"Baby" is a song by American R&B recording artist Brandy, taken from her debut studio album, Brandy (1994). It was penned by Keith Crouch, Kipper Jones, and Rahsaan Patterson and produced by the former. Released as the album's second single on December 24, 1994, in the United States, it reached number four on the BillboardHot 100 and spent four weeks atop the BillboardHot R&B Singles chart. It also reached number four in New Zealand, number 16 in Australia, and number 68 in Canada. The single sold 1,000,000 copies in 1995 in the United States.[3]
"Baby"
Standard artwork for worldwide release (US commercial CD maxi-single pictured)
"Baby" was written by Keith Crouch, Kipper Jones and Rahsaan Patterson in 1993, while production was handled by the former.[5][1] Conceived within a few days only, the song was created during additional songwriting sessions with Patterson, with whom Crouch had worked on several songs for the Brandy album.[6] On the production process, Patterson commented in 2011: "I remember going over to his [Crouch's] house for two nights in a row and from the first night that he wanted to play the track for me, I heard what I heard, but I kept it to myself because I was pretty much intimidated thinking he would think it was horrible. Then by the third day, he was like “We’ve got to turn this song in by Friday, so whatever you think of, just sing it!” So I sang to him what I had heard instantly when he played it and he was like “Man you’ve been sitting there holding that!”.[6] Most of the background vocals and instruments were recorded in one of Crouch's bedrooms.[6] Upon hearing the demo track, Norwood applauded the song for its "flavor and soul".[7] During recording, she was reportedly inspired by idol Whitney Houston vocally, "I wanted to be exactly like her musically!".[7]
Critical receptionedit
Larry Flick from Billboard felt that "Baby" was continuing to position Brandy as a "pop/urban ingenue with charisma to spare".[2] Overall, he thought radio programmers would jump on this song "within seconds", as well as kids who will begin "endlessly chanting the chorus shortly after".[2] Steve Baltin from Cash Box commented, "Be careful not to slip on this one, as it is slick as a glacier. An extremely well-crafted slow-grinding groove lies behind the teen-age sensation’s throaty vocals. While the same level of success isn’t likely, there is still lots of airplay in the future of this tune."[8] Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report wrote, "At this rate, Brandy will have a Greatest Hits album out before she turns 18! Some songs demand to be played a lot, and here's a perfect example."[9] Pan-European magazine Music & Media deemed Brandy as America's youngest "new jil swinger". They added that "a higher "baby, babe" factor has not been heard since Amy Grant."[10] Ralph Tee from Music Week's RM Dance Update said, "At a virtually identical pace, the track perhaps lacks the production goose-bump factor that catapulted its predecessor up the charts, but its jazzy guitar lick and infectious chorus wrapped up with an impressive vocal and plenty of dancefloor appeal should see this go places."[11]
Music videoedit
The video for "Baby" was partially filmed in Times Square.
An accompanying music video for "Baby" was directed by Hype Williams and filmed in the middle of Times Square in New York City in December 1994.[4][7] Choreography was handled by Fatima Robinson.[12] A performance video, it portrays Norwood and her company dancing at "The Great White Way" in Midtown Manhattan, wearing skiing outfits.[13] Norwood wears a big white jacket and thin, white leggings complete with a white hat and black shades. The back up dancers are dressed in white too. The next cuts show Norwood wearing pink in a pink room, while singing into a microphone in a dull coloured room. She is later seen dancing with people in the same room, with the rest of the video containing similar cuts.[4]
Norwood commented on filming, "all these people were passing by and were like ‘Who’s this girl on stage in the middle of Times Square?’ I had a great time shooting the video. I could just feel myself really starting to open up, really come out of my shell and find myself as a young artist."[14] At the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards, Fatima Robinson was nominated for Best Choreography but lost to LaVelle Smith Jnr, Tina Landon, Travis Payne and Sean Cheesman for their work on the video for the Michael and Janet Jackson duet "Scream" (1995).[12]
baby, brandy, song, baby, song, american, recording, artist, brandy, taken, from, debut, studio, album, brandy, 1994, penned, keith, crouch, kipper, jones, rahsaan, patterson, produced, former, released, album, second, single, december, 1994, united, states, r. Baby is a song by American R amp B recording artist Brandy taken from her debut studio album Brandy 1994 It was penned by Keith Crouch Kipper Jones and Rahsaan Patterson and produced by the former Released as the album s second single on December 24 1994 in the United States it reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent four weeks atop the Billboard Hot R amp B Singles chart It also reached number four in New Zealand number 16 in Australia and number 68 in Canada The single sold 1 000 000 copies in 1995 in the United States 3 Baby Standard artwork for worldwide release US commercial CD maxi single pictured Single by Brandyfrom the album BrandyReleasedDecember 24 1994 1994 12 24 Recorded1993 1 GenreR amp B pop 2 hip hop 2 Length5 13 album version 4 19 radio edit LabelAtlanticSongwriter s Keith Crouch Kipper Jones Robert Jones Rahsaan PattersonProducer s Keith CrouchBrandy singles chronology I Wanna Be Down 1994 Baby 1994 Best Friend 1995 A music video was accompanied and directed by Hype Williams 4 It was photographed in the middle of Times Square in New York City in December 1994 and portrays Norwood and her company dancing in skiing outfits Met with generally positive reviews from contemporary critics Baby was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female R amp B Vocal Performance at the 1996 ceremony Contents 1 Background 2 Critical reception 3 Music video 4 Track listings 5 Credits and personnel 6 Charts 6 1 Weekly charts 6 2 Year end charts 7 Certifications 8 See also 9 ReferencesBackground edit Baby was written by Keith Crouch Kipper Jones and Rahsaan Patterson in 1993 while production was handled by the former 5 1 Conceived within a few days only the song was created during additional songwriting sessions with Patterson with whom Crouch had worked on several songs for the Brandy album 6 On the production process Patterson commented in 2011 I remember going over to his Crouch s house for two nights in a row and from the first night that he wanted to play the track for me I heard what I heard but I kept it to myself because I was pretty much intimidated thinking he would think it was horrible Then by the third day he was like We ve got to turn this song in by Friday so whatever you think of just sing it So I sang to him what I had heard instantly when he played it and he was like Man you ve been sitting there holding that 6 Most of the background vocals and instruments were recorded in one of Crouch s bedrooms 6 Upon hearing the demo track Norwood applauded the song for its flavor and soul 7 During recording she was reportedly inspired by idol Whitney Houston vocally I wanted to be exactly like her musically 7 Critical reception editLarry Flick from Billboard felt that Baby was continuing to position Brandy as a pop urban ingenue with charisma to spare 2 Overall he thought radio programmers would jump on this song within seconds as well as kids who will begin endlessly chanting the chorus shortly after 2 Steve Baltin from Cash Box commented Be careful not to slip on this one as it is slick as a glacier An extremely well crafted slow grinding groove lies behind the teen age sensation s throaty vocals While the same level of success isn t likely there is still lots of airplay in the future of this tune 8 Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report wrote At this rate Brandy will have a Greatest Hits album out before she turns 18 Some songs demand to be played a lot and here s a perfect example 9 Pan European magazine Music amp Media deemed Brandy as America s youngest new jil swinger They added that a higher baby babe factor has not been heard since Amy Grant 10 Ralph Tee from Music Week s RM Dance Update said At a virtually identical pace the track perhaps lacks the production goose bump factor that catapulted its predecessor up the charts but its jazzy guitar lick and infectious chorus wrapped up with an impressive vocal and plenty of dancefloor appeal should see this go places 11 Music video edit nbsp The video for Baby was partially filmed in Times Square An accompanying music video for Baby was directed by Hype Williams and filmed in the middle of Times Square in New York City in December 1994 4 7 Choreography was handled by Fatima Robinson 12 A performance video it portrays Norwood and her company dancing at The Great White Way in Midtown Manhattan wearing skiing outfits 13 Norwood wears a big white jacket and thin white leggings complete with a white hat and black shades The back up dancers are dressed in white too The next cuts show Norwood wearing pink in a pink room while singing into a microphone in a dull coloured room She is later seen dancing with people in the same room with the rest of the video containing similar cuts 4 Norwood commented on filming all these people were passing by and were like Who s this girl on stage in the middle of Times Square I had a great time shooting the video I could just feel myself really starting to open up really come out of my shell and find myself as a young artist 14 At the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards Fatima Robinson was nominated for Best Choreography but lost to LaVelle Smith Jnr Tina Landon Travis Payne and Sean Cheesman for their work on the video for the Michael and Janet Jackson duet Scream 1995 12 Track listings editCD single 5 No TitleWriter s Producer s Length1 Baby radio edit Keith CrouchKipper JonesRobert JonesRahsaan PattersonCrouch4 192 Baby All Star Party mix CrouchJonesJonesPattersonCrouchAllstar a 5 373 Baby LP version CrouchJonesJonesPattersonCrouch5 124 I Wanna Be Down The Human Rhythm Hip Hop remix featuring MC Lyte Queen Latifah and Yo Yo CrouchJonesLana Michele MoorerDana OwensYolanda WhitakerCrouch4 15 Notes a signifies an additional producerCredits and personnel editCredits adapted from the liner notes of Brandy 5 Keith Crouch producer recording writer Brian Gardner mastering Booker T Jones mixing Kipper Jones writer Glenn McKinney guitar Brandy Norwood backing vocals lead vocals Rahsaan Patterson backing vocals writer Sherree Ford Payne backing vocalsCharts editWeekly charts edit Chart 1995 Peakposition Australia ARIA 15 16 Canada Top Singles RPM 16 68 Canada Dance Urban RPM 17 4 Canada Retail Singles The Record 18 15 Canada Contemporary Hit Radio The Record 18 40 New Zealand Recorded Music NZ 19 4 UK Singles OCC 20 174 UK Dance OCC 21 37 UK Hip Hop R amp B OCC 22 26 US Billboard Hot 100 23 4 US Dance Singles Sales Billboard 24 1 US Hot R amp B Hip Hop Songs Billboard 25 1 US Mainstream Top 40 Billboard 26 38 US Rhythmic Billboard 27 4 Year end charts edit Chart 1995 Position Canada Dance Urban RPM 28 47 US Billboard Hot 100 29 37 US Hot R amp B Singles Billboard 30 10Certifications editRegion Certification Certified units sales United States RIAA 31 Platinum 1 000 000 Shipments figures based on certification alone See also editR amp B number one hits of 1995 USA References edit a b Golden Anna Louise June 10 2014 Brandy St Martin s Publishing ISBN 9781466873629 a b c d Flick Larry February 4 1995 Single Reviews Billboard Vol 107 no 5 p 95 Retrieved June 11 2022 Best Selling Records of 1995 Billboard Vol 108 no 3 BPI Communications January 20 1996 p 56 ISSN 0006 2510 Retrieved May 5 2015 a b c The Best R amp B Videos of the 90s Complex November 9 2017 Retrieved January 24 2018 a b c Brandy Media notes Brandy Atlantic Records 1994 a href Template Cite AV media notes html title Template Cite AV media notes cite AV media notes a CS1 maint others in cite AV media notes link a b c Interview Rahsaan Patterson on Extending the Life of Bleuphoria YouKnowIGotSoul com Retrieved September 13 2012 a b c Nathan David Rizik Chris May 8 2007 Brandy Biography SoulTracks Retrieved September 13 2012 Baltin Steve February 4 1995 Pop Singles PDF Cash Box p 7 Retrieved October 11 2022 Sholin Dave February 10 1995 Gavin Picks Singles PDF Gavin Report p 46 Retrieved January 20 2023 New Releases Singles PDF Music amp Media April 8 1995 p 13 Retrieved May 17 2021 Tee Ralph February 4 1995 Hot Vinyl PDF Music Week in Record Mirror Dance Update Supplemental Insert p 11 Retrieved May 5 2021 a b Baby Awards IMDb Retrieved May 2 2020 Porter Nina January 25 2000 The Brandy Star Profile a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a work ignored help Josephs Brian August 21 2012 Brandy Tells All The Stories Behind Her Classic Records Complex Retrieved September 21 2012 Brandy Baby ARIA Top 50 Singles Retrieved May 23 2011 Top RPM Singles Issue 9092 RPM Library and Archives Canada Retrieved November 20 2019 Top RPM Dance Urban Issue 9236 RPM Library and Archives Canada Retrieved November 20 2019 a b Lwin Nanda 2000 Top 40 Hits The Essential Chart Guide Music Data Canada p 50 ISBN 1 896594 13 1 Brandy Baby Top 40 Singles Retrieved May 23 2011 Chart Log UK 1994 2010 zobbel de Retrieved June 13 2022 Official Dance Singles Chart Top 40 Official Charts Company Retrieved July 3 2023 Official Hip Hop and R amp B Singles Chart Top 40 Official Charts Company Retrieved June 19 2022 Brandy Chart History Hot 100 Billboard Retrieved May 23 2011 Brandy Chart History Dance Singles Sales Billboard Retrieved April 9 2022 Brandy Chart History Hot R amp B Hip Hop Songs Billboard Retrieved May 23 2011 Brandy Chart History Pop Songs Billboard Retrieved November 30 2017 Brandy Chart History Rhythmic Billboard Retrieved November 30 2017 RPM Top 50 Dance Tracks of 1995 RPM Retrieved September 15 2020 via Library and Archives Canada Billboard Top 100 1995 Archived from the original on August 15 2009 Retrieved August 27 2010 The Year in Music Hot R amp B Singles Billboard Vol 107 no 51 December 23 1995 p YE 38 American single certifications Brandy Baby Recording Industry Association of America Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Baby Brandy song amp oldid 1189695798, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
