Blogger #3

Brandy Norwood

Brandy wants to bring R&B back. Yesterday afternoon, RCA and Chameleon Records invited select media to preview 11 tracks from Brandy's upcoming sixth album, "Two Eleven", dropping October 16th. It's Brandy at her most realized romantically shaky, vocally sharp and musically sound, thanks to an honors corral of producers and songwriters spanning Sean Garrett, Bangladesh, Frank Ocean, Mario Winans, Hit Boy, Ester Dean, Harmony and more.

Over the course of her decades long career, Brandy has become a woman before our eyes, outgrowing the baby lamb naïveté of 1994 Brandy and assuming the role of self actualized woman (2002's Full Moon). It was with 2004 Afrodisiac that she faltered in her steps, openly wallowing in a bitter divorce, before rising above the dancing flames on 'O8's Human. On Two Eleven, she juggles heartache and romantic solace, a nod to past delusions filtered through the hindsight of 33- year old reticence. 

Throughout "Two Eleven", a nod to her birthday and the date of mentor Whitney Houston's death, Brandy is as quick to pledge allegiance to lovers as she is to scorn them. On the upcoming Sean Garrett- penned single " Wildest Dreams," the follow up to lead track " Put It Down" ( featuring Chris Brown), the emotional rug is pulled from under her: " Never in my wildest dreams did I think someone could care about me/ not just the way you love me, but you know I'm emotional. 

"Two Eleven" still a work in progress set to include 15 tracks, also features the Frank Ocean  written "Scared of Beautiful," which will become a duet pending the Odd Future singer's vocal addition. Over double time instrumentation, Brandy stops seeking reciprocity and focuses inward. "I wonder why there's no mirrors on these walls no more / You can't tell me why you're so terrified of beautiful," she sings. She's looking only to herself- no man to safety net her feelings and she is ready to face her reflection. 

Work Cite

www.rollingstone.com/music/news/Brandy-wants-to-bring-r-b-back-with-new-album