page_title: Afrodisiac (Brandy album)
section_title: Recording
hierarchical_section_title: Afrodisiac (Brandy album) / Recording
caption_attribution_description: Miami, Florida: Criteria Studios
context_page_description: Afrodisiac is the fourth studio album by American singer Brandy, released on June 28, 2004 by Atlantic Records. The album was recorded primarily in Los Angeles between spring 2003 and early 2004, following several major changes in Brandy's personal and professional life. After giving birth to her daughter and the demise of her relationship with the father, Brandy's team was given an overhaul, including changes in production, management, and A&R. The album marked a departure from her previous work, with Brandy collaborating with producer Timbaland and songwriter Candice Nelson, on the majority of the album's composition.
  With many of their new relationships being the result of broken ones, Brandy and Timbaland were inspired to experiment with a number of sounds and influences to create a unique, individualized sound that was distinct from other R&B music. The result was an organic, mellow contemporary R&B album that experimented with the New York-based illbient style, which infuses eccentric hip-hop breakbeats, ambient soundscapes, and the unorthodox sampling of indie rock and various film scores.
context_section_description: Following the birth of her daughter Sy'rai in June 2002, Norwood soon entered recording studios to begin work on her then-untitled fourth album with producer Mike City and companion Robert "Big Bert" Smith. As the singer envisioned the longplayer to sound "much rawer" and more "street" than its 2002 predecessor Full Moon, Smith quickly emerged as the album's executive producer and A&R, replacing longtime contributor and mentor Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, who Norwood felt was not going in the same direction creatively after all. About parting ways with Jerkins whose Darkchild team took production credits on her last two albums, Norwood commented that "Darkchild created a sound with me and gave it to everybody. I didn't like that [...] I needed to change my sound and I wanted to explore my versatility, my creativity and my art." The couple eventually finished a number of demo recordings and at least four full songs until late November 2002, including "Ryde or Die" and Sy'rai-inspired "Sunshine;" and although Smith expected the album to drop by spring 2003 at one time or another, Norwood and Big Bert ended their relationship in mid-2003, resulting in the album's delay and several personnel changes.
  Norwood eventually decided to scrap most of the project, and instead enlisted Timbaland, with whom the couple had previously worked on Kiley Dean's unreleased Simple Girl album, as the album's main contributor. Impressed by Timaland's input, Norwood rediscovered the musical affection, she had missed on Full Moon and its technical priority. "I made the change because I needed to evolve. I needed to explore my talent and versatility and see if I had another side to me, another sound," she said about collaborating. "I wanted to do my own thing, and I've always wanted to work with Timbaland [...] and see how my voice would sound over his tracks. It was an edgier Brandy, a sassier sound, but still with a lot of heart and a lot of passion." With the help of Timbaland protégés such as Candice Nelson, Steve "Static" Garrett, and co-producer Walter Millsap III the pair worked on what was tentatively titled B-Rocka — a nickname actually given to her by Jerkins — and originally planned for a Christmas 2003 release. Their first collaboration, 1990s tribute "Turn It Up", was leaked onto the internet in autumn 2003, and soon released as a promotional buzz track.
  Having concluded additional recording sessions with Warryn Campbell, Theron Feemster and Organized Noise, in November 2003, Atlantic Records announced that Norwood was putting the finishing touches on her still-untitled album, at that time scheduled for a release on March 2, 2004, and she would shoot a music video for the "hyper, bass-heavy" banger "Black Pepper" during the second week of December. However, plans for the single fell through as the Timbaland-produced track was scrapped in favor of a new record: "Talk About Our Love", produced by rapper Kanye West. Both the single and album cut "Where You Wanna Be" were eleventh-hour additions to the album, commissioned by West's manager Geroid Roberson, one of the executive producers on Afrodisiac, who encouraged Norwood to attempt further studio sessions with West. "Kanye put the finishing touches on the record," Norwood commented on her decision to work with West. "The two tracks we did were just what I needed to tie the whole thing together."
caption: Hit Factory in Miami, Florida, where most of Afrodisiac was recorded.
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