On November 10, Brandy's most recent CD, "Christmas With Brandy," was released just in time for the holidays. Now that Christmas is literally around the corner, the singer discusses why she made a Christmas album and how it feels to actually collaborate with her own daughter - now 21 already! Time flies.
With soulful renditions of beloved holiday songs like "Jingle Bells," "Deck the Halls," and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," as well as a collaboration with her 21-year-old daughter Sy'Rai, the Moesha star spoke with Billboard News about her newest release.
"I love Christmas, and I love Christmas carols and so I can't believe it's my first [Christmas album]," she tells Gail Mitchell, Billboard's executive director, R&B/hip-hop. "I had a great team of people to work with me, producers ... one of the writers is Sebastian Cole, Tatiana Clark, India Carney. They helped me put my own spin on the classics and help me put together some originals that I'm really proud of."
Although the album has twelve tracks, Brandy claims that some of the material may have worked nicely on another project.
She clarifies, "There will be songs left on the table for sure that can be part of a regular album that doesn't necessarily have to be a Christmas album."
Sy'Rai, Brandy's daughter, makes an appearance on the record in the song "Christmas Gift," which makes the 44-year-old proud because her daughter aspires to be just like her.
She exclaims, "I just thought our voices would sound great together and I love the melody." And I adore collaborating with her. Her development into a stunning flower, artist, and general music enthusiast is something I adore watching.
Brandy remarks that she feels ""so complete just knowing [Sy'Rai's] doing something she loves, and she has so much passion. Music is her life, and I've never met that in anyone else like that but myself. It means everything to her, just like how much it meant to me."
It's helpful for a mother to have guidance from a recording artist, and in the interview, Brandy shares that she's told Sy'Rai to pursue her own path, which was predetermined for her by the highest power, and to follow it.
Regarding her next project, which will be a follow-up to 2020's B7, Brandy says she hopes to begin work on it shortly. "It is definitely in the plan for me to start working on B8," she says. Watch the entire interview between Brandy and Billboard News above.
Sy'Rai, Brandy's daughter, was born in 2002 alongside producer Robert Smith, who was then her partner. A year after their breakup, Smith revealed that he and Brandy had never been married, despite their portrayal on a reality TV show while she was pregnant. Regarding being a mother and her relationship with Smith, she told PEOPLE IN 2020, "It changed people's perspective of me, but I had to focus on what was important, which was Sy'Rai."
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