Before her big performance at the Billboard Music Awards earlier this month, Brandy was nervous. Like "very very very nervous." The kind of nervous that sent the Grammy winner to a quiet corner backstage where the only sound was her pencil etching the pages of the journal she takes everywhere.
"I started to ask God to come forth and take over my personality, take over my voice, you know, just basically become me for me. Make it look like it's me, but it's all you. Express that thing that's better than you, that higher energy. I asked for that to come forth," said the singer. "It humbles me. And it makes me feel like I'm just a vessel. I'm just the messenger, you know?"
The message that night was unmistakable: Brandy Rayana Norwood, the genre-defining R&B artist who's ridden the highest highs and the lowest lows the entertainment business has to offer, is back. After an eight-year stretch between albums, the 41-year-old is a household name again.
In the span of a month, the "Borderline" singer went from "Where is she?" to "Where isn't she?" She released her seventh studio album, "B7," on July 31. The very next day, Netflix (finally) began streaming all six seasons of "Moesha," the '90s sitcom that diversified the Girl Next Door trope forever and made Brandy a teenage star. In August, the "Verzuz" battle between Brandy and Monica, another trademark '90s R&B artist, broke records in viewership and touted a cameo by Democratic vice-presidential nominee Kamala D. Harris. Then Billboard called.
It had been years since Brandy performed on a stage that big. Sure, the coronavirus pandemic nixed the live audience, but the nerves were still there. Her only goal was to walk away feeling good about what she'd done, to empty out everything and leave it behind her.
"I try to do everything like it's the last thing that I'm going to do," Norwood said in an interview with The Washington Post. And there have been moments when she actually thought her time had come and gone — that she'd never sing again, never stand in front of an audience who cared, never get to share what she considers her God-given gift.
"There have been times where other people have intentionally tried to make me feel like I'm a has-been, and a part of me — the weaker parts of me — bought into that," said Norwood. "I really believed that. I really took time off. I was lost. I didn't know what my sound was. I didn't even know if I was important enough in music to put together a body of work."
Record scratch. Brandy, the singer whose vast cohort of fans call her "the Vocal Bible" because of the depth of her sound, didn't think she mattered?
"It's those feelings that you get when you're not all the way sure. I doubted what I thought was good," explained Norwood. "Those were my lowest of lows — to not know who I was as an artist, to not understand what people are saying about me. Why are you calling me 'the Vocal Bible'? What do you mean, my tone? To not understand myself, that's hell."
For fans, one of Brandy's biggest highs as an artist was her third album, "Full Moon," a magnum opus and master class. It dropped the summer of 2002, a year after "Moesha" was canceled and three months before she became a mother with the birth of her daughter, Sy'rai. It cemented the singer's transition from "Cinderella" to someone who could sang. Produced by Rodney Jerkins, "Full Moon" introduced Brandy's now trademark vocal stacking, gospel-inspired runs and buttery tone.
Full Article
https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2020/10/29/brandy-interview/
Yea, this is THEE era
After reading this article I am even more happy she, her team and family see how much she was missed and needed in music. I knew Queen was nervous about her musical return and I am sooooo happy that likely E.Badu and BET did that cypher for her and that Maverick secured that BB Awards performance.
She was never a has been and I'm happy she sees that only that trash Breyon and a few nobodys felt that way. She's such a fighter and I truly believe her peers will push for her to get Grammy awards next year even without a label backing.
Quote from: Vonc2002 on October 29, 2020, 04:15:51 PM
Yea, this is THEE era
YOUR GROWTH THIS ERA IS MY FAVORITE TO SEE!!!!
THE WAY SHE HAS BEEN REELING YOU IN, IN THAT SLOW COOKER, HAS ME :flamebroiled:
:dead: :dead: :dead:
It wont let me read the full mess without being subscribed. Y'all reading it?
Get RIGHT to the damn point then Wash' :dead:
Oh SHIT
what kinda COMEBACK
:guys:
Quote from: Vonc2002 on October 29, 2020, 04:22:29 PM
It wont let me read the full mess without being subscribed. Y'all reading it?
I'm updating the OP with the full article now it's long
Hearing Bran talk like this makes me think a Gospel song wouldn't be such a bad thing. Especially with her and Kim reconnecting recently.
QuoteThe message that night was unmistakable: Brandy Rayana Norwood, the genre-defining R&B artist who has ridden the highest highs and the lowest lows the entertainment business has to offer, is back. After an eight-year stretch between albums, the 41-year-old is a household name again.
:plzstop:
Damn i love this woman
Thanks for sharing! What a thoughtful write-up. I'd really like more of these, either NYT or NY Mag. She's earned well-authored profiles. So resilient, she's been at this forever... learned the hard lessons and there's still so much goodness ahead.
And Breyon is the scourge of the earth.
Quote from: Keyed on October 29, 2020, 04:44:14 PM
Thanks for sharing! What a thoughtful write-up. I'd really like more of these, either NYT or NY Mag. She's earned well-authored profiles. So resilient, she's been at this forever... learned the hard lessons and there's still so much goodness ahead.
And Breyon is the scourge of the earth.
:kii:
he gotta be FUMING. He has never come close to booking all she's been doing under Maverick and Sonja. Bloop!
She deserves every bit of this!!!
Quote from: Brandy's 2021 Grammy on October 29, 2020, 04:46:27 PM
Quote from: Keyed on October 29, 2020, 04:44:14 PM
Thanks for sharing! What a thoughtful write-up. I'd really like more of these, either NYT or NY Mag. She's earned well-authored profiles. So resilient, she's been at this forever... learned the hard lessons and there's still so much goodness ahead.
And Breyon is the scourge of the earth.
:kii:
he gotta be FUMING. He has never come close to booking all she's been doing under Maverick and Sonja. Bloop!
...and is now known for being Teddy Riley's glitchy ass hypeman
Quote from: Brandy's 2021 Grammy on October 29, 2020, 04:46:27 PM
Quote from: Keyed on October 29, 2020, 04:44:14 PM
Thanks for sharing! What a thoughtful write-up. I'd really like more of these, either NYT or NY Mag. She's earned well-authored profiles. So resilient, she's been at this forever... learned the hard lessons and there's still so much goodness ahead.
And Breyon is the scourge of the earth.
:kii:
he gotta be FUMING. He has never come close to booking all she's been doing under Maverick and Sonja. Bloop!
Ffcgghhhjjjjjjhd
She lashing Breyon fat neck over and over. Is he okay? Hating ass ugly ass fag
Yea that last record label nigga tried to make her out to be done. EGGS, nigger. I hope he's somewhere struggling
Quote from: Vonc2002 on October 29, 2020, 04:52:47 PM
Yea that last record label nigga tried to make her out to be done. EGGS, nigger. I hope he's somewhere struggling
:omf: :omf: :omf: :omf: :omf:
Quote from: Vonc2002 on October 29, 2020, 04:52:47 PM
Yea that last record label nigga tried to make her out to be done. EGGS, nigger. I hope he's somewhere struggling
hbhbhbk
unfortunately hes good since Jamie Foxx is still his artist
Quote from: Keyed on October 29, 2020, 04:49:34 PM
Quote from: Brandy's 2021 Grammy on October 29, 2020, 04:46:27 PM
Quote from: Keyed on October 29, 2020, 04:44:14 PM
Thanks for sharing! What a thoughtful write-up. I'd really like more of these, either NYT or NY Mag. She's earned well-authored profiles. So resilient, she's been at this forever... learned the hard lessons and there's still so much goodness ahead.
And Breyon is the scourge of the earth.
:kii:
he gotta be FUMING. He has never come close to booking all she's been doing under Maverick and Sonja. Bloop!
...and is now known for being Teddy Riley's glitchy ass hypeman
God and Karma are Brandy's good kii kii girlfriends at this point. LOLz
:scrumptious:
I see why Billboard called up the QUEEN. Especially after Verzuz
Quote from: Ntwadumela on October 29, 2020, 04:51:50 PM
Quote from: Brandy's 2021 Grammy on October 29, 2020, 04:46:27 PM
Quote from: Keyed on October 29, 2020, 04:44:14 PM
Thanks for sharing! What a thoughtful write-up. I'd really like more of these, either NYT or NY Mag. She's earned well-authored profiles. So resilient, she's been at this forever... learned the hard lessons and there's still so much goodness ahead.
And Breyon is the scourge of the earth.
:kii:
he gotta be FUMING. He has never come close to booking all she's been doing under Maverick and Sonja. Bloop!
Ffcgghhhjjjjjjhd
She lashing Breyon fat neck over and over. Is he okay? Hating ass ugly ass fag
Lashing him in the best way. Through her work
This is big
Really big
She is poised to win that Grammy
Quote from: Manistee on October 29, 2020, 05:17:15 PM
This is big
Really big
She is poised to win that Grammy
That's how i feel too but imma be quiet
!!!! I'm waiting to see what the nominations will be in the coming weeks before the end of November, but i have a good feeling about her chances if she's nominated
Quote from: Brandy's 2021 Grammy on October 29, 2020, 05:26:02 PM
!!!! I'm waiting to see what the nominations will be in the coming weeks before the end of November, but i have a good feeling about her chances if she's nominated
I hope so. The industry loves her, and The Academy consists of mostly industry folk so my fingers are crossed. She deserves.
Quote from: RAY7 on October 29, 2020, 05:07:52 PM
Quote from: Vonc2002 on October 29, 2020, 04:52:47 PM
Yea that last record label nigga tried to make her out to be done. EGGS, nigger. I hope he's somewhere struggling
hbhbhbk
unfortunately hes good since Jamie Foxx is still his artist
n
wtf has Jamie done recently in music
Quote from: Brandy's 2021 Grammy on October 29, 2020, 04:36:48 PM
QuoteThe message that night was unmistakable: Brandy Rayana Norwood, the genre-defining R&B artist who has ridden the highest highs and the lowest lows the entertainment business has to offer, is back. After an eight-year stretch between albums, the 41-year-old is a household name again.
:plzstop:
Damn i love this woman
I had to stop and gather myself for a moment. That brought me back. They used to call her a household name in almost every article in the 90s. This resurgence is everything.
Queen is winning. To get this much press when B7 ain't even sell that much is unbelievable to me and I'm loving it. Good time to be a fan.
Quote from: TriBeCa on October 29, 2020, 06:13:18 PM
Quote from: Brandy's 2021 Grammy on October 29, 2020, 04:36:48 PM
QuoteThe message that night was unmistakable: Brandy Rayana Norwood, the genre-defining R&B artist who has ridden the highest highs and the lowest lows the entertainment business has to offer, is back. After an eight-year stretch between albums, the 41-year-old is a household name again.
:plzstop:
Damn i love this woman
I had to stop and gather myself for a moment. That brought me back. They used to call her a household name in almost every article in the 90s. This resurgence is everything.
:loose2when: :loose2when:
BRANDY is winning
This article
:stressed:
Quote from: Ntwadumela on October 29, 2020, 04:14:50 PM
Before her big performance at the Billboard Music Awards earlier this month, Brandy was nervous. Like "very very very nervous." The kind of nervous that sent the Grammy winner to a quiet corner backstage where the only sound was her pencil etching the pages of the journal she takes everywhere.
"I started to ask God to come forth and take over my personality, take over my voice, you know, just basically become me for me. Make it look like it's me, but it's all you. Express that thing that's better than you, that higher energy. I asked for that to come forth," said the singer. "It humbles me. And it makes me feel like I'm just a vessel. I'm just the messenger, you know?"
The message that night was unmistakable: Brandy Rayana Norwood, the genre-defining R&B artist who's ridden the highest highs and the lowest lows the entertainment business has to offer, is back. After an eight-year stretch between albums, the 41-year-old is a household name again.
In the span of a month, the "Borderline" singer went from "Where is she?" to "Where isn't she?" She released her seventh studio album, "B7," on July 31. The very next day, Netflix (finally) began streaming all six seasons of "Moesha," the '90s sitcom that diversified the Girl Next Door trope forever and made Brandy a teenage star. In August, the "Verzuz" battle between Brandy and Monica, another trademark '90s R&B artist, broke records in viewership and touted a cameo by Democratic vice-presidential nominee Kamala D. Harris. Then Billboard called.
It had been years since Brandy performed on a stage that big. Sure, the coronavirus pandemic nixed the live audience, but the nerves were still there. Her only goal was to walk away feeling good about what she'd done, to empty out everything and leave it behind her.
"I try to do everything like it's the last thing that I'm going to do," Norwood said in an interview with The Washington Post. And there have been moments when she actually thought her time had come and gone — that she'd never sing again, never stand in front of an audience who cared, never get to share what she considers her God-given gift.
"There have been times where other people have intentionally tried to make me feel like I'm a has-been, and a part of me — the weaker parts of me — bought into that," said Norwood. "I really believed that. I really took time off. I was lost. I didn't know what my sound was. I didn't even know if I was important enough in music to put together a body of work."
Record scratch. Brandy, the singer whose vast cohort of fans call her "the Vocal Bible" because of the depth of her sound, didn't think she mattered?
"It's those feelings that you get when you're not all the way sure. I doubted what I thought was good," explained Norwood. "Those were my lowest of lows — to not know who I was as an artist, to not understand what people are saying about me. Why are you calling me 'the Vocal Bible'? What do you mean, my tone? To not understand myself, that's hell."
For fans, one of Brandy's biggest highs as an artist was her third album, "Full Moon," a magnum opus and master class. It dropped the summer of 2002, a year after "Moesha" was canceled and three months before she became a mother with the birth of her daughter, Sy'rai. It cemented the singer's transition from "Cinderella" to someone who could sang. Produced by Rodney Jerkins, "Full Moon" introduced Brandy's now trademark vocal stacking, gospel-inspired runs and buttery tone.
Full Article
https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2020/10/29/brandy-interview/
What a great read.
My God, this woman is just... :stressed:
Between the Billboard Awards slay
The Cypher
Verzuz records still being talked about
This has really been an ERA for Queen
B7>>>
Quote from: Manistee on October 29, 2020, 05:17:15 PM
This is big
Really big
She is poised to win that Grammy
Period
:loose2when:
Yes Brandy you matter. You're a legend.
Ugh my heart is so full and fed this era
:stressed:
Vocal Bible.
Quote from: Sovereign. on October 30, 2020, 02:52:32 PM
Vocal Bible.
The way this is common knowledge now
:gorlonfire: :gorlonfire:
This is amazing. I'm so happy for her. After all these years she's finally getting the validation she has deserved all along. The sky is literally the limit now.
I'm gonna start putting my energy toward a Superbowl national anthem performance to add to her legend.
Quote from: Bigmacthawoppa on October 30, 2020, 05:48:53 PM
This is amazing. I'm so happy for her. After all these years she's finally getting the validation she has deserved all along. The sky is literally the limit now.
I'm gonna start putting my energy toward a Superbowl national anthem performance to add to her legend.
:stressed:
:-o. I'd LIVE