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What About Us? (Brandy song)

"What About Us?"
Whataboutus.jpg
Single by Brandy
from the album Full Moon
Released January 1, 2002 (2002-01-01)
Format
Recorded Fall 2001
Genre
Length 4:10
Label Atlantic
Writer(s)
Producer(s) Rodney Jerkins
Brandy singles chronology
"Another Day in Paradise"
(2001)
"What About Us?"
(2002)
"Full Moon"
(2002)

"What About Us?" is a song by American recording artist Brandy Norwood. It was written by LaShawn Daniels, Rodney Jerkins, Kenisha Pratt, Nora Payne, and Norwood for her third studio album, Full Moon (2002), featuring main production by Jerkins. An offbeat, aggressive high-tech track, the song's development was motivated by the fact that the singer wanted something different – an aggressive, sexier and edgier sound with a message which would give women strength while also reflecting her own growth and maturity.

The song was released as the album's lead single during the first quarter of 2002. While "What About Us?" managed to enter the top twenty on the majority of the charts it appeared on, it reached the top ten in Australia, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 2003, "What About Us?" was awarded a BMI Urban Award, while Steve "Silk" Hurley's remix version of the song received a nomination for the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical.

The accompanying music video was directed by Dave Meyers and filmed in Culver City, California in November 2001. It premiered on MTV on January 10, 2002. Primarily shot in front of a greenscreen, the highly animated, futuristic video introduced a sexier image of the former teen singer, portraying her as a male-ruling character in an alternate universe. It was nominated for the Viewer's Choice Award at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards.

After the end of her promotional touring for her album Never Say Never (1998), the cancellation of her UPN sitcom Moesha and a flurry of tabloid headlines discussing her nervous breakdown in November 1999, Norwood went on a lengthy hiatus to reflect and take some introspective looks. In mid-2000, she started reconsecrating herself on her musical career, contributing songs to albums such as Urban Renewal (2001), which introduced a scratchy, evocative edge to Norwood's voice, now having a deeper and warmer tone with a textured lower register and notably stronger falsetto. In fall 2000, Norwood finally began conceiving ideas for a third studio album with the Atlantic label. While Rodney Jerkins, the main producer of her previous album, and his team, had been working on several new songs for the singer's upcoming project in hopes of recreating the winning chemistry of Never Say Never, Norwood wanted to make sure that she was gaining more creative control over the project and thus, arranged meetings with all her writers and musicians to discuss the lyricals topics and sounds she wanted for the album.


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