Here’s how Bran’Nu came about. I was in the car one day rapping. I was just listening to a beat and started flowing off the top of my head. It was crazy. I was like, “Oh my God, I’m learning!” I’ve always loved hip-hop, could always quote all of the verses from rappers like Eminem, Lil Wayne and Jay-Z.

Sometimes I prefer hip-hop over R&B. So I could always do that. But never really seemed to fit. Then I did it one day. I was like “OMG, I could rap, I could rap, I know I can rap, let me call my brother and get confirmation.”

So I called my brother to get the confirmation, called my cousin, and I rapped for them and they were like, “B’ you’re onto something.” I did it as a hobby for a while and then Timbaland was like, “You gotta do this, you gotta come on the album.” For him to think that it was good enough to be on his album was like whoa.

But I’m a little nervous to really do Bran’Nu though on a consistent basis, because I never want my fans to think that I’m going to abandon them. I’m still Brandy. I really do love to rap. It’s a part of my personality. I really get to express creatively, but I wouldn’t do a whole rap album. I think it’d be a lie if I did that.

Nicki Minaj is my favorite rapper right now. I love her. She is just so dope to me. I like her style and the way she performs, all of that. She’s different than anybody that has ever been out. I would do a song with Bran’Nu and Nicki. Absolutely. But I need about two weeks with my verse and I’ll be good. Nicki Minaj ain’t about to upstage me 🙂

As far as the name, Bran’Nu is a name that my momma gave to me a long time ago. People used to always call me Bran’Nu all the time and Timbaland thought that was a brilliant name for it for a whole rap persona.