A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
This week, Brandy Norwood, better known to fans as simply Brandy, was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Today is Brandy Day in Hollywood.
(CHEERING)
MARTÍNEZ: In a new memoir titled "Phases," the singer, songwriter and actress pulls back the showbiz curtain on what it was like to grow up while the world watched. To learn more about her book and her upbringing, I started by listing some of the many cultural moments she's given us since the 1990s.
Because I got to admit, Brandy, when I look back and I remember back on your career - let's just start with 1994. Let's just start with your self-titled album, "Brandy." I mean, right after that, in 1996, you star in the television series "Moesha." That lasted until 2001. And then in 1997, Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella" comes out. You become the first Black Disney princess, and then "Never Say Never" comes out in 1998. So there were no mistakes from 1994 to 1998.
BRANDY NORWOOD: I was living my dream. I was doing things that I didn't even imagine myself doing. I mean, all I wanted to do was be a singer and touch people with my voice. You know, I did feel the pressure, as well. So...
MARTÍNEZ: What was the cost?
NORWOOD: My childhood, my privacy, my identity. But once I was able to step away from the limelight and really work on myself, I was able to grow and become an amazing person and a mom and a role model for my daughter in the best way possible.
MARTÍNEZ: How old's your daughter now?
NORWOOD: My daughter's 23.
MARTÍNEZ: Twenty-three years old.
NORWOOD: And she's an artist. She loves music.
MARTÍNEZ: Does she ever cover Mom's songs?
NORWOOD: Of course. When my daughter was really, really young, she only listened to Chris Brown and a few other artists. And I'm like, wait a minute. Is she ever going to listen to my music...
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
NORWOOD: ...And love me the way she loves Chris Brown and all these other artists? I'm like, I got to get in there some kind of way. And then one day, I heard her playing (vocalizing). I'm like, what? What do you know about "Afrodisiac"?
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
NORWOOD: And so she goes, Mom, I love your music. And there I realize that I'm her favorite artist.
MARTÍNEZ: Take me back. So after your first album - 1996 - take me back to what made you want to go into television and this show "Moesha."
NORWOOD: Well, because "Moesha" was - it was nothing like "Moesha" on television. It wasn't a young Black girl with braids on television, just tackling so many topics about life and what teenagers go through.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. One of the reasons why I watched it is because it was set in Los Angeles. I'm a sucker, Brandy, for anything set in Los Angeles.
NORWOOD: (Laughter) Leimert Park.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. Now, another stamp in time, 1997. So in the middle of the run of "Moesha," you film "Cinderella" - Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella."
NORWOOD: What? Yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CINDERELLA")
NORWOOD: (As Cinderella) Cinderella. Hot water. Cinderella. Warm milk. Cinderella. Cinderella.
(As Cinderella, singing) I'm as mild and as meek as a mouse.
MARTÍNEZ: I mean, you really hadn't met Whitney Houston until then?
NORWOOD: Well, I met Whitney Houston at the Kids' Choice Awards. And that's when, you know, we created a beautiful friendship, a relationship. And then she casted me as Cinderella...
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
NORWOOD: ...After that. But it's still Whitney Houston. Let's be very clear.
(LAUGHTER)
NORWOOD: So we are in the studio singing, and her voice is that close to me. I'm like, what is happening to my life right now?
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
NORWOOD: It was unbelievable to just be in her presence.
MARTÍNEZ: If you could just take me back to maybe a moment where you thought you impressed her with a run.
NORWOOD: Oh, my God. I don't think I've ever shared this before. But we were in the car, and I was playing her, I think, one of my songs from a new album - probably was from "Full Moon." But I was playing her a song. And she goes, I just want you to sing from your diaphragm. I'm like, what? That's what - I am singing from my diaphragm. She goes, no, you're not. You're not singing from your - I want you to - I was like, everybody ain't Whitney Houston.
(LAUGHTER)
NORWOOD: Everybody - that's how my voice sounds, Miss Whitney. It's not going to sound full and powerful like your voice.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
NORWOOD: It's not Whitney Houston (laughter).
MARTÍNEZ: Now, I want to talk about the song you won a Grammy for - your duet with Monica.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE BOY IS MINE")
BRANDY NORWOOD AND MONICA: (Singing) You need to give it up. Had about enough. It's not hard to see the boy is mine.
MARTÍNEZ: Tell us about how that duet came together because that song is pretty much perfect.
NORWOOD: Thank you so much. Well, when I was creating the song with Rodney Jerkins and LaShawn Daniels, I was watching a lot of Jerry Springer. And I saw this show where the show was called the boy is - pretty much the boy's mine. And I was like, we should do a song with another artist like Monica. Monica got on that song, and it went No. 1, and it won us a Grammy, and it put us back on tour 27 years later in 2025.
MARTÍNEZ: In 1996, you went to the prom with Kobe Bryant.
NORWOOD: I sure did.
MARTÍNEZ: That was a huge story in LA...
NORWOOD: Yes.
MARTÍNEZ: ...That Kobe and Brandy went to the prom together. How did that happen?
NORWOOD: I met him just randomly. And when I first met him, he said, I'm the No. 1 basketball player - high school basketball player in the world.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter) He said that?
NORWOOD: Yes. And he says...
MARTÍNEZ: That sounds like Kobe (laughter).
NORWOOD: Yes. And he says, I would love to take you to the prom. And so we went to the prom. And I never would have gotten the opportunity to go to the prom if Kobe didn't ask me because I wasn't in regular school. So I never would have gotten that experience. And so I'm grateful to him to this day.
MARTÍNEZ: It's a moment from the '90s, a cultural stamp.
NORWOOD: It's a moment I'll never forget, for sure.
MARTÍNEZ: And none of us will ever forget it, either.
NORWOOD: (Laughter).
MARTÍNEZ: Brandy's memoir is titled "Phases." It is out now. Brandy, thank you so much for speaking with us.
NORWOOD: Thank you so much. I love your energy. Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "AFRODISIAC")
NORWOOD: (Vocalizing). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
