Jesus
you said Usher's formula worked hence him not needing to switch it up for years, when clearly it didnt work because he went from 10 million one album to 1 million to gold, so OBVIOUSLY that formula your saying was fine wasn't good enough anymore

Brandy's album underperformed because of label issue's NOT because of the material, every singer from this generation often sites FM & Afro as one of their main influences
Who was citing Here I Stand & the other albums as their's
To say Full Moon was not a risk musically when no one else was giving those complex vocals over electronic beats at that time is foolish