Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Throwback: The Brandy & Timbaland Debate

In the long dicussed and debated lore of Timbaland, there is one song that literally creates instantaneous controversy. This controversy doesn't come from just the Timbaland fans, however, rather the Brandy fans have also joined this war of words that has gone on for years. What was the REAL name of the album it was from? Was it really going to be the first single? and the age old, fight-till-the-death question: does the Timbaland produced "Black Pepper" track really exsist?

Vibe magazine would have you believe it does as it ran this story 4 years ago about the song:

****She exed her husband, dropped her former A-list producer, and enlisted a superstar manager. As the new BRANDY gets comfortable in her own flesh, CHEO HODARI COKER finds that she’s not afraid to push the envelope.

I'm not trying to be safe or difficult, but I don't want to look like Christina Aguilera," Brandy says, arms folded. "I just want to be sexy, but tasteful at the same time. Beyonce is sexy, but she's tasteful." She's talking to Frank Gatson Jr. and LaVelle Smith Jr., the two VMA Award-winning choreographers who have been charged with helping Brandy get her groove back. "Well, Beyonce didn't want to do this," Gatson says, dropping his hands to his sides, arching his back, and backing his ass up, duplicating that Beyonce booty dance from "Crazy in Love" with alarming dexterity for a man who's tall and built like a linebacker. "But we put professionals around her," he continues. "And we're not gonna play you."

The 25-year-old R&B princess has never been known for sensual dance steps, but shaking things up is the whole point of her new sound. In the past, an exchange like this one would have been the domain of Brandy's mother, Sonja Norwood. "I have to say, that's one thing my mom was always afraid of," Brandy later says. "She didn't want anybody to change me into something else." The choreographed steps were to be seen in the video for the hyper, bass-heavy, Timbaland banger "Black Pepper," which has since been scrapped for the more organic Kanye West-produced "Talk About Our Love." But the same way Brandy is learning to be comfortable with her feet, she's also learning to be at ease with revealing a more provocative side of herself. And if there are any changes to make these days, Brandy will be the sole architect. To take on management duties, she's drafted Benny Medina, who has famously guided the career of Jennifer Lopez to superstardom. Brandy has also split with her husband and has dropped production maven Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins in favor of Timbaland's exotic syncopated masterpieces.****

Full Article.

So "Black Pepper" was to be the first single off Afrodisiac right? Then why did Timbaland premiere Brandy's "first single" Adios featuring Sean Paul on the Baker Boys interview so many years back? Or was "Black Pepper" for her previous album Black Moon? The debate of what album this track was intended for will rage on for many years to come I'm sure...

BUT I will say with 100% certainty that "Black Pepper" does exsist. It may stay in the vaults of Timbaland & Brandy till the end of time but it's exsistence is a fact.

13 comments :

  1. I was always alot more curious about Bones, Horizon and Hush actually [just more interesting titles], if those are ever real, and if so, who wrote them...Although those tracks may be real but not Timbaland, until Talk About Our Love first saw the day of light most people didn't really know better than that Tim did the [b]entire[/b] album, so they may very well have been real song but by other people entirely...Brandy is known to be an artist that records alot of songs for her albums, I'm wondering just how many more she may have done with Tim that we don't know about at all...Black Pepper was the same as B-Rocken or B-Rockin right, I forgot, lol...?

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  2. It's unfortunate, both Kanye tracks on Afro were subpar compared to every other track on that amazing album. It had so much potential. Maybe she's saving the scrapped Timbo tracks for her next record? Ha, one can only dream.

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  3. Yea they say Black Pepper was never finished but it does exist but like boogie said it might stay in the vault of many Timbo bangers from various artists.

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  4. I'd sure like to hear this track and "Adios", just to put curiosity to rest.

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  5. A snippet of "Adios" was posted here :)

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  6. musta been before I was a regular

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  7. well, does anyone have the clip of "adios"? i havent heard it.

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  8. Maybe you can still hear the clip of "Adios" if you search in the ARCHIVES of this wounderfull site ;)

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  9. no cigar... how bout someone just provides a link, please?

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  10. Timbaland - Scream (Video)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kalSNCyuZ5I

    =)

    Farraj

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  11. From what I can recall Keri has used the beat for "Black Pepper" for another song that she did for her album. Whether it comes out or not we may never know.

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  12. Wow! I just googled Black Pepper and found this article! It's amazing to see hta people are as curious as I am about this debate. It's even more shocking how big Timbo is right now and Brandy had him just before the explosion. Afrodisiac remains one of my favorite albums of all time, I am sad that it didnt perform better. I also read she was supposed to do a tour with Usher while his Confessions was ruling the chart, but that never happened. Things really could have gone in another direction for B-Rocka.

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  13. When was there a posting of Adios?

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