Never Say Never

Never Say Never
Studio album by Brandy
Released	June 9, 1998
Recorded	August 1997–April 1998
Genre	R&B, pop
Length	66:30
Label	Atlantic 83039
Producer	Brandy Norwood, Dallas Austin, David Foster, Fred Jerkins III, Rodney Jerkins, Brad Gilderman, Marc Nelson, Harvey Mason Jr., Guy Roche
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Entertainment Weekly (B) link Rolling Stone link
Brandy chronology
Brandy (1994) Never Say Never (1998) Full Moon (2002)

Never Say Never is the second studio album by American singer Brandy, released by Atlantic Records on June 8, 1998 in Europe and on June 9, 1998 (see 1998 in music) in North America at the age of 19. Chielfy produced by Rodney Jerkins and his Darkchild team, the album helped cementing Brandy as a mature hitmaker, while also popularizing Jerkins' Timbaland-inspired production sound. Never Say Never earned Brandy five Grammy-nominations and became her biggest-selling album to date. The album sold more than 14 million copies worldwide.

History

Production and title

After a lengthy break and several soundtrack appearances, Brandy eventually entered recording studios in 1997 to start work on her then-untitled second album with producer Rodney Jerkins and father Willie Norwood. While Jerkins contributed most to the album and moreover served as its executive producer, Norwood also worked with producers Dallas Austin, Guy Roche, David Foster, among others. In addition, she also recorded with Babyface, Fat Joe, Da Brat and Big Pun but none of the songs written with them made the final tracklisting. Some of the songs can be heard on the remix EP U Don't Know Me (Like U Used To).

Release and reception

While most professional reviewers liked the album's ballads, the album was praised for Brandy's raspy and clear voice. Brandy's second album became a global success: It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and on the U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart, selling more than 160,000 copies in its first week of release. The album sold another 153,000 the following week less than the week before but moving up one spot to number two. The album continued selling well, and the album eventually received five platinum certifications by the RIAA for more than five million copies shipped to stores. While the album managed to enter the Top Ten in the U.S., the Netherlands, Germany, Canada and Denmark it was a top twenty success in the majority of the charts it appeared on. In Asia, the album was a hit sensation, becoming one of the first R&B albums to achieve multiple chart hit singles. "The Boy Is Mine," "Have You Ever" and Top of The World" all topped the MTV Asia Hitlist during the nineties. The album was supported by the Never Say Never World Tour in 1999, which featured outsold performances in Asia, America, Oceania and Europe. To date the album has sold over 14 million copies worldwide total.

Awards and nominations

Never Say Never was nominated for four 41st Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year for "The Boy Is Mine", Best R&B Album, Best R&B Song for "The Boy Is Mine", Best R&B Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocals for "The Boy Is Mine", won the latter one and received generally good reviews.

At the 42nd Grammy Awards, Never Say Never received one Grammy nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "Almost Doesn't Count".

Besides the Grammys Never Say Never received multiple Billboard Music Awards and was nominated for several American Music Awards, MTV Awards and Soul Train Awards.

Songs

"Angel in Disguise", which features production from Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, is the opening track (excluding the intro) on Never Say Never. The song was released as an airplay-only single and charted within the lower half of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1998. Brandy, who received co-production credits for the track, has noted the song one of her all-time favorites.^[1] Set as the album's lead single, "The Boy Is Mine" was released in May 1998 to good reviews. The Boy Is Mine was noted for being "smooth",^[2] also it was panned by critics saying, "When Brandy has it out with Monica in the backstabbing The Boy Is Mine, there's none of the soul-baring theatrics we'd get if Faith Evans and Mary J. Blige had gone at it. Instead, the two younger women play second fiddle to the steady-thumping bass, keeping their voices so low you'd think they were afraid a teacher might overhear them."^[3]. The single was originally intended to be a solo song for Brandy, but due to Monica's success by that time it was released as a duet. It reached number one in the US and spent 13 weeks on the top spot, it outsold the success of its predecessor, lead single "I Wanna Be Down", which reached number 6. "The Boy Is Mine" was also the international breakthrough success, peaking on the charts at number one in Japan, Canada, Netherlands and New Zealand and Top Ten in several other states. The single's music video was nominated for two 1998 MTV Video Music Awards, for Best R&B Video, and Video of the Year.

"Learn the Hard Way" is the album's fourth track. It is the third song on the album, and shares similarities with the song Never Say Never. The Guy Roche-produced "Almost Doesn't Count" is the fifth track. Brandy performed the song in the 1999 film Double Platinum, starring Diana Ross and herself. The international single "Top of the World" is the album's sixth track. It is a collaboration with Mase and the song talks about Brandy as a popstar just trying to be her and not feeling like being in her own world. In the music video, directed by Paul Hunter, Brandy was featured incurring various supernatural phenomena. She spontaneously floated in the air, flipping and somersaulting above random objects; telephone poles and vehicles, as people stopped to stare. These strange phenomena also included balancing herself vertically and horizontally alongside skyscrapers and buildings. The Darkchild-produced "U Don't Know Me (Like U Used To)", which is the album's seventh and final single, is noted for its remix version with Shaunta and Da Brat. The remix was released as the lead single to the same-named EP. "Never Say Never", also produced by Rodney Jerkins , is the eighth song of the album. "Never Say Never" was released as a Germany single in 2000. "Thruthfully", the ninth song, tells about a broken relationship.

The number-one-hit "Have You Ever?" was the tenth track. Brandy states that it was the first time she had been in the studio with a producer like David Foster. Her voice wasn't as developed as it is now and the song required what producers call ‘money notes' - the kind that get you a No. 1 on the charts. She says she was really nervous but it all worked just fine."^[1], "Put That on Everything" a mid-tempo ballad is the albums eleventh track and was written by Brandy Norwood, L. Daniels, Fred Jenkins III, Rodney Jerkins and Joana Tejeda and is produced by Rodney Jerkins. The album's twelfth song is actually a conversation between Brandy, Rodney and Fred Jerkins. "Happy", an R&B up-tempo-song, that was featured in the motion picture Double Platinum and received positive critics from The Rolling Stone magazine,^[4] was the albums thirteenth song. "One Voice", the fourteenth track, is the official UNICEF theme song in its 50th anniversary year. Entertainment Weekly describes her voice in the song as soft and smoky and as a gospel-fired ballad that find her effortlessly raising the roof.^[3] "Tomorrow", another ballad is the fifteenth track and is with almost 6 minutes the albums longest song. The final song is the Bryan Adams cover "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You". Although lacking video or promotion the song received a top thirty entry on New Zealand singles chart.

Track listing

1. "Intro"  — 0:49
2. "Angel in Disguise" (LaShawn Daniels, Fred Jerkins III, Rodney Jerkins, Isaac Philips, Nycolia Turman, Traci Hale)  — 4:48
3. "The Boy Is Mine" (featuring Monica) (Brandy Norwood, LaShawn Daniels, Fred Jerkins III, Rodney Jerkins)  — 4:55
4. "Learn the Hard Way" (Brandy Norwood, LaShawn Daniels, Fred Jerkins III, Rodney Jerkins)  — 4:51
5. "Almost Doesn't Count" (Guy Roche, Shelly Peiken)  — 3:37
6. "Top of the World" (featuring Mase) (Mason Betha, LaShawn Daniels, Traci Hale, Fred Jerkins III, Rodney Jerkins, Isaac Phillips, Nycolia Turman)  — 4:41
7. "U Don't Know Me (Like U Used To)" (Brandy Norwood, Rodney Jerkins, Isaac Phillips, Paris Davis, Sean Bryant)  — 4:28
8. "Never Say Never" (Brandy Norwood, Rodney Jerkins, Fred Jerkins III, Japhe Tejeda, LaShawn Daniels, Rick Williams)  — 5:10
9. "Truthfully" (Rodney Jerkins, Harvey Mason Jr., Marc Nelson, Brad Gilderman)  — 4:58
10. "Have You Ever?" (Diane Warren)  — 4:32
11. "Put That on Everything" (Brandy Norwood, Rodney Jerkins, Fred Jerkins III, Japhe Tejeda, LaShawn Daniels)  — 4:51
12. "In the Car (Interlude)" (Brandy Norwood)  — 1:10
13. "Happy" (Brandy Norwood, Rodney Jerkins, Fred Jerkins III, Japhe Tejeda, LaShawn Daniels)  — 4:06
14. "One Voice" (Phil Gladston, Gordon Chambers)  — 4:08
15. "Tomorrow" (Brandy Norwood, Rodney Jerkins, Fred Jerkins III, Japhe Tejeda, LaShawn Daniels)  — 5:21
16. "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" (Bryan Adams, Michael Kamen, Robert John "Mutt" Lange)  — 4:10

Credits and personnel

Leftover tracks

• "Fooled By The Moon" ^[5]
• "Sunday Morning" ^[6]
• "The Only One For Me" ^[7]

Release history

Charts and certification

References

External links

• ForeverBrandy.com — official site