My angel
My king
And my friend
My lover
My one
He is
He is!
- Kelly Rowland, Britney Spears, Solange, Jessie J, JoJo, Jordin Sparks, Ariana Grande, Rihanna, India.Arie, Luke James, HER, Erykah Badu, Miguel, Jazmine Sullivan
Brandy Rayana Norwood (born February 11, 1979 in McComb, Mississippi), also known simply as Brandy, is an American recording artist, actress and entertainer.
Born into a musical family in McComb, Mississippi and raised in Carson, California, she enrolled in performing arts schools as a child and performed as a backing vocalist for teen groups. In 1993, Brandy appeared in a supporting role on the short-lived ABC sitcom Thea and signed with Atlantic Records. The following year, she released her self-titled debut album; singles "I Wanna Be Down" and "Baby" peaked atop the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart. Brandy starred in the successful UPN sitcom Moesha in 1996, which lasted six seasons and resulted in roles in the horror sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998) and the TV films Cinderella (1997) and Double Platinum (1999). She resumed her music career in 1998 with the widely successful duet with Monica, "The Boy Is Mine" and her second album Never Say Never.
Throughout the 2000s, Brandy experienced career and commercial turbulence. In 2002, she starred in the Reality TV series Brandy: Special Delivery. Her third and fourth albums, Full Moon (2002) and Afrodisiac (2004), were released to commercial success. She served as a judge on the first season of America's Got Talent in 2006.
Then, she was involved in a tragic widely-publicized car accident later that year, which led to the death of a female driver. Brandy was accused of rear-ending the woman's car and was charged with vehicular manslaughter. After several lawsuits stemming from the accident, Brandy's career and life went into freefall. However, in early 2008, Brandy was found not at fault for the car crash and both the charges and lawsuits were dropped. Brandy's fifth album Human was released later that year. In 2010, she returned to television as a contestant on the eleventh season of Dancing with the Stars and starred in the reality series Brandy & Ray J: A Family Business with younger brother Ray J. She began a recurring role on both Drop Dead Diva and The Game (2006) in 2011 and released her sixth album Two Eleven the following year.
Within pop music, Brandy has become known for her distinctive sound, characterized by her peculiar timbre, voice-layering, throaty riffs, and beat-driven R&B. She has since been signed to both Epic Records and RCA Records, where she has acquired a catalog of hits with singles such as "What About Us?," "Full Moon," and "Put It Down" being her most successful. She has sold over 8.62 million copies of her first five studio albums in the United States, and over 30 million records worldwide. Her work has earned her numerous awards and accolades, including a Grammy Award, three American Music Awards, and seven Billboard Music Awards.
She is considered Monica's Lighter and Softer counterpart, and shares a Friendly Rivalry with her. Her younger brother Ray J is also a singer/entertainer.note
Discography:
- Brandy (1994)
- Never Say Never (1998)
- Full Moon (2002)
- Afrodisiac (2004)
- Human (2008)
- Two Eleven (2012)
- B7 (2020)
Selected Filmography
Film- Arachnophobia (1990, uncredited)
- Cinderella (1997)
- I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998)
- Double Platinum (1999)
- Osmosis Jones (2001, voice)
- Thea (1993-1994)
- Moesha (1996–2001)
- The Game (2012-2015)
- Zoe Ever After (2016)
- Star (2018-2019)
- Queens (2021-2022)
Tropes:
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: In "Angel in Disguise", Brandy sings of a girl who her boyfriend leaves her for because she seems so peaceful, only to find she's nowhere near as angelic as she seems.
- Break-Up Song: In "Brokenhearted" on her first album, Brandy sings about how she's sad about getting out of a relationship but realizes that she's young and has plenty more tries at love.
- Cock Fight: Brandy and Monica engage in a Gender Flip version of this trope in the duet "The Boy is Mine", with the two singers fighting over the same man.
- Friendship Song: "Best Friend" from her first album.
- Genki Girl: Particularly when something good happens. She's run to accept an award more than once and ran away in excitement after meeting her idol Whitney Houston for the first time.
- Girlish Pigtails: Wore these on the cover of her self-titled first album under an orange hat.
- Girl Next Door: Brandy had this image at the start of her career, having a very squeaky clean image and conservative style of dressing.
- Hip Hop Soul: The genre of music Brandy is mainly known for.
- Hopeless Suitor: In "Sittin' Up In My Room" and "Have You Ever".
- Iconic Item: Brandy's braids were her most recognizable characteristic early in her career.
- Jailbait Taboo: From 1995-1997, Brandy had secretly started dating her tourmate Wanya Morris of the popular group Boyz II Men. Morris was in his early 20's at the time while Brandy was 16–18 years old at the time. By the time of her 18th birthday, the two broke up.
- Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: In her Friendly Rivalry with fellow R&B diva Monica, Brandy was the Light Feminine, singing on more wholesome and girlish topics such as unrequited love and friendship, where Monica sang on more gritty topics.
- Melismatic Vocals: She has some truly unique vocal runs as heard on songs like "Learn the Hard Way", "A Capella (Something's Missin')", and "Happy".
- Quarreling Song: "The Boy is Mine", an argument between Brandy and Monica over whom the boy they are both in a relationship with loves more.
- Self-Backing Vocalist: The Full Moon album helped establish her as one of the chiefs of this technique.
- Self-Titled Album: Her debut album is called Brandy.
- Torch Song: "Have You Ever", where Brandy sings of her love for someone that doesn't notice her.
