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What Brandy's Debut Album Taught Black Girls (https://www.teenvogue.com/story/brandy-album-25-years)
In the rules of engagement, women have always been confronted with the quandary of, "How much is too much?"
"Should I speak first?"
"Should I ask for their phone number?"
"Do I look thirsty?"
Twenty-five years ago, Brandy Norwood introduced the world to her self-titled album that has since gone quadruple-platinum and mapped out the answers to those very questions. We just didn't quite know it yet. The combination of the sweet sound of her vocals partnered with her girl-next-door look, Brandy presented herself as an artist that was set in a direction to be ahead of her time of handing us the blueprint.
At only 15-years-old, Brandy gave us classic Black-girl-bops like "Baby" and "I Wanna Be Down," which in the culture today, would all be considered ways to "shoot your shot". "I Wanna Be Down" was the first single released on the album, peaking at number one on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop charts for a consistent four weeks, and rightfully so.
To be "down", in the 90s, meant to be a part of and on board with something.
"I Wanna Be Down" was written by Keith Crouch, a music producer who has worked with many artists including Mary J. Blige, Toni Braxton, and Deborah Cox. The song opens up with Brandy singing, "I would like to get to know if I could be / The kind of girl that you could be down for? / 'Cause when I look at you I feel something tell me / That you're the kind of guy that I should make a move on."
In a 2012 VIBE interview, Brandy revealed that the song was written to make her stand out as an artist."At the time he (Crouch) was not trying to be like anyone else on radio," she said about Keith's lyrics "He was all about his own sound. But what I really loved about Keith is he gave me real music. He didn't give me teenybopper records. It was age-appropriate, youthful records, but it was still real music." The single, showed us the most matter-of-factly way to shoot your shot without that overbearing feeling of, "Did I do too much?"
"And if I don't let you know /Then I won't be for real / I could be wrong, but I feel like something could be going on /The more I see you the more that it becomes so true /There ain't no other for me it's only you..."
The R&B song captured the most honest way of stating a claim of interest and maintaining all dignity in the process. But, just before we could simmer in the politeness of this original ballad, "I Wanna Be Down" handed us a remix that ramped up the way Black women took hold of the dating conversation.
Featuring hip-hop legends, Queen Latifah, Yo-Yo, and MC Lyte, "I Wanna Be Down" took a new shape with grown women stating their wants in the most affirmative way through a hip-hop remix. The video, directed by Hype Williams, featured the women looking directly into the camera and offering a more brazen testament of telling someone just how down they were trying to be. It was a bold statement; an unabashed declaration of love akin to Marvin Gaye singing "I Want You."
"Those songs meant so much to me because her music formulated many of my early thoughts of how I should feel and approach my first crushes and first loves," says Gia Peppers, host of BET's Black Coffee and Black Girl podcast about Brandy's impact on her identity. "Those songs are nostalgic because they bring me back to moments where I would have butterflies thinking about a boy in class, and wishing I was really in her music videos and he'd notice me as the cute girl in the back of the class. {laughs} But here Brandy was, this teenage girl full of confidence and swag, fully articulating how she thought her future boo was so fine."
Black culture enthusiast, Latasha Mercer would agree. "That album just moved my childhood as a Black girl immersing me in the culture because Brandy was our sweetheart and America's Princess," she says. "I also thought I wanted to be a singer and ballads were my jam, so I still play 'Brokenhearted' like it's the first time."
Brandy's next single, "Baby", mirrored the remix of "I Wanna Be Down" by the direction of the lyrics telling someone just exactly what they wanted and why. Reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100s, the combination of Keith Crouch, Kipper Jones, and Rahsaan Patterson's writing and production was a sure-fire win in the game of shot shooting. The song also earned Brandy her first Grammy-nomination.
The catchy hook, "Baby, baby, baby, baby / don't you know that you're so fine? / Baby, baby, baby, baby / Think about you all the time!"
For Black girls, this cool confidence wrapped in beauty and braids allowed many to also blossom and find themselves.
On "I'm Yours," Brandy passionately affirms a love for her partner displaying her vocal range in the midst of declaring confident transparency of being solely theirs. "As Long As You're Here," demanded that her lover work things out with her before moving on from the relationship. The uptempo, "Sunny Day," was a reminder that sometimes a day without that special someone is "just another 24 that passes by." She owns her misstep in the relationship and recognizes a need for an apology to aid in reconciliation. "Always On My Mind," inspired Tyler the Creator so much that he tweeted, this song "is the music I really wanna make. Sh*t is awesome." Robin Thicke wrote, "Love Is On My Side," a ballad about the bubbly feeling that's experienced when you begin a new relationship and delivers a nostalgia of that newness. Closing out the album was "Give Me You," which could actually be considered a gospel song, partnering a choir-like hook that offers praise and worship-style delivery--celebrating Brandy's church background. It was the perfect commencement and very telling of Brandy's effort to remain authentic.
The body of work was the ultimate guide for young girls, specifically, young Black women who looked to Brandy as one of the few brown-skinned girls in the industry that mirrored who they were.
"I understood her and she understood me," Gia adds. "When my parents would dismiss puppy love feelings as phases that I was too young to be going through, I could turn on my radio and Brandy was there to help guide me. Her music and her presence shaped some parts of who I am today."
Was just about to post about this! Yes BRAN! LEGENDARY SELF!
this icon
Yes Brandy! :ATLcameo:
Get this PRESS brandy :kii:
I just... :stressed:
Yaaaas LEGENDANDY get clout and press.
Not Teen Vogue
kodfsdifdifd Is it 1998?
:thatssowendy:
Fucking legend, I love this bitch!
Iconic self!
already posted
I love this idea, monk
It begins :blessed:
Come in Teen Vogue '!!! Ndbddb
Bitch
i can't believe we've reached this point. Dark times before and the shaderoom before this sdddd
WHEW
Brandy's Debut Album Turns 25: All the Tracks Ranked (https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8531487/brandy-debut-album-songs-ranked)
:stressed: :stressed: :stressed:
Quote from: Lazarus on September 27, 2019, 11:37:06 AM
Brandy's Debut Album Turns 25: All the Tracks Ranked (https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8531487/brandy-debut-album-songs-ranked)
what in the?.. :omgwatshappening:
Fantasia discusses the collaboration that never was
and says nice things about Bran and the 25th Anniversary at the end
https://thatgrapejuice.net/2019/09/exclusive-fantasia-talks-sketchbook-assures-brandy-jazmine-collab-will-happen/ (https://thatgrapejuice.net/2019/09/exclusive-fantasia-talks-sketchbook-assures-brandy-jazmine-collab-will-happen/)
Quote from: 89 on September 27, 2019, 01:16:24 PM
Fantasia discusses the collaboration that never was
and says nice things about Bran and the 25th Anniversary at the end
https://thatgrapejuice.net/2019/09/exclusive-fantasia-talks-sketchbook-assures-brandy-jazmine-collab-will-happen/ (https://thatgrapejuice.net/2019/09/exclusive-fantasia-talks-sketchbook-assures-brandy-jazmine-collab-will-happen/)
Fantasia is a real one
It'll happen one day and if not, i think Tasia and Bran will do something. Jazmine needs to get away from RCA ASAP
Quote from: 1RIG on September 27, 2019, 01:17:59 PM
Quote from: 89 on September 27, 2019, 01:16:24 PM
Fantasia discusses the collaboration that never was
and says nice things about Bran and the 25th Anniversary at the end
https://thatgrapejuice.net/2019/09/exclusive-fantasia-talks-sketchbook-assures-brandy-jazmine-collab-will-happen/ (https://thatgrapejuice.net/2019/09/exclusive-fantasia-talks-sketchbook-assures-brandy-jazmine-collab-will-happen/)
Fantasia is a real one
It'll happen one day and if not, i think Tasia and Bran will do something. Jazmine needs to get away from RCA ASAP
and Fanny says here that it was "halfway recorded"
guess Jaz really wasn't with it
Quote from: 89 on September 27, 2019, 01:21:05 PM
Quote from: 1RIG on September 27, 2019, 01:17:59 PM
Quote from: 89 on September 27, 2019, 01:16:24 PM
Fantasia discusses the collaboration that never was
and says nice things about Bran and the 25th Anniversary at the end
https://thatgrapejuice.net/2019/09/exclusive-fantasia-talks-sketchbook-assures-brandy-jazmine-collab-will-happen/ (https://thatgrapejuice.net/2019/09/exclusive-fantasia-talks-sketchbook-assures-brandy-jazmine-collab-will-happen/)
Fantasia is a real one
It'll happen one day and if not, i think Tasia and Bran will do something. Jazmine needs to get away from RCA ASAP
and Fanny says here that it was "halfway recorded"
guess Jaz really wasn't with it
:guys:
Jaz be on both of their pages more than ever now too. Ssddd making sure to show love so people won't start mess :kii:
Quote from: Lazarus on September 27, 2019, 11:37:06 AM
Brandy's Debut Album Turns 25: All the Tracks Ranked (https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8531487/brandy-debut-album-songs-ranked)
Yes BILLBOARD :ohwow:
Bitch Not Teen Vogue!!!! WTF!!!!
Work your network, Sonja!!!!
Okay for Billboard and TeenVogue
slay a bit Bran
Quote from: 89 on September 27, 2019, 01:16:24 PM
Fantasia discusses the collaboration that never was
and says nice things about Bran and the 25th Anniversary at the end
https://thatgrapejuice.net/2019/09/exclusive-fantasia-talks-sketchbook-assures-brandy-jazmine-collab-will-happen/ (https://thatgrapejuice.net/2019/09/exclusive-fantasia-talks-sketchbook-assures-brandy-jazmine-collab-will-happen/)
:stressed: :stressed: :stressed:
Quote from: Harlem on September 27, 2019, 01:46:58 PM
Bitch Not Teen Vogue!!!! WTF!!!!
Work your network, Sonja!!!!
Sonja is every fucking thing.
I'm happy to see you miserable gorls finally taking a Xanax and just chilling out a bit
:blessed:
Quote from: Blackpantha on September 27, 2019, 03:39:44 PM
I'm happy to see you miserable gorls finally taking a Xanax and just chilling out a bit
:blessed:
:dead: :dead: :dead: :dead:
Quote from: Monika on September 27, 2019, 03:57:26 PM
Quote from: Blackpantha on September 27, 2019, 03:39:44 PM
I'm happy to see you miserable gorls finally taking a Xanax and just chilling out a bit
:blessed:
:dead: :dead: :dead: :dead:
Yasssssssssss Monika drink down 4 Xanax pills and just chillax. Let the Zen take over you :rthosehotwings:
:ohwow:
Quote from: Lazarus on September 27, 2019, 11:37:06 AM
Brandy's Debut Album Turns 25: All the Tracks Ranked (https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8531487/brandy-debut-album-songs-ranked)
I'm Yours def shouldn't be this low lol.
Loving this!