Brandy – Afrodisiac (2xLP, Orange vinyl)

Afrodisiac is Brandy at her most adventurous: a sleek, nocturnal R&B record built around Timbaland’s off-kilter rhythms, negative space, and those stacked, precision vocal arrangements that only she really does like that. It’s a grown-up album in both tone and craft—less about big singles, more about mood, texture, and emotional aftertaste.

What makes it land (and why it’s aged so well) is how confidently it balances intimacy with experimentation. The production keeps shifting under her. Percussive, airy, tense—while Brandy stays centered, sounding controlled but vulnerable, turning small melodic turns and harmonies into the main event. It’s a “headphones album” that still feels immediate, and it’s become a key reference point for later alt-R&B’s colder, more spacious kind of sensuality.

Reviews

“Brandy’s meatiest album to date…” Entertainment Weekly

“The result was Afrodisiac, the best album of Brandy’s career and one of the greatest R&B albums of the last 25 years.” The Atlantic

“Brandy’s got some big shoes to fill on her fourth album, Afrodisiac…” Slant Magazine

“Afrodisiac is an openly ironic title for an album that’s much more likely to reopen old heartbreak wounds than get you heated up…” PopMatters

“Recalls Janet Jackson at her best.” Rolling Stone (via Metacritic snippet)