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Two Eleven

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Untitled

Two Eleven is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Brandy. Scheduled for a US release in June 2012, the album will serve as Norwood's debut release with RCA Records, following her departure from Epic after the release of her previous album Human (2008). The album title alludes to Norwood's birthday on February 11 and the day that her idol Whitney Houston died.[1]

The album will reportedly feature production by Mr. Bangladesh, Rico Love, Jim Jonsin, Danja, Timbaland, Noah "40" Shebib, and songwriting from singer-songwriters Chris Brown, Frank Ocean, Sean Garrett, and Drake.[2] The first single, "It All Belongs to Me", a duet with fellow R&B singer Monica, was released on February 14, 2012. The second single, "Put It Down", which features Chris Brown, will be released on May 8, 2012.

Background and development

Two Eleven follows Norwood's least commercially successful album, Human (2008), which failed to enter the top-ten of the US Billboard 200.[3] Its foundations can be traced back to 2009, a time when Norwood had been working on a second album with Epic Records, involving contribution from Ne-Yo and Stargate as well as The-Dream and Tricky Stewart.[4] However, after singer-songwriter Amanda Ghost was appointed the new president of the label in February 2009, Epic terminated Norwood's recording contract with the company. As some of the material recorded under Sony Music was left with the label and re-recorded by other artists, her departure from the company temporarily halted production on a sixth studio album.[5] By mid-2009 however, she resumed work on brand new songs in the studio with producers such as Sean & Kadis.[6]

In fall 2009, Norwood introduced her rap alter ego Bran'Nu on Timbaland's album Shock Value II (2009), the result of artistic experimentation with the musician, who had tapped her for her rhyming ability after seeing a video on YouTube that Norwood had uploaded and showed her rapping freestyle.[7] Norwood, who had initially thought of rapping as a hobby and fun for friends, felt encouraged by Timbaland to write and perform her own verses on at least three tracks for his album, two of which eventually made it to the track lisiting.[8] In December 2009, the producer revealed his intentions to reteam with her on her next project, producing the bulk of an album that he envisioned to be “half singing, half rapping”.[7] Norwood confirmed his idea in an interview she held at the release party of Shock Value II: "What I'm doing on the [next] album is a little bit different than what everybody knows me for. Timbaland endorsed that [...] He really gave me a shot to be different and be versatile. I can't thank him enough for that. This is a wonderful opportunity."[7] Though Norwood hoped their collaboration would lead to a signing with Timbaland's Mosley Music Group and she would went on to records several other rap songs the following months,[7] plans for hip hop-oriented album under his imprint were eventually abandoned as the singer felt the sound would not aim at her core audience.[9] Approached on the subject, she later dismissed the idea of recording a rap album, stating that “it was a hobby. I was convinced to do it professionally, which I never should have listened to that advice.”[10][11]

Throughout 2010, Norwood continued recording independently with a variety of musicians, including producers Danja, Clinton Sparks, The Jam, Corey Gibson and songwriter Stacy Barthe.[12] Some of this was chronicled on her VH1 reality series Brandy and Ray J: A Family Business, which originally aired from April 2010 to February 2011 and spawned a soundtrack of the same name (2011), on which some of the tracks were included.[13] In September 2010, producer Bangladesh confirmed that had been commissioned by Norwood to helm the production of the entire project,[14] though Norwood later expressed her intent to further connect with several producers, including producers Hit-Boy, Tha Bizness, Jim Beanz,[15] WyldCard,[16] newcomers Kevin McCall,[17] Rich Harrison, Rico Love,[18] production collectives The Woodworks and The Runners,[19][20] singers Sean Garrett,[21] Chris Brown, Drake, Frank Ocean,[18] and Lonny Bereal,[22] and songwriter Ester Dean.[23][24]

In August 2011, it was confirmed that Norwood signed a joint record deal with RCA Records and producer Breyon Prescott's Chameleon Records and will release her sixth studio album in May 2012.[25][26][27] In November 2011, Sean Garrett announced through Rap-Up that he wrote and co-produced the album's first single, which he expected to be released before December 25, 2011 and was to be feature a rapper.[28] Plans fell through and the song was eventually pushed back so it wont clash with the release of the Rico Love produced mid-tempo song "It All Belongs to Me", a duet with singer Monica.[29]

Singles

"It All Belongs to Me", a duet with Monica, serves as the album's official lead single. It had its debut online on February 6, 2012 and was made available for purchase on February 14, 2012. It officially impacted Rhythmic and Urban radio on February 21, 2012.[30] It managed to reach number 23 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, but failed to enter the Billboard Hot 100.

On April 12, 2012, Norwood confirmed she was going to release "Put It Down" featuring fellow R&B singer Chris Brown as the album's next single.[31] Produced by Bangladesh and written by Sean Garrett. Norwood has described the song as “very commercial, but at the same time, it’s got a dope hip-hop influence—it’s club, it’s radio, it’s all formats [...] it’s uptempo, it’s really different.”[31] The song was premiered on April 26, 2012. It was made available for purchase as a digital download on May 8, 2012.[32]

Recorded tracks

References

  1. ^ a b "Brandy Announces Album Title & Release Date". ThatGrapeJuice.net. 2012-03-03. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
  2. ^ a b c Crosley, Hillary (2012-03-01). "Brandy on Her New Album, Outlook and Reunion With Monica". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
  3. ^ Hilton, Perez (2009-07-09). "Sucks To Be Brandy!!!". PerezHilton.com. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
  4. ^ "Tricky Stewart Explains Giving Brandy Record to Jennifer Lopez". Rap Up. 2009-12-19. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
  5. ^ Hope, Clover (2009-01-23). "Tricky Stewart Predicts J. Lo's "Louboutins" Will Be Big Hit". VIBE. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
  6. ^ "Exclusive: Kadis & Sean Speak to UrbanBridgez.com". Urban Bridgez. UrbanBridgez.com. 2009-11-12. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
  7. ^ a b c d Reid, Shaheem (2009-12-09). "Brandy Thanks Timbaland For Endorsing Her New Rap Career". MTV News. MTV.com. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
  8. ^ "Brandy breaks down her entire catalogue". VIBE Online Magazine. 2010-12-01. Retrieved 2011-06-04.
  9. ^ "Brandy Reunites With Timbaland On New Album". ThatGrapeJuice.net. 2010-07-09. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
  10. ^ "Brandy Finds Love, Reaches Out to Kim Kardashian, and Talks New Album". The Wendy Williams Show. Rap Up. 2012-01-09. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
  11. ^ "Brandy Dishes on Dating Woes, Raps on 'Lopez Tonight'". Lopez Tonight. Rap Up. 2011-12-02. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
  12. ^ "Brandy Norwood – ‏@4everBrandy". Twitter. 2010-04-30. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
  13. ^ Herrera, Monica (2010-09-20). "Brandy Talks 'Dancing with the Stars,' Bristol Palin & New Music". Billboard. Billboard.com. Retrieved 2012-03-06.
  14. ^ Kennedy, Gerrick D. (2010-09-27). "Producer Bangladesh Plots His Pop Domination, But Not Before Settling Differences". LA Times Blogs. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-03.
  15. ^ Byrd, Shanique. "Red Carpet Interviews from VH1 Honors". Parlé Magazine. ParleMagazine.com. Retrieved 2011-06-22.
  16. ^ "Interview: Kendrick Dean Proves That The Wyldcard Can Still End Up On Top". YouKnowIGotSoul.com. Retrieved 2011-06-22.
  17. ^ "Page 21 Exclusive Interview with Kevin McCall". Page 21 Online Magazine. page21mag.com. 2011-03-01. Retrieved 2011-05-27.
  18. ^ a b "Brandy Crafts 'Classic R&B' Sound with Rico Love for New Album". Rap-Up. Rap-Up.com. 2011-08-24. Retrieved 2011-08-24.
  19. ^ "Interview: Davion Farris Discusses The Woodworks Writing Team, New Mixtape". YouKnowIGotSoul.com. 2011-10-05. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
  20. ^ "Ok! Special music for @4everBrandy" my boys!!!!". @4everBrandy @ Twitter. 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
  21. ^ "you are soooo talented!". @4everBrandy @ Twitter. 2011-09-23. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
  22. ^ "Interview: Lonny Bereal Begins His Journey As An Artist Via "The Love Train"". YouKnowIGotSoul.com. 2012-03-21. Retrieved 2012-04-01.
  23. ^ "Brandy & Ray J on HipHopHollywood.com". YouTube. Youtube.com. 2010-04-02. {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
  24. ^ "TrueExclusives Interviews Brandy". True Exclusives. TrueExclusives.com. 2010-02-11. Retrieved 2010-02-12. [dead link]
  25. ^ "Brandy Hints at Drake Collaboration". Rap-Up.com. 2012-01-13. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
  26. ^ "Brandy Signs with RCA/Chameleon Records". Rap-Up.com. 2011-08-22. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
  27. ^ "Pop & Hiss". Los Angeles Times.
  28. ^ "Q&A: SEAN GARRETT TALKS BRANDY'S EVOLUTION, FIRST SINGLE, & MYSTERY COLLABORATOR". Rap-Up (in englisch). Retrieved 2012-02-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  29. ^ "Monica And Brandy's Brand New Single "It All Belongs To Me" Set For Release February 14th!". RCA Records (in englisch). Retrieved 2012-02-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  30. ^ http://www.rap-up.com/2012/01/17/brandy-and-monica-duet-it-all-belongs-to-me-due-next-month/#more-110425
  31. ^ a b c "Brandy 'Puts It Down' with Chris Brown on New Single". Rap-Up. Rap-Up.com. 2012-04-12. Retrieved 2012-04-13.
  32. ^ http://www.rap-up.com/2012/04/26/new-music-brandy-f-chris-brown-put-it-down/
  33. ^ a b "Can't Cope (BMI Work #12444849)". Broadcast Music Incorporated(BMI). Retrieved 2011-07-17.
  34. ^ "An Intimate Conversation: Brandy on New love, New Music & More!". YouTube.
  35. ^ "New Song: Brandy – 'How High' (Snippet)". Broadcast Music Incorporated(BMI). 2010-12-07. Retrieved 2011-08-07.
  36. ^ "In My Head (BMI Work #13262454)". Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI). Retrieved 2011-10-19.
  37. ^ "Brandy - Make Believe (New Music 2011)". Brandy & Ray J: A Family Business. YouTube.com. 2009-10-28. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
  38. ^ "Watch: 'Brandy & Ray J: A Family Business' (Season 2/Episode 7)". Brandy & Ray J: A Family Business. ThatGrapeJuice.net. 2011-01-24. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
  39. ^ "Rap-Up TV: Sean Garrett Reveals 'Sick' Song on Brandy's Album". Rap Up. 2012-05-03. Retrieved 2012-05-04.
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