Afrodisiac by Brandy Album Info
Afrodisiac is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Brandy Norwood, released by Atlantic Records on June 28, 2004 on most international territories and on June 29, 2004 in Canada and the United States. A departure from her previous work with Rodney Jerkins and his Darkchild camp, Brandy worked with Timbaland and his protégé Walter Millsap III on the majority of the production of the album, featuring additional credits by Warryn Campbell, Organized Noise, Theron Feemster, Big Chuck, and Kanye West. The album debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200 but had a short run on the charts, resulting into mediocre domestic sales of 416,000 copies and a gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Outside the States, Afrodisiac scored minor success, missing the top thirty on the majority of the charts it appeared on. The critical response to Afrodisiac was generally positive, garnering Brandy her strongest reception yet, with Allmusic comparing it to "Janet Jackson at her best." The following year, it received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Contemporary R&B Album but lost to Usher's Confessions album. While lead single "Talk About Our Love" reached the top ten in the United Kingdom, later singles failed to score successfully on the popular music charts. In mid-2005, after eleven years with the company Brandy asked for and received a release from Atlantic Records, making Afrodisiac her final studio album on the label. Following the birth to her daughter Sy'rai in June 2002, Brandy soon entered recording studios to intensify work on her then-untitled fourth album with producer Mike City and companion Robert "Big Bert" Smith. As the singer envisioned the longplayer to sound "much rawer" and more "street" than its 2002 predecessor Full Moon, Smith quckily emerged as the album's executive producer and A&R, replacing longtime contributor and mentor Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, who Brandy felt was not going in the same direction creatively after all. About parting ways with Jerkins whose Darkchild team took production credits on her last two albums, Brandy commented that "Darkchild created a sound with me and gave it to everybody. I didn't like that I needed to change my sound and I wanted to explore my versatility, my creativity and my art." The couple eventually finished a number of demo recordings and at least four full songs until late November 2002, including "Ryde or Die" and Sy'rai-inspired "Sunshine;" and although Smith expected the album to drop by spring 2003 at one time or another, Brandy and Big Bert ended their relationship in mid-2003, resulting into the album's delay and several personnel changes. Norwood eventually decided to scrap most of the project, and instead enlisted Timbaland, with whom the couple had previously worked on Kiley Dean's unreleased Simple Girl album, as the album's main contributor. Impressed by Timaland's input, Brandy rediscovered the musical affection, she had missed on Full Moon and its technical priority. "I made the change because I needed to evolve. I needed to explore my talent and versatility and see if I had another side to me, another sound," she said about collaborating. "I wanted to do my own thing, and I've always wanted to work with Timbaland and see how my voice would sound over his tracks. It was an edgier Brandy, a sassier sound, but still with a lot of heart and a lot of passion." With the help of Timbaland protégés such as Candice Nelson, Steve "Static" Garrett, and co-producer Walter Millsap III the pair worked on what was tentatively titled B-Rocka — a nickname actually given to her by Jerkins — and originally planned for a Christmas 2003 release. Their first collaboration, 1990s tribute "Turn It Up", was leaked onto the internet in autumn 2003, and soon released as a promotional buzz track. Having concluded additional recording sessions with Warryn Campbell, Theron Feemster and Organized Noise, in November 2003, Atlantic Records announced that Brandy was putting the finishing touches on her still-untitled album, at that time scheduled for a release on March 2, 2004, and she would shoot a music video for the "hyper, bass-heavy" banger "Black Pepper" during the second week of December. However, plans for the single fell through as the Timbaland-produced track was scrapped in favor of a new record: "Talk About Our Love," produced by rapper Kanye West. Both, the single and album cut "Where You Wanna Be," were eleventh-hour additions to the album, commissioned by West's manager Geroid Roberson, one of the executive producers on Afrodisiac, who encouraged Brandy to attempt further studio sessions with West. "Kanye put the finishing touches on the record," Brandy commented on her decision to work with West. "The two tracks we did were just what I needed to tie the whole thing together." As with her previous albums thematical prime focus on Afrodisiac is on "relationship with love and life in general." "It's about passion. It's romantic, and that's where I am in my life right now," Brandy noted during promotion touring in 2004, a time when she was engaged to New York Knicks guard Quentin Richardson. "I'm not trying to be edgy, sassy, romantic, vulnerable or whatever emotions come across," she said. "I really am all that." Afrodisiac contains several references to Timbaland and longtime partner Missy Elliott, and alludes to fellow 1990s R&B singers such as Aaliyah and Monica. The album's opening track "Who I Am" discusses her rocky relationship with Robert Smith as well as the progression of her public image, while "I Tried" was heavily inspired by English rock band Coldplay, also incorporating lyrics of their 2000 song "Sparks." The tenth track "Turn It Up" is an homage to the early 1990s with references to Donnie Simpson's Video Soul, Kid n' Play, their 1990 film House Party and Tony! Toni! Toné!'s 1996 studio album House of Music. The line "'Cause I don't wanna sound familiar, want a guaranteed single, not an album filler" levels indirect criticism at former main producer Rodney Jerkins. On ending track "Should I Go," which samples Coldplay's "Clocks," Brandy openly talks about contemplating stepping away from the music business, admitting that she's trying to figure out where she fits in today. Although Norwood received a sole writing credit on album cut "Finally" only, she noted Afrodisiac the most honest effort of her career yet based on its deeply autobiographical content, commenting: "Everything I do has something to do with what I've gone through in my life I definitely wanted to incorporate that in my art. It makes it more real when you add what's been going on in your life in your music. I've grown and I've gone through some things in my life, and I celebrate that, I honor that." Soundwise, her collaboration with Timbaland, recent motherhood, life experiences, and growing affinity toward alternative music such as Coldplay, caused Brandy to shift toward a more matured outlook and raw nature with the album, a venture into the organic sounds of soul blues and the nostalgic street-wise sound of 1990’s hip-hop. Afrodisiac debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200 behind Lloyd Banks' solo debut The Hunger for More and Usher's Confessions album, and at number four on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, selling more than 131,700 copies in its first week. Though sales soon declined and the album fell short off the upper half of the Billboard 200 in its eighth week, it was eventually certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for more than 500,000 copies shipped to stores, including 417,000 sold copies. On international music markets, Afrodisiac failed to reach the top thirty on the majority of the charts it appeared on except China, Japan and Switzerland where it managed to debut within the top ten and number twenty-six, respectively. In the United Kingdom, the album was awarded a silver certification by the British Phonographic Industry on September 24, 2004 based on a sales total of 60,000 copies. Excluding pre-released buzz track "Turn It Up," Afrodisiac produced three official singles. "Talk About Our Love" was released as the album's leading single commercially on March 28, 2004. The song was critically appreciated but achieved mediocre success around the globe, reaching the top ten of the UK Singles Chart and the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales charts. In Eurasia and Australia, the album's title track served as the album's second single. Released to greater success than "Talk About Our Love" in almost all the countries it was released to, the track reached number eleven in the United Kingdom and made it to top thirty in France and Ireland. In North America, "Who Is She 2 U" was released as the album's second and final single. Suffering from low airplay, the song never made it out of the lower half of the Billboard Hot 100 and emerged as one of Brandy's lowest-charting singles yet. In March 2005, the song also received limited release in Europe to promote the release of Norwood's first single collection The Best of Brandy (2005), but it failed to chart or sell noticeably, reaching number fifty on the UK Singles Chart only. Plans for a fourth single, including contender "I Tried," failed to materalize. Serving as an inspiration for other artists, Barbadian singer Rihanna revealed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that her 2007 multi-platinum album, Good Girl Gone Bad, was primarily influenced by Afrodisiac. In the interview she stated, “Brandy's album really helped to inspire, because that album I listen to all day, all night when I was in the studio I really admired that every song was a great song." Rock musician John Frusciante, former guitarist of legendary rock group Red Hot Chili Peppers, mentioned that Norwood and the album were the “main inspiration” behind the guitar work on the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s 2006 Grammy winning album, Stadium Arcadium. In 2008, singer Beyoncé Knowles selected album cut "Focus" for her personal music playlist on iTunes.
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