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Issue 44 2012

Monthly newspaper and online publication targeting 18 to 35 year olds. The ultimate guide to the hottest parties, going out and having fun. Music, fashion, film, travel, festivals, technology, comedy, and parties! London, Barcelona, Miami and Ibiza.

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34 HIP-HOP / RNB www.guestlist.net Issue 44 / 2012 BRANDY INTERVIEW The R&B Singer, whose upcoming album Two Eleven, due out 16th October, talks about how it feels to get back on track. Oshi Okomilo, oshi@guestlist.net The R&B Singer, whose upcoming album Two Eleven due out 16th October, talks about how it feels to get back on track. It's an honour to be here talking to one of the biggest most influential artists of our time. Thats so sweet, thank you. So you're trending on Twitter right now, that must be great, you feeling good? Oh, yes, the other day, wow, it was amazing. It was an amazing feeling because I'd just released my second single called 'Wildest Dreams' and the response on that song has been amazing. You've been off for like four years now, it must feel good to come straight back in at the top. Yes, it feels good, it just feels different this time. It feels like 10 years ago and it feels like when I first started, thats how big it feels. I just feel like something great is happening for me. The fans that have been down for me even when I was down and out and I didn't believe in myself. I had a group of people out there that believe in me - they're so supportive. I'm excited to move forward in my music. Ok, so I've been looking into your life and I can see that you've been really interacting a lot with your fans. You treat them so well, you call them your stars, it's amazing. I do, I do. I love them, they're like my babies, they're like my extended family. So thank God for Twitter and Facebook and all of these ways that I can communicate with them because they do have a voice and they want the best for me. I try to include their opinions and their wants in what I do because they're the reason i'm able to do what I love on a large scale, so i've got to keep them happy. So Brandy, why do they call you Gandhi? They call me Gandhi because they feel like the real Gandhi is such a powerful man, he was able to be so powerful and stay so humble. So they call me Gandhi because they feel like I have this influence in music and so many artists always pay homage to me and say nice things about me. Big artists always have something nice to say about me and they know that I'm a humble person and I'm down to earth. It's so weird talking about myself and what it means but I'm just telling you what was told to me. They say I still remain humble even after certain accomplishments. I didn't know anyone would ever pick that up or anyone would ever ask me that, thats so sweet, you have really done your research and its not just what you'd find on Wikipedia, you've tapped into other situations too. *laughs* Now, you've done some classic albums Brandy, have you 'found yourself' musically now? Do you know exactly where you are musically? I do, I really feel like I've found my connection with music again. It took me a while, took me a couple albums to do that but I really feel like I did. Once I realised what my responsibility was - to really try and help bring RnB back - when I realised that, it was easy. It was easy to get in the studio and figure out that sound because I had a purpose, I had an idea to guide me. I wasn't just doing music to do it, there was really a reason and a purpose and I found it with Sean Garrett, Bangladesh, Frank Ocean, Jim Johnson and The Bizness, a it great group of people to help that idea come into fruition. Everyone you want to work with you get. You wanted to work with Frank Ocean and it happened, amazing. Oh my gosh, yeah, the interesting thing about Frank Ocean is that I knew Frank Ocean before he was Frank Ocean and I would tell him all the time that he was special and he would always look at me like I was crazy. I would tell him 'dude you're going to be one of the biggest stars in the world, you're going to have that impact on the world', and he just thought I was crazy. So you were an inspiration to him? He's going to have to tell you if I'm an inspiration, but I know for a fact that I saw Frank Ocean before Frank Ocean saw Frank Ocean. I saw it and I told him. He listened, he definitely heard those words and he became everything that he is today and it's just the beginning. There are people I dream of working with, I dream of working with Sade, I think she is an incredible instrument and I want to work with her one day. I want to work with Enya one day. trance when I hear her music. I would love to work with Beyoncé, even if I don't sing with Beyoncé, I just want to see her in the studio. I want to witness what that is, like how does Beyoncé work in the studio, I just want to see it for my own eyes and record it on my own iPhone - my own personal footage. Those are my three for now to work with. You know who I like? I love Miguel, he's amazing. That would be a great collaboration too, so four people right now. I go into a You've worked with so many people it's absolutely unbelievable, everything you touch seems to turn to gold, do you have that same feeling where you have that energy running through you and everything you touch works. Well honestly, I've had alot of ups and downs so not everything. I think some things have [worked] you know, but I definitely feel like I'm on the right path right now, I do feel like theres a higher power guiding this project and guiding me. I haven't been this happy in a long time and I feel like I'm living out my purpose and its a build, everything is taking its own pace and its own time, everything is happening the way its supposed to and I just want to trust it. I want to be thankful for every moment in my life and just be appreciative. I was telling my manager the other day, when everything was happening for me when I was a kid I don't ever remember taking the time to just say thank you. Even the conversation I'm having with you, to answer questions that I've never answered in any time in my career. Like I've never answered some of the questions that you've asked me today, that's a blessing, so this is great, I know its corny but I just am, sorry. You started Moesha at a very young age and you worked with so many people, like Big Pun, Dr Dre, Master P. It must have been so much fun for you! Have you ever had anything top that fun, anything that has been as fun as it was back then? I'm starting to, but it's going to take a lot to top the fun that I had on Moesha. I did work with a lot of great people and I kind of grew up through the eyes of Moesha, through that character. The people on the show that I got a chance to work with were really talented so it was a lot of fun. So you're in a relationship now, is that part of what's making you so happy? Absolutely, I'm in a great relationship right now. I love my boyfriend, hes really great. And hes not a celebrity he's just a regular guy. No, hes not a celebrity, I wouldn't be able to handle it if he was a celebrity! *laughs* He's a music executive but hes not in the limelight, so he definitely knows his business and he can handle everything that happens with me. really love each other, we're really good friends. My family loves him, it's a great relationship and I keep my fingers crossed that it goes on forever. It's just a normal relationship, we Finally, this is my last question. If you could fill a swimming pool with anything in the world, what would it be? Oh my God, I don't know. Love is always in the swimming pool at home and I never get in, my daughter and my boyfriend are always in the swimming pool and I never get in the pool with them. I would get in if Whitney and Michael were in there. Wow Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson, what an amazing answer. It's been lovely talking to you and I would love to meet you one day, it would be great if we could meet and do this on TV. You will, you will get to meet me because I want to meet you, I love your energy, your energy is awesome. We're going to meet, I promise. You've made my day, I'm looking forward to that. Well take care and good luck with everything you're doing. Thank you so much and I hope the same for you, God bless, bye.

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