Brandy: The Vocal Bible

The Beginning of a Forever Fan

Brandy Rayana Norwood, also known as the Vocal Bible and B Rocka, is hands down my favorite artist. Growing up in the 90s she was everywhere. Her hit TV show Moesha, Roger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, she was a CoverGirl, and even had her own Barbie. As a little black girl I looked up to her and adored everything she did.

The fact that she was a singer was even better because looking back on it now, I remember always having a love for music as a child, but it didn’t really become evident until I was about 10 years old. Growing up in church and in a strict household I wasn’t allowed to listen to anything other than Gospel or Christian music of course. So I had to rely on other ways to get my fix, lol.

I remember riding the school bus to summer school back in Milwaukee, WI., V100.7 was always playing so I got to hear the songs that would be stuck in my head. The Boy Is Mine by Brandy and Monica was one of them.

I’m not sure exactly when I got my hands on Never Say Never by Brandy but I was sure to hold on to it and protect it with my heart. I would stay up all night listening to that record over and over again. The harmonies, the ad-libs, and every note she sang. Everything happening in the music in the background drew me in deeper time after time after time.

Sneaking Music and Burning CDs

By the time I was in middle school I was sneaking all types of music but especially R&B. It just hit me differently, and of course I wanted to listen to what all the other kids were listening to. I eventually started making my own mixed CDs, illegally of course. Shoutout to LimeWire lol. I do prefer to support artists by buying the music now though.

But back to Brandy. No matter what new music was coming out I was sure to always go back to Never Say Never. Then in 2002 Full Moon was released.

Just as I had to sneak my music in the house I had to sneak and watch shows like 106 & Park, Total Request Live (TRL), Cita’s World, and all the video countdown shows.

As big of a Brandy fan as I was, I was ecstatic when the Full Moon and What About Us? videos had dropped. My favorite was back with a new album that I would fall in love with just as much as the previous one.

I still don’t even remember how I got my hands on that CD either but one way or another I knew I would. Just like before almost every night that CD would be playing on my favorite player that could also play MP3 CDs which meant the mixes were even more fire.

Just like every other fan listening to B Rocka, every lyric down to every ad-lib was learned. That’s just the way it went and I guess that’s why she got the name the Vocal Bible.

Although I’d never call myself a singer I often tried to pick apart the harmonies and sing along with the records to see if I could mimic her. I didn’t know it back then as a child but fast forward to adulthood hearing other artists talk about the impact that that particular album had on them and the way they approach their music makes so much more sense now.

I’ve always said Never Say Never ran so Full Moon could walk, and to this day I still stand by that.

Transitioning from song to song happened in Never Say Never, but it was perfected on Full Moon. The harmonies and the ad-lib placement, same thing. Full Moon was just a more mature version of Never Say Never. They go hand in hand.

Brandy definitely changed the way I listen to music and how I sing when I choose to do so.

I had to surrender all my secular music while still living under my mother’s roof, but recently I’ve gone back to collecting physical copies of music and of course I had to scout out two of my favorite albums by the Vocal Bible and I can’t wait to play them.

Finally Seeing B Rocka Live

In 2025, The Boy Is Mine Tour was announced with Brandy and Monica co-headlining. My dream of seeing B Rocka was going to come true and nothing was going to stand in my way. The only disappointment was not being able to meet her and the fact that we didn’t get anything from B7 lol. Nonetheless it’s a memory that I’ll forever hold onto.

A Couple of My Favorite Underrated Tracks

Because of course they’re all my favs.

Never Say Never

1. Angel In Disguise
2. Learn The Hard Way
3. Never Say Never
4. Happy

Full Moon

1. I Thought
2. Anybody
3. Nothing
4. Love Wouldn’t Count Me Out

Brandy will always be one of the artists that shaped the way I listen to music. The details, the harmonies, the ad-libs, all of it.

Sometimes giving someone their flowers just means acknowledging the artists who helped shape your love for music in the first place.

And for me, Brandy will always be one of them.