favorite singer. As a child, I collected every magazine cover I could find, I made sure to get “Cinderella”, “Double Platinum”, and “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer” on VHS, I watched Moesha religiously, I video tapped every television appearance that I was aware of, and I would have had the Brandy doll had it not been considered weird then for a boy to have a doll back then. I remember that I never actually told my family that I wanted the Brandy doll because I knew that it would provoke a negative reaction, but that’s a different story. Brandy was my childhood and literally so much more. As I sit here now and “Have You Ever” plays it brings back those early feelings I had before I honestly even knew I had them. I didn’t know it then, but to me, a gay black kid in the south, that song was about not fitting in and not knowing how to express your differences to a world that refused to listen. I realize these connections now and that realization adds even more of a connection to the emotion in her songs. The way she sings them, the picture she is able to paint with her voice, the very presence that exists on a Brandy song is just otherworldly.
Brandy being the literal soundtrack to my life has never stopped and it has in fact been there for me during some of my most important turning points. I recall being a senior in high school when her “Human” album came out and having it play through the headphones of my CD player when I was visiting my future college campus for an event. That was a time of both joy and nauseating fear of what was to come. I remember listening to “A Capella (Something’s Missing)”, in particular, and I somehow knew that everything was going to be okay. I was reminded that I never really fit in back home and that the fear that I was experiencing was normal. As the song said, something important was missing from my life and I knew that I needed to ignore my doubts in order to escape. It took me a while to find the thing that was missing, maybe I still haven’t, but this is just one example of being able to use Brandy’s songs as strength to prevail. I honestly can’t think of a single time I have not listened to her music before an interview or other major events. Honestly, even knowing Brandy’s story and being aware of how much an artist has to fight to remain in an industry that is always looking for replacements for as long as she has is proof of the inspiration that comes from her for me.
One of the many things that I love about Brandy as an artist is that she is an all-around entertainer. She’s not only The Vocal Bible, she’s not only able to command any live stage (and no, I still have not seen her live, in-person), but we’ve seen so many phases of her, and they all seem authentic. This, in my opinion, is why even after over 25 years after her debut, there is still excitement about her return to music, and it’s not only her die-hard fans. I am excited about her new music because you never know what to expect. Not many artists can maintain their own unique sounds while also having each album be almost completely different from each other.
Now, after years of not knowing when Brandy would release new music, the time is here. The single is out and doing well, the music video has premiered (and it’s amazing, honestly her best in years), and Brandy has now announced the title of her new album, B7, along with the release date of 7.31.20. You can stream Brandy’s new single, “Baby Mama” featuring Chance The Rapper, on all streaming and music downloading platforms. The music video can be found on YouTube! Check out the cover for B7 below!
