It took me a while to truly decide how I felt about Brandy’s new jawn, Afrodisiac. A coworker of mine (who is also a big fan) asked me if it was good and I immediately said, “It’s good but its not as good as Full Moon.”

A light went on, people.

Brandy, along with Usher, is the most consistent black pop star of her generation. She effortlessly, it seems, makes music for the masses while maintaining a fresh, slightly naughty image (aw come on, you remember the funky performance in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer…horrible movie, but Bran is fun in it, no?). She became a multi-hyphenate before 18 and incurred the adoration of millions of kids, the wrath, ire and jealousy of her contemporaries (whether they’d admit it or not), and the nonchalance of everyone else.

So Afrodisiac is not as good as Full Moon. “Why,” you say?

The main problem is production. More to the point, actually, it’s Timbaland’s production.

Pure and simple.

Let it be stated that Timbaland is the kind of producer that everyone loves, everyone hates, and no one understands. His productions are usually quite sparse. Busy, but sparse. And Brandy came into her own on Never Say Never over Rodney Jerkins’ somewhat artless, but infectious HEAVY mishmash of Teddy Riley-esque sharp layering and Devante Swing’s penchant for overkill.

So you can see how the B-Rocka/Timbaland pairing yields so few results. While every single song on Afrodisiac is interesting and catchy in its own way, Brandy only sounds comfortable on a few tracks.

Tellingly, she soars to new heights on the terrific Finally (the only track where she has a hand in writing—Pssst, B-Rocka ….continue to write, you can really write a lyric, ma). The song is a moody testament to having the courage to leave a bad relationship. The song works because Timbaland’s sparse drum program and Brandy’s trademark layered melodies create the perfect tone for the song. It never rises above a cool whisper, but Brandy emotes beautifully. Few can use their voice with such subtle dexterity. You really feel the growth of the self-reliance in her voice by song’s end. A triumph, no question.

Should I Go is about Brandy’s momentary feelings of being displaced in the industry, forgotten even. It’s meditative (due mostly to the sample of Coldplay's Clocks) and sublime and again, Brandy’s arrangements really capture the tug of war in her about her career. The lyrics are a bit clumsy in the verses, but Brandy’s a pro, she can really sing anything. The ending vamp is simply stunning. And the song itself is perhaps the best combination of Brandy’s vocals and Tim’s production. Even with the unnecessary references to Aaliyah.

Speaking of Aaliyah. Contrary to popular opinion, her specter does not hang over the album. The only song that is even remotely like an Aaliyah jawn is Come As You Are. Written by Static (of the still criminally underrated Playa…new album fellas, please?) and Timbaland, it is so clearly a song that was intended for Aaliyah. It’s got Static’s trademark style, the staccato percussion that Tim seems to love to save for Aaliyah and B-Rocka rides the song like a pro. It just doesn’t really work. It’s not her sound. And ironically, this is the song that doesn’t even mention Aaliyah. The others mention her, somewhat grudgingly as if to prove that B-Rocka’s not steppin’ into her shoes. The music speaks for itself, though. Come As You Are notwithstanding, Bran and Tim try very had to make Brandy’s sound mesh with the Timbaland production machine.

Focus falls in the middle of Timbaland jawns on the album. The lyrics are perhaps a tad too abstract. What’s up with the use of the word “pronto”? It is far too guttural and Anglo-Saxony a word for the mood of the song. Glaring mistake, y’all. The Timbaland track alone is perhaps his best on the album, but there is something about Brandy’s vocals that don’t fully connect. I suspect it’s the silliness of lyrics like As much as I'd love to join you/On planet Earth right now/Know that I'm too hurt/Right now to be civilized. But it’s not. The song is similar in meaning to Finally and interestingly, Brandy sings the song more like a meditation than a call for self-reliance. Interesting choice. Just doesn’t totally work.

But much of the rest of Timbaland’s work is too busy for Brandy’s arrangements. Who Is She To You, I Tried, the ridiculous Sadiddy, Turn It Up, and the title track fail to make good use of Brandy’s voice. And this is a travesty. She sounds lost on Sadiddy and like she, like the rest of us, has no idea what the f*ck sadiddy is, but doesn’t want to admit it. Same goes for Who Is She To You. Fiesty? Yes. Convincing? Well, no, but not for lack of trying. The lyrics are banal and Bran doesn’t do well without a strong lyrical base. Afrodisiac is aight and really Turn It Up is a winner. It shouldn’t work. Not at all. But after a couple of listens, it’s clear that Bran is capable of giving us a genuine clubbanger. Here it is.

I Tried makes okay use of Coldplay's terrible Sparks, I guess. But the song never truly connects...all the elements seem to be there, they just don't gel. The song is laborious when it should be haunting. It's sorta haunting in the sense that it's banality lingers long after the song is over. I suspect it's because of the Coldplay sample. Not sure what's up with the Coldplay stuff. I have my doubts as to whether she's truly a Coldplay fan or if because Tim, Justin and Chris Martin are all buddies the samples were free. Who cares? Coldplay blows.

The rest of the album is the good stuff though. It is just buried amidst the Timbaland tracks. Kanye West gives Brandy two winners, first single Talk About Our Love and the sublimely dark Where You Wanna Be. Both are marred by unnecessary rhymes from Kanye himself and the latest wack a** rapper that The Source has touted as talented, TI. The former is a nice little ditty about industry and public nosiness into celebrity personal life. Yawn on the subject. But the track is fun and Bran’s vocal arrangement is quite captivating.

For my money though, Where You Wanna Be is Kanye’s best production in about 6 months. Why couldn’t he give Janet a track as gorgeous as this? The track is rather sparse and Brandy nestles her smooth vocals right into the groove. It’s exactly the way a mid-tempo should roll, feel me? The hook is unobtrusive and melds wonderfully into the verses. And Bran’s voice has never sounded quite this beguiling before. On subsequent pressings of the album, Bran should really remove TI’s verse. It’s intrusive, boring, corny, pathetic, and unconvincing. Need I go on?

And as good as that song is Warryn Campbell’s Who I Am is better. The song boldly calls out B-Rocka’s ex but manages to be warm and understanding, even, of him. It walks a fine line of being self-serving and boastful, but Brandy’s layers a wonderful controlled anger and resolute clarity to her vocals in a way that I’ve only heard employed well on Alicia Keys' Karma. Both singers take a simple lyric and add shadings of anger and meaning making the song multi-dimensional. It’s quite frankly the best song she’s recorded since Angel In Disguise.

Necessary proves that every singer should have an Organized Noize track on their jawn and Say You Will is good but thoroughly forgettable. How I Feel features Brandy’s most impressive vocal performance on the record. She effortlessly glides up and down her register and captures a stunning sensuality that is absent on the rest of the album. It is nice to see her grow believably into a fully sensual, not sexual, woman. Bravo, ma!

Ultimately, Afrodisiac is less successful an effort than Full Moon and Never Say Never because Timbaland as the major producer seems to lack interest in expanding the Brandy sound. It’s thoughtless. In a prior review I stated that no one should sing over a Timbaland track but Aaliyah, Ginuwine and Playa. I stand by that assessment even though Brandy doesn't make anything terrible or embarrass herself. However, despite the quality of the production, Brandy’s a singer that really doesn’t need powerhouse production. The most notable aspect of the album is not Kanye or Tim’s production, but how Brandy’s arrangements never truly let her get buried in all the clutter. While she didn’t write much of anything, she displays an intrinsic ability to know exactly how she should sound on a given track. That is far more impressive than I think anyone has given her credit for.

That being said, that ability and the confidence of her vocal work is somewhat undercut by the glaring fact that she truly felt that she needed a powerhouse producer like Timbaland to stay relevant. Hopefully, she will realize that the best material on the album, Warryn Campbell’s fantastic Who I Am and Kanye’s stuff, works not because the tracks are so out of this world, but because the melodies and lyrics provide a strong base for B-Rocka to use what is quite frankly the most distinctive and original voice in popular music.


STANDOUTS (in order)--Who I Am, Where You Wanna Be, Finally, How I Feel and Should I Go


4 stars.

Recommended: Yes