Brandy

Brandy is the self-titled debut album by Brandy.

The album was released on September 27, 1994 on Atlantic Records in North America, Canada, Australia & France.

It was released in the United Kingdom & Ireland on December 5, 1994 and in Ireland, Germany, Austria & Switzerland on February 3, 1995.

The album contains a range of contemporary genres and the songs are a mix of soft hip hop soul, pop & contemporary mid–90s R&B music.

They were chiefly produced by Keith Crouch who would contribute all four of the single releases from the album.

Brandy worked with a range of other writers and producers including R&B group Somethin' for the People, Arvel McClinton, Damon Thomas and a young Robin Thicke.

Upon release, the album received generally positive reviews from music critics, who complimented Brandy's appearance as well as the album's timeless appeal.

It became a commercial success as well.

While the initial sales were slow, the album reached the top 20 of the Billboard 200 was certified four-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) selling over two million copies in the United States.

It experienced similar success in Australia and Canada where it was platinum and gold respectively.

Worldwide, the album has sold over six million copies.

Four singles were released from the album, two of which became number-one hits on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles.

The lead single "I Wanna Be Down" reached the top ten in the United States and the top 20 in Australia and New Zealand.

The song was critically lauded and regarded as a standout track on Brandy.

The album's second single "Baby" was also well received and charted even higher.

With the two follow-up single "Best Friend" and "Brokenhearted" reaching the top ten in the United States, Brandy established herself as one of the most successful of the new breed of urban R&B female vocalists to emerge during the mid-to late 1990s.

It also garnered Brandy two Grammy Award nominations for "Best New Artist" and one for the album's second single "Baby" for "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" at the 38th Grammy Awards in 1996.

Album Background
In 1990, Brandy's talent led to a binding oral contract with Teaspoon Productions, headed by Chris Stokes and Earl Harris who obtained her gigs as a backing vocalist for their R&B boy band Immature.

The same year, Stokes arranged the production of a demo tape which was handed over to Atlantic Recording Corporation executives.

While they liked the material, they found that Brandy was too young at the age of eleven and told her to come back when she was fourteen years old.

In 1993 (amid ongoing negotiations with East West Records), Brandy's parents organized a recording contract with Atlantic after auditioning for the company's director of A&R, Darryl Williams.

Brandy subsequently dropped out of Hollywood High School later and was tutored privately from the tenth grade on.

Album Production
During the early production stages of her debut album on Atlatic Records, Brandy was selected for a role in the ABC sitcom "Thea" portraying the 12-year-old daughter of a single mother played by comedienne Thea Vidale.

Due to low ratings, the show was canceled eight months after it premiered.

Brandy appreciated the cancellation of the show as she was unenthusiastic about acting at the time and the taping caused scheduling conflicts with the recording of her album, stating:

"I felt bad for everybody else but me. It was a good thing, because I could do what I had to do, because I wanted to sing [...] When Thea was canceled I was like, ‘Okay, I can now put all my focus into my album’."

Atlantic Records consulted newcomer Keith Crouch to work with Brandy on the bulk of the album.

Brandy noted that her collaboration with Crouch "was very important for me as a young artist. At the time he was not trying to be like anyone else on radio. 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. We had a great connection."

While Crouch would provide the core sound of the album, Brandy also worked with all-male R&B group Somethin' for the People and Damon Thomas on some tracks.

A then 16-year-old Robin Thicke scored his first co-writing credit on the album with the song "Love Is on My Side."

Tracklisting

 * 1) Movin' On (4:27) (written by Keith Crouch & Kipper Jones; produced by Keith Crouch)
 * 2) Baby (5:13) (written by Keith Crouch, Kipper Jones & Rahsaan Patterson; produced by Keith Crouch)
 * 3) Best Friend (4:48) (written by Keith Crouch & Glen McKinney; produced by Keith Crouch)
 * 4) I Wanna Be Down (4:51) (written by Keith Crouch & Kipper Jones; produced by Keith Crouch)
 * 5) I Dedicate (Part I) (1:29) (written by Rochad Holiday, Brandy Norwood, Curtis "Sauce" Wilson & Jeffrey Young; produced by Somethin' for the People)
 * 6) Brokenhearted (5:52) (written by Keith Crouch & Kipper Jones; produced by Keith Crouch)
 * 7) I'm Yours (4:01) (written & produced by Arvel McClinton, Damon Thomas)
 * 8) Sunny Day (4:29) (written by Rochad Holiday, Mark Lomax, Curtis "Sauce" Wilson & Jeffrey Young; produced by Somethin' for the People)
 * 9) As Long as You're Here (4:45) (written by Rochad Holiday, Mark Lomax, Curtis "Sauce" Wilson & Jeffrey Young; produced by Somethin' for the People)
 * 10) Always on My Mind (4:06) (written & produced by Kenneth Crouch)
 * 11) I Dedicate (Part II) (0:55) (written by Rochad Holiday, Brandy Norwood, Curtis "Sauce" Wilson & Jeffrey Young; produced by Somethin' for the People)
 * 12) Love is on My Side (5:09) (written by Robin Thicke & Damon Thomas; produced by Damon Thomas)
 * 13) Give Me You (4:25) (written by Rochad Holiday, Mark Lomax, Curtis "Sauce" Wilson & Jeffrey Young; produced by Somethin' for the People)
 * 14) I Dedicate (Part III) (1:01) (written by Rochad Holiday, Brandy Norwood, Curtis "Sauce" Wilson & Jeffrey Young; produced by Somethin' for the People)

Commercial Performance
"Brandy" entered the US Billboard 200 at number 94 and peaked at number 20 in its fifth week, remaining for 89 weeks on the Billboard 200.

It was certified four-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and has sold 2.12 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

In addition, it peaked at number 6 on the US Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It remained for 86 weeks on that chart.

In Canada, the album also peaked at number 20 on the Canadian RPM Singles Chart during the week of February 13, 1995.

To date, the album is certified gold by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), denoting shipments of over 50,000 copies. It also peaked at number 26 in Australia.

As of 2010, the album has sold over 6 million copies worldwide.

Critical Reception
In his review for Allmusic, Eddie Huffman wrote that "this teenage R&B singer hit the Top Ten late in 1994 with "I Wanna Be Down," a representative track from her solid debut album. Brandy knows her way around a hip-hop beat, layering tender-tough vocals over spare arrangements like a lower-key Janet Jackson or a more stripped-down Mary J. Blige. Good songs and crisp production make Brandy a moody, moving success."

In 2007, Vibe rated Brandy among the 150 most essential albums since its launch. The magazine found that "Brandy's debut is slow, deliberate, and naive — not for lack of accomplishment, but because the best moments here sound as wide-eyed and new as a first date."

People magazine compared the effort with Aaliyah's debut album "Age Ain't Nothing but a Number" which was released four months prior, writing:

"While everything about Aaliyah screams here-and-now, Brandy's well-groomed blend of gently lilting hip hop and pop-soul has a more timeless appeal. With the poise and sassy confidence of a diva twice her age, Brandy mixes her love songs with tributes to her little brother ("Best Friend"), God ("Give Me You"), the perfect man ("Baby") and older crooners like Aretha and Whitney ("I Dedicate"). While this isn't groundbreaking stuff, Brandy has the pipes to become more than the latest teenage next-big-thing."

Anderson Jones from "Entertainment Weekly" was less enthusiastic with the album. He gave the album a C rating and considered it as:

"An album that seems based on the philosophy 'If Aaliyah can do it, why can't I?' except that in singing about best friends, heroes, and puppy love instead of about making love, teen actress Norwood (TV's Thea) acts her age. A premature effort, at best."

In his Consumer Guide, Robert Christgau gave the album a "neither" score and said it "may impress once or twice with consistent craft or an arresting track or two. Then it won't."

Legacy & Impact
Brandy's debut album served as an inspiration for other artists.

American neo soul singer Erykah Badu revealed on Twitter that her 1997 debut album "Baduizm" was partly influenced by Brandy.

In the interview she stated:

"Brandy's first album was one of my inspirations when writting Baduizm. I looove that album [...] songs i liked were "I Wanna Be Down" and "Always on My Mind"... nice."

Fellow neo soul artist Jill Scott particularly praised the songs "Sunny Day" and "Always On My Mind" saying, "I listen to her shit all the time."

Pop group Karmin's song "Brokenhearted" was inspired by Brandy's song of the same name.

Album Personnel

 * Derek Allen – bass
 * Kenneth Crouch – piano
 * Derrick Edmondson – flute, saxophone & horn
 * Glenn McKinney – guitar
 * Derek Organ – drums
 * Thomas Organ – guitar
 * Cat Daddy Ro – keyboard
 * Damon Thomas – piano & keyboards
 * Vocal assistance: Tiara Lemacks, Sherree Ford-Payne, Rahsaan Patterson, Robin Thicke & Jeffrey Young
 * Arranger: Fuzzy
 * Programming: Arvel McClinton III & Jerry Conaway