UB Celebrates: 25th Anniversary of Brandy’s ‘Never Say Never’

Since the release of her self-titled debut back in 1994, the multi-talented Brandy has risen to become an across-the-board multi-media phenomenon.

It was her 1998 album release, that changed the game..Brandy‘s “Never Say Never.” Released 25 years ago today on June 9th, 1998.

The album made impact all over the world, it’s first week out. It debuted at #3 in the US, #3 in Canada, #16 in Germany, and #22 in the UK.

The album scored two #1 hits “The Boy is Mine” and “Have You Ever?”

“Never Say Never” was the album that almost didn’t happen. Before recording started for the album, Brandy simply didn’t want to sing. She just didn’t feel it.

“If I can’t feel it, then I won’t sing it,” said the then 19-year-old singer. “And many of the songs I heard were not ‘me.’ They didn’t express what I wanted to say at this point in my career. And I critiqued myself. I’m not the little girl I was when I made my first record. My voice is a stronger instrument now, my vocals come from both my heart and my diaphragm. My heart, because I’ve matured in the four years since the last album, I’m more emotionally there. The diaphragm because I’ve been practicing, doing more scales with my father, just strengthening my sound.”

Since emerging with her 3x-platinum self-titled debut album in 1994, released when Brandy was only 15-years-old. The trail-blazing pioneer has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide (including the 5x-platinum selling “Never Say Never”) and is ranked one of the best-selling female artists in American music history by the RIAA, having sold over 11 million albums in the United States.

“Never Say Never“, Brandy’s smash sophomore album, was certified 5-times platinum by the RIAA, with a near six million additional copies sold around the world. The album, which hit #2 on the Billboard 200, spent well more than a year on the chart.

The success of “Never Say Never” was spurred by four consecutive hit tracks: the RIAA double-platinum, Grammy Award-winning “The Boy Is Mine w/ Monica,” which spent a remarkable thirteen weeks at #1 on Billboard’s “Hot 100” chart; the #1 Urban smash, “Top Of The World”; “Have You Ever?,” the #1 Billboard “Hot 100” hit written by Diane Warren and produced by David Foster; and the top 20 “Hot 100” hit “Almost Doesn’t Count.” “U Don’t Know Me (Like U Used To)” was the album’s fifth released single, a remix version featured Da Brat and Shaunta.

During that era, Brandy earned high praise for her role in Double Platinum, the hit, made-for-TV movie starring Brandy and Diana Ross. Brandy drew raves in her starring role alongside Whitney Houston in ABC’s Cinderella, which remains a top-selling home video, and the scream-inducing I STILL KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER.

In 1999 Brandy appeared on VH1’s Divas Live with Whitney Houston, Tina Turner and Cher. Also that year Brandy became a Covergirl and Mattel announced the release of the Brandy doll collection. If that wasn’t enough, through her music and television star power, she hosted the American Music Awards.

During the same era Brandy taped episodes for the forth & fifth seasons of her smash UPN television series, Moesha.

Though she was still in her teens, Brandy was among the biggest and brightest new stars to emerge during the 1990s.

“Never Say Never” Biography;

Once she heard songs that expressed her own point of view – and met up with producers like R&B hit-makers Rodney Jerkins and David Foster, who she says, “Brought out the desire in me, the vocals I didn’t know I had” – Brandy, the little singer who went from a small town choir girl in Mississippi to a worldwide star who regularly sees her name in lights, knew she was on the right track.

And she’ll never say never again. “Never Say Never,” the follow-up to “Brandy,” 1994‘s smash debut, sounds like a woman taking control of her art and her life with a melodic force unparalleled in contemporary pop R&B.; From the sassy opener, “The Boy is Mine” her duet with Monica, (which Brandy co-wrote and co-produced), to the slinky stylish funk of the title track, to the joyous, percussive groove of “Happy,” “Never Say Never” is a document from the soul of a young woman on the move, figuring out the winding roads of romance, the sure-footed initial steps to independence, the exhilaration and freedom of her own soaring vocals.

Perhaps the most-telling track is “Top Of The World” – which features rapper MASE – in which Brandy manages to both address her critics who say she “thinks she’s too good” as well as conquer her own youthful insecurities about life as she makes her way in the world. Over a slamming persuasive beat and a funky scratch guitar, she sings, “Just tryin’ to be me, doin’ what I gotta do/Just tryin’ to be me, provin’ what I gotta prove/Some people think that I’m just sittin’ on top of the world.”

Because, for Brandy, sittin’ on top of the world is not what it’s all about. Each project she’s taken on throughout her career has been a challenge – hard work and sacrifice – that makes the beautiful moments worth it all.

“I don’t think the producers really believed in me on Cinderella, ” she says, about her early days on the set. “I thought maybe they cast me because of my name or because Whitney Houston wanted me in the part. I felt like I had to prove myself. There were dance rehearsals and music rehearsals, but on top of all that, I rehearsed by myself every day, an hour on every song. And you know what? By the time we got to the studio to record the score, they were shocked. I wasn’t just the girl Whitney hand-picked. I was a real singer.”

But this kind of fortitude is what drives Brandy. “I didn’t think my record company believed in me at first. I didn’t think the people on Moesha believed in me. I feel like my whole career has been a proving ground. But that’s what I like. It makes things interesting, makes me work harder on my projects.”

You’re the star of Cinderella, a television event watched by more than 60 million people, giving ABC-TV its biggest #1 ratings win in over 10 years – as well as home video sales of over 1 million copies. Your hit TV show draws four million viewers a week, receiving nominations from the NAACP. You swept the Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards on your first trip as a nominee – and have won 35 citations from other award groups. You’ve started your own TV production company based on a concept you pitched to Tristar Pictures, adding to your growing respect within the film and television industries.

You’re a role model for people everywhere, and you’ve started the Norwood Kids Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to serving young people.

What haven’t you gotten that you’d like to add to your list of achievements?

“I don’t really want to answer that,” says Brandy, “Because then I’d feel unappreciative. I haven’t thought about that, because I feel like I have everything I’ve ever dreamed of. If I stopped today, I would look back, know that I’ve earned a lot and know that my dreams have come true. But I can tell you what I’ve learned.”

“I can only make music that I care about. I can’t listen to the people who say I’m too-good-too-be-true. I’m just gonna be myself. Brandy,” she adds with a laugh. “I’m not going to lower my standards, I’ll continue to surround myself with beautiful, positive people. It’s hard being nineteen sometimes in this business, because I’m more of an adult than a teenager, I have to stay focused. But I’m not boastful. I’m going to stay low, keep moving, and believe in God. As long as people can relate to my music, to what I’m saying and feel the groove, then I’ll know it was all worth it.”

UB has interviewed Brandy numerous times during her career. Brandy spoke on “Never Say Never” in our 2009 & 2012 interviews.

UrbanBridgez.com: What are Brandy’s favorite Brandy songs?
Brandy: Top 4 or 5? Hmm, I gotta get these answers together (laughs) like… I don’t even know. Let me see! One of my favorite songs would have to be “Almost Doesn’t Count.” I love that song. I love “Nothing,” too, as well. I also love “When You Touch Me” off of the Full Moon album. And then some other songs that I’ve done that have never been released. Like a song called “Sweet Nothings” I love. It’s been all over the internet but it’s never been on an album. And I love a song called “Open” I did on the Osmosis Jones Soundtrack.

UrbanBridgez.com: What’s the most emotional song you’ve ever recorded?
Brandy: Most emotional, oh my god I got so many emotional songs (laughs). My whole life before I even knew what love was (laughs). This is a hard one, I might need you (Aries) to help me a little bit with that. I’m trying to think. You know what — I would have to say one of the most emotional songs I’ve ever done is not even on an album. It’s called Freedom, it was very emotional for me because that was the time I was going through the whole accident experience. I was very sad and I didn’t know how to feel at that time. That song came to me through Frank Ocean and TK, his writing partner at the time. I just wanted to be free from the slander, I wanted to be free blame, I wanted to just be happy again. Apart of me at that time didn’t even feel like I deserved to be or whatever because I was apart of something that was so tragic. It was a crazy time, that was one of the songs I was able to go in the studio and really release. Freedom means so many things, I know in the song the lyrics describe it to be freedom in terms of just being free. But it meant a lot of different freedoms for me at that time. But I sang my heart out on so many songs, Never-SAY-Never was about a breakup. So that whole album was just…but Freedom is a very special song for a very interesting growing time for me.