Having released her self-titled debut at the tender age of fifteen, Brandy is back producing music on her own terms since her eight year hiatus - and she means business. Her seventh album B7 was released Friday 31st July. Commonly known for her ‘The Boy Is Mine’ duet ft Monica, Brandy is a true 90s R’n’B icon. Her eight year hiatus stemmed from troubles with her label and a fight for creative control, she then set up her own label and released B7, her first album since 2012’s Two Eleven. “I was able to team up with eOne and create my own imprint, my own label from there, and start the process of creating B7.” Brandy says to Rolling Stone. B7 entails complete creative control, and is an album built on the brink of releasing the music industries chains, breaking out, and doing what YOU want to do. Seasoned artists like Brandy often get to this stage in their career where they revel in pure creative freedom and it is often their most raw and honest work to date. B7 is no exception.
Addressing her absence, in the opening line of the album’s first track, ‘Saving All My Love for You’, a nod to Whitney Houston, she says “Sorry for my tardy, long time I was broken-hearted. Hearted and guarded. A target, god-damn. Can we let me live?” an impressionable powerful opening line. She gives further homage to Whitney in the track quoting she was the GOAT which is a common acronym translating to ‘greatest of all time’ (which she really was), “I’m as solid as a rock without the boat, kinda like the goat, but I ain’t saving all my love.”
Next track, ‘Unconditional Oceans’ applies modern R’n’B tones and is a song based on realising your self worth in the post break up stages of a relationship - reflecting on how you were treated, and never allowing yourself to be treated like that again. Learning the lessons of love. Brandy shows her artistic metamorphosis within this track - and the album as a whole - through her obvious understanding of modern day R’n’B combined with her experience in old school more traditional R’n’B.
As well as creative control, the album is also heavily based around love. Not just your generic love though, it’s about family love, self love and love in relationships too. ‘Rather Be’, ‘Lucid Dreams’ , ‘Borderline’, ‘No Tomorrow’ ‘Love Again’ and ‘Baby Mama’ are great examples of love displayed in various ways throughout the album.
‘Borderline’ focus’ on how envy can ruin relationships and the mental attack relationships can create on your health, “I’ll give you this heart of mine, ooh, I’m on the borderline, yeah yeah, oh, oh don’t wanna be schizo this time. Never ever cheat, never lie to me. I’m the most jealous girl in the whole wide world.”
Some of the album standouts consist of ‘No Tomorrow’ a traditional catchy 00’s R’n’B tune, emphasising on the no guarantee of tomorrow, and keeping loved ones close, “I’m gonna blow your phone up in case there is no tomorrow. And I won’t let you go, like there’s no tomorrow.”
‘I Am More’ is another standout, it has a bit of a rock edge including the electric guitar into the track throughout. ‘I Am More’ is about self-love in various areas of life, “I love you more than a friend, a friend, my friend. I can’t be the other woman histress or a side piece order.” The track has great fluidity, and the words flick off Brandy’s tongue proving just how much ‘more’ she is worth, she raps, “Bein’ an original since 1994, ask a snitch, never catch me coming off of a bench playing the six, never catch me in a group singing with some other chicks.” A little dig at the music industry, perhaps?
Displaying her beautiful vocals the most has to be ‘High Heels’ a track featuring her daughter Sy’Rai, entering with a harmonious vocal trail on the opening, this track showcases Brandy’s full range of abilities, rapping, harmonies, vocal range - the lot. Working alongside her daughter must just have that effect on her. The album includes two more features, one with Daniel Caeser on ‘Love Again’, and ‘Baby Mama’ft Chance the Rapper. ‘Baby Mama’ is about being a single mum and the strength they have acting as both a father and a mother, being self dependent and not needing a man to replace the father figure - but having one because you want one to love. Chance the Rapper raps, “I know it’s hard when your baby momma dont want you, especially if she don’t need you.”
Closing off the album is the complete serve - ‘Bye Bipolar’. It enters with a piano intro and opens with, “Bye bye bye bipolar, I don’t really want no more disorder. Pretty boy in love you both shoulders colder. Cause you strung me like thread I was damn near dead. And you fucked with my head like lead russian roulette and I cried and cried and cried and cried, died and died and died alive”. ‘Bye Bipolar’ is absolute genius, and in my opinion is the most passionate and best track on B7. Her voice is so gentle and the vocal trails and harmonies just touch you, along with the twinkling sounds on the assisting piano. Again, this track is about self realisation and self love, and realising your own worth, as Brandy sings, “A flock with so many sheep, a fraud living with me and I see it. One day I woke up and now my love is unsewn, I can see who you really are ‘cause I’m a star. Bye bye bye bipolar.” She playfully sings the last line, “That’s why I lost your ring and you can keep your last name, never had your last name to mine I’m saying never saying never” and she closes the album off with that absolute SERVE.
The only bugs I have to bare with the album is the fillers. All My Life pt.1 / pt.2 and pt.3 didn’t really do much justice for the album as tracks. With those tracks being around 40 seconds long, they were rather unimpactful as solo tracks - they would have been better suited as an outro for other songs.
The 15 track album is not a re-brand, but a biographical venture of Brandy’s fight for creative control, her struggles of being a single mother, her emotional experiences and all of the blessings that come with the ‘curses’. K7 is about self-love, self-realisation, self-reflection, and positive infestations. She is free. The shackles have been set loose and Brandy is back. It’s good to have you.
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