Album: Brandy (Atlantic)
Songwriters: Keith Crouch and Kipper Jones
Hit #1: October 22nd, 1994 (4 Weeks)
Armed with a bubbly smile, wholesome persona and a deep groove-invested urban twist on puppy love, fifteen year old actress/ singer Brandy Norwood was a no-brainer selection for America's new sweetheart. Both parents and kids could relate to her music's doe-eyed romantic scenarios, and the adults could get extra pleasure from tight productions based in subdued funk and soul textures from their own era.
In the midst of recording her first album, Brandy was already collecting a paycheck as a supporting player on the short-lived ABC sitcom "Thea", but the girl wouldn't taste major success until the release of her intro single, "I Wanna Be Down".
A hip updating of "Do you like me? Check yes or no", "I Wanna Be Down" finds Brandy all about being under the arm of her newest crush. "I would like to get know if I could be/ The kind of girl that you could be down for," she coyly asks, double tracked vocals giving her smoky pipes an almost alien-like tone. She sells herself well, even promising to be a dedicated buddy if he's not all that interested in being her boyfriend ("Maybe all you need's a shoulder to cry on," she offers, thoughtfully).
The sentiment may be innocent but Brandy and her handlers are smart enough not to strictly confine her to the teen crowd, allowing the lyrics to convey a much more universal message. The production, on the other hand, is all grown-up: A snaky keyboard line maneuvering through shimmering chords and a crisp drum beat, making this a syrupy seduction in sound.
The star-studded hip hop remix brought together three of the day's top raptresses: MC Lyte, Yo Yo and Queen Latifah, who push Brandy to the side for hook duties to give the song a more mature twist. Riding the laidback groove with bulletproof diction, the trio engage in their own playful banter with the opposite sex, Latifah stealing the prize for the jazzy-cool final verse.
DL: "I Wanna Be Down" (YFH)
DL: "I Wanna Be Down (Remix)" (YFH)
6 comments:
This blog is the shit!!!!!!
I can't believe how well this song has aged... I think I like it more now!
(Another great post, btw-- as usual.)
I used to be mesmerized by Brandy's hand movements in that video
I still do her hand movements on a regular basis on the dancefloor. It really wins the crowd over.
Also, the hip hop remix was THE BEST EVERRR. These women were so fierce and to be honest, to this day, I am still not 100% sure of all the words these ladies were saying: "I flip a sa??? if you come my way" "I'll be your cornmeal motel"?? "brotherman and me, jammed a family"?
Here's a tidbit about the video to the remix. Brandy was a big fan of the video to Craig Mack's Flava In Ya Ear Remix. She loved it so much, she begged the record label to recruit its director (A then green behind the ears young man name Hype Williams) and then personally asked him to make a female version of Craig's video.
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