Brandy
The Best Of

Here's another excellent and genuine reminiscence of the mischievous and sassy R&B that was so popular in the late '90s and early 2000s. Brandy Norwood, indeed, could wear a small crown, albeit fleeting, for a musical genre that was exceptional in its best workmanship and somewhat uneven and discordant in its various pop, hip hop, and even electronic crossovers. Artistically christened as a teenager in 1994 with Brandy, Norwood cut the ribbon on a decade of success marked by simple yet highly effective songs, foremost the duet with her friend and colleague Monica, The Boy Is Mine, a sort of female counterpart to the older Jackson-McCartney partnership. With her second album Never Say Never, Brandy climbed to the peak of popularity and perfectly rode the wave of the transition between the Millennium and the 2000s and, thus, the musical shift that began to favor teen pop, Britney Spears-like virginal young girls, and sounds halfway between the most blatant mainstream and the continuation of the alternative underground. Full Moon from 2002 marked a slight decline by the artist's standards; however, the title track and the playful and eclectic synth-R&B mix What About Us, one of the first crossovers between electronics and "ghetto" sounds in the American mainstream context, represented the definite maturity of a former girl who matured early in the musical field. The slight decline of Full Moon nevertheless marked the beginning of a downward slope that continued rapidly with Afrodisiac and, unfortunately, with Human, released in the midst of the black-old school sound crisis. Her latest, Two Eleven, released a few months ago, has established itself as a timid recovery but failed to repeat the numbers that Brandy achieved with Never Say Never, Brandy and Full Moon.

At the completion of the first decade of her career, Brandy decided in 2005 to retrace the steps marked in the first four albums. Her The Best therefore included the still somewhat raw atmospheres of her debut, with the attached funky hip-hop and retro soul fragrances, the post-adolescent enrichment of Never Say Never, the majestic urban undulations of Full Moon and the slightly misunderstood refinement of Afrodisiac. In a greatest hits that illustrates a musical growth made of staves, charts, and melodies, Brandy called upon all the major hits to compose a rich picture of femininity, sensuality, and R&B freshness. In Norwood's four-seasons menu, tracks like Angel in Disguise, a perfect modern Rhythm & Blues piece enriched by a seductive voice and a captivating melody, the playful and almost nostalgic hip hop of Top of The World, the already mentioned pearls Full Moon, What About Us and The Boy Is Mine, the perfect urban compendium U Don’t Know Me (Like I Used To) and the more mature and refined soul digressions of Afrodisiac, such as Talk About Our Love and Sittin' Up In My Room. Enriching the collection are the youthful initiations, already dense and imbued with sentiment, of I Wanna Be Down and Brokenhearted. A small mention also goes to the charming girl-R&B reinterpretation of Another Day In Paradise, originally stamped by Phil Collins, and the Jackson-like Rock With You.

So, enjoy a good summary of what the new school pop and the old school soul accomplished once forced to don the tuxedo and garter at the top ten altar. Brandy also deserves credit for having curbed the tendency to pair beautiful voices with rappers and pseudo-rappers, contrary to what Mariah Carey charmingly did and still does from her golden diva throne, as well as other examples of vocally gifted women unfortunately unable to manage their own talent without insignificant and useless fillers.

Brandy, The Best Of Brandy

Baby - Best Friend - I Wanna Be Down - Brokenhearted - Angel In Disguise - The Boy Is Mine - Almost Doesn’t Count - Top Of The World - U Don’t Know Me (Like I Used To) - Have You Ever? - Full Moon - What About Us - Who Is She 2 U - Talk About Our Love - Sittin' Up In My Room - Rock With You - Another Day In Paradise - I Wanna Be Down (Remix) - The Boy Is Mine (Brandy Solo Version)