Afrodisiac : Brandy : Review : Rolling Stone

Brandy's new album recalls Janet Jackson at her best: She's a pop star, but she's making the most of her big studio budgets and is following her muse. Working mostly with Timbaland -- but also with the more laid-back Kanye West, on "Think About Our Love" and "Where You Wanna Be" -- Brandy lets her cool voice stream through jams that, as one hot track is titled, "Focus." The music is mainstream soul with eccentric details and shadings. On "I Tried," Brandy stays home, pulls the covers over her head and yearns to hear some Coldplay; appropriately, Timbaland's music slips the English band's black-and-blue guitar harmonics into his trademark zigzags of hip-hop-inspired soul. "Yo!" he calls out at the beginning of "Finally," which includes samples of Hans Zimmer Hollywood movie music, "Me and Brandy have risen to the occasion!" They have.