Brandy Appreciation Post: Put Some Respect on Her Name
Brandy Norwood is one of the most underrated entertainers/actresses of this generation. Her accomplishments have possibly been overlooked by her past relationships playing out in the media and the consecutive untimely deaths of her cast mates and other situations (that doesn’t need to be spoken on). There’s more good to her than bad just like anyone else.
Let’s start here, she released her self-titled first album Brandy at the age of 15 in 1994. Even though it didn’t receive a lot of attention at first, she released four singles from between 1994 and 1995, and ALL of them charted. Her first single “I Wanna Be Down” made it to No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B/HipHop and other musical categories and the same with her second single “Baby”. Brandy was also nominated for two Grammys; one for Best New Artist and the other for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.
About a year and a half later, Brandy’s hit show Moesha aired on UPN on January 23, 1996; which means she was recording the show during the time her singles were still being released. Talk about HARD WORK!
After Brandy’s second season of Moesha ended in May of 1997, she starred in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, debuting November 1997, making her the first black on-screen Cinderella. Prior to that, season 3 of Moesha aired from August 1997 to May 1998. Just a few weeks later, Brandy released her second album Never Say Never. Just like the first album, this one had major success such as selling 160,000 copies In the first week, being nominated for four Grammys, AND taking home a Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group for “The Boy is Mine” with Monica in 1999.
In the midst of her success, season 4 of Moesha aired from October 1998 to May of 1999. Then, Brandy went on to star in the 1998 film I Still Know What You Did Last Summer and the 1999 film Double Platinum. Shortly after the Double Platinum release, season 5 of Moesha aired August of 1999 to May of 2000; then the final season ended in May 2001.
Jennifer Love Hewitt, Brandy, and Jennifer Esposito in I Know What You Did Last Summer
Brandy and DIanna Ross in Double Platinum
As you can see, Brandy has been working HARD since she was 15 and clearly there is some overlapping with her TV show and music. You can’t do nothing but respect her grind. She’s remained relevant for over 25 years. She released her third album, Full Moon, in 2002, her fourth Afrodisiac in 2004, her fifth Human in 2005, her sixth, Two Eleven in 2012, AND her seventh album just two weeks ago, B7. Let’s not forget that she starred in two more tv shows, The Game, and Star.
Brandy has been in the game long enough to the point where artists have sampled her work, such as Drake for “Fire & Desire” on his Views album, Fabolous and Neyo record “Makin Love” and Kiana Lede for her song “Honest” which was just released this year!. Might I add, her latest album singles have charted, one of them being “Love Again” with Daniel Caesar, which made it to No.1 on Billboard’s R&B chart.
Now that her credentials have been thoroughly explained, put some respect on Brandy Rayana Norwood’s name, cuz she’s that bitch!
