A little over a decade ago, Brandy was THE fresh-scrubbed R&B/pop teen idol. In contrast to the wise-beyond-her-years sass of Monica and the icy cool sensuality of Aaliyah, Brandy was the fresh-scrubbed innocent of the bunch. She sang sugary-sweet love songs about being brokenhearted and wanting to be down. She also wound up being the most successful of the bunch, with three platinum albums, a handful of Number One singles, and TV and movie roles to boot.
Ten years since her debut, Brandy pretty faces a new wave of competitors. With Monica's “gangsta” experiment only a moderate success and Aaliyah sadly departed, Brandy faces heat from ultra-successful vixens like Beyonce and Ashanti. In addition, pop divas like Britney and Christina have popped up, as well as confessional, talented young females like Alicia Keys and india.arie. “Afrodisiac”, Brandy's fourth album, finds the celebrity trying to find her place at the R&B/pop table. In terms of life experience, Brandy's done some growin'. Since 2002's “Full Moon”, she's gotten married, divorced, and become a mother. At 25, Brandy appears to be ready to show the world the grown-up woman she is.
Does “Afrodisiac” succeed in presenting Brandy as a powerful adult? Well, no, not really. As much as her previous albums may have shown her as a producer's pet, at least she and then-main producer Rodney Jerkins had a bit of collaborative chemistry. On this album, Brandy lets Jerkins go, replacing him mainly with Timbaland. After having several songwriting credits on her first three albums, Brandy contributes not one lyric to “Afrodisiac”. It's my feeling that if you're going to create a personal album, you should at least take part in some of the songwriting-and even without knowledge of the album credits, Brandy just sounds like someone singing someone else's songs. As an R&B producer, let's just say Timbaland's an OK hip-hop producer. Truth be told, many of the tracks he helms on this album sound like Aaliyah leftovers. He doesn't really appear to be sympathetic towards the song's lyrics or brandy's voice. When Timbaland produces a record, it seems to be a contest to see how many ad-libs or sound effects he can throw into the song as opposed to really putting the artist's flavor on the record. It's a hit-or-miss approach that splits about even.
Brandy's voice has evolved into a pretty pleasant thing. She's not a belter like her idol Whitney Houston, but her voice does have a certain character to it, containing a raspy edge that I've always kinda liked. “Who Is She 2 U” may be a by-numbers “are you cheating on me?” tale, but it works well with Brandy's hoarse delivery. And say what you want about the production, Brandy proves herself to be a very good vocal arranger. The melodies are the things that end up standing out most about these songs. “Sadiddy” (sic) might be an akward attempt by Bran to create a “tough girl” image, but it has a pretty cool chant of a chorus. I just wish she sounded more like she was snarling instead of whining.
The guest artists, thankfully, are kept to a minimum. Aside from Timbaland's increasingly annoying quasi-beatboxing and ad-libs (which apear on almost every sonmg her produces on this set), there's a Kanye West guest shot on the first single “Talk About Our Love”. The song is a pleasant enough dancefloor filler, with live strings and an 80's post-disco sample, but Kanye's rhyme in the middle of the song is thoroughly disposable. T.I. fares even worse on the moody “Where You Wanna Be”. When did having skills stop becoming a requirement for an MC to be popular? This dude sounds like he's reading his lyrics (badly, I might add) from a script. This mellow, piano-led cut would be a great song if not for his awkward rap placed in the middle.
The most interesting “guest” on this album happens to be Brit-pop quartet Coldplay. Now, Chris Martin and company don't actually appear on the album, but two songs on the album hinge majorly on Coldplay songs. “I Tried” is a downbeat midtempo jam featuring a reference to the band and a couple of lines from “Sparks”. The album's closer, “Should I Go”, finds Brandy contemplating an exit from the industry over the shimmering piano from “Clocks”. It's weird to hear a modern R&B record and go “Hey! That's a Coldplay sample!”, but it actually works, as does Brandy's wounded, whispery delivery on this song.
“Should I Go” is one of several songs that reference Aaliyah (the other being the banging 90's tribute cut “Turn It Up” and occasionally on “Afrodisiac”, it seems that her specter hangs over the album even more than Brandy's does. That's not only because of Timbo's signature stop-start staccato beats, but also because Brandy occasionally sounds like she's deliberately trying to step into Baby Girl's shoes (which I guess is made obvious when she pretty much says that her collaboration with Timbaland was part of an effort to “represent her” on “Turn It Up”). Now, I'm all cool with the fact that Brandy's trying to move away from her goody-two-shoes image, but don't try to replace your personality with soemone else's old personality, y'know?
“Afrodisiac” isn't a bad album by any stretch, but it doesn't leave you with any strong desire to listen to it repeatedly. The songs sound great when they're on, and occasionally a chorus or a sample will make you jerk your head up and say “hey, that was cool”. Unfortunately, on this album, Brandy just sounds like a pretty face and voice paid to sing on someone else's (admittedly decent) tracks. There's very little-if ANY of her (or anyone's) personality here, and the result is an album that's pleasant but not meaty or substantial. Perhaps Brandy will come into her own next album, but after two consecutive underwhelming-but-not-terrible albums, time just might run out on her.
"Afrodisiac", by Brandy
Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars
Repeat: "Should I Go", "Talk Aboout Our Love", "Turn It Up"
Skip: T.I.'s part on "Where You Wanna Be", "Finally", "Afrodisiac"
Great Music to Play While: Hoping Kanye West stops making pointless appearances on R&B records before he turns into a parody of himself.
Afrodisiac is sensuous, soulful, even a little gritty, an album that showcases Brandy s passionate voice and announces in no uncertain terms that she ...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
Afrodisiac is sensuous, soulful, even a little gritty, an album that showcases Brandy s passionate voice and announces in no uncertain terms that she ...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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