Hip Hop Honeys

Early Life

Brandy Rayana Norwood was born February 11th, 1979 in McComb, Mississippi, United States. Her father, Willie, is a former R&B singer and choir director, and her mother Sonja Bates-Norwood, is a former district manager for H&R Block. She is the elder sister of singer and actor William Raymond "Ray J" Norwood Jr. Brandy started singing at the Brookhaven church of Christ in Brookhaven, Mississippi at an early age of two. By the time she was four, her parents moved the family from McComb to Carson, California. Brandy began performing as part of a youth singing group that played venues all over California. It was at one of theses performances, then age 11, that she was spotted by manager Earl Harris and Chris Stokes who landed her gigs as a backing vocalist for the all-male groups such as Norment and the more successful teen R&B trio Immature. In 1993 she was invited to a party held by the Atlantic Recording Corporation. After a performance in front of the rest of the guest she caught the eye of an executive, Darryl Williams who offered Brandy a recording contract with Atlantic Records.

In September 1994 Brandy released her self titled debut album which reached number 20 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and number six on the Top R&B Albums chart. Co-produced by Keith Crouch and Darryl Williams, it was certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA and went on to sell six million worldwide. Brandy spawned four hit singles with "I Wanna Be Down", "Baby", "Best Friend", and a remixed version of "Brokenhearted," a duet with singer Wanya Morris. At the 1996 Grammy Awards Brandy received three nominations for Best New Artist, Best Female R&B Performance for "Baby" and Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or A Group for "I Wanna Be Down".

In 1997, Atlantic Records enlisted the help of upcoming producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins to work on Brandy’s eagerly anticipated second album Never Say Never, which was released on June 9, 1998 stateside. Never Say Never earned Brandy a further five Grammy nominations and became her biggest-selling album to date selling more than 14 million copies worldwide. Brandy co-wrote and produced six songs on the album which yielded her first number one song on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, "The Boy Is Mine," a duet with singer Monica. The single spent a record breaking thirteen weeks on top of the Billboard charts and saw Brandy have score her biggest hit in Europe reaching the top five in the U.K. Germany and France. Altogether the album spawned seven singles, including Norwood's second number-one song, Diane Warren-penned "Have You Ever?".

After a four year break that she spent concentrating on acting projects Brandy returned to the studio to record her third album, Full Moon, which was released in March 2002. The album debuted on top of the U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart, and at number two on the Billboard 200, selling approximately 160,000 copies in its first week of release and went on to receive a platinum certification by the RIAA. Although Full Moon was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Contemporary R&B Album", media reception for the album was generally mixed and the three singles did not chart as well as its two processor’s.

2004 saw Brandy split from Rodney Jerkins and his Darkchild camp and in June release her fourth studio album, Afrodisiac. Brandy worked with Timbaland and his protégé Walter Millsap III on the majority of the production of the album, with additional help from Warryn Campbell, Organized Noise, Ron Feemster, Big Chuck, and Kanye West. The album debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200, but saw little success outside the U.S. Despite selling less than one million copies worldwide, Afrodisiac received a Grammy Award nomination for "Best Contemporary R&B Album", and became Brandy's most critically acclaimed album to date.

Brandy's fifth studio album Human, her first release on Epic Records, was released in December, 2008. The Album debuted at number five on the U.S. Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

1994 Brandy

1998 Never Say Never

1999 U Don't Know Me ... Like U Used To (Remix EP)

2002 Full Moon

2004 Afrodisiac

2008 Human

1994 "I Wanna Be Down"

1995 "Baby"

1995 "Best Friend"

1995 "Brokenhearted" (featuring Wanya Morris)

1996 "Sittin' up in My Room"

1997 "Missing You"

1998 "The Boy Is Mine" (with Monica)

1998 "Top of the World" (featuring Mase)

1998 "Have You Ever?"

1998 "Angel in Disguise"

1999 "Almost Doesn't Count"

1999 "U Don't Know Me (Like U Used To)"

1999 "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You"

2000 "Never Say Never"

2001 "Another Day in Paradise" (with Ray-J)

2002 "What About Us?"

2002 "Full Moon"

2002 "He Is"

2002 "Dance with Us" (with P. Diddy & Bow Wow)

2004 "Talk About Our Love" (featuring Kanye West)

2004 "Who Is She 2 U"

2004 "Afrodisiac"

2008 "Right Here (Departed)"

2008 "Long Distance"

• She is a cousin of the late blues singer Bo Diddley and rapper Snoop Dogg.
• In June 2006, Brandy was cast as one of three talent judges on the first season of NBC’s America's Got Talent.
• She has made guest appearances on several television shows including Reba (2002), Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (2002), American Dreams (2004), House (2005) and One on One (2006).
• In 1996, future NBA star, Kobe Bryant took Brandy to their high school prom.
• Her third album, 'Full Moon', is dedicated to the late singer Aaliyah who died in a plane crash in 2001.
• In 1997, Brandy was selected to play the title character in Disney’s television version of Cinderella, only the second black woman to play the role.

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