- You know my next guest.
I know you do.
She has sold over 40 million albums worldwide.
Her song "The Boy is Mine"
is one of the biggest singles in history.
Now she's back with a new album.
It's called B7 and it's out now.
Here she is, Brandy!
- Hey, Kels! (laughs)
- Hi!
I love you!
- I love you, Kelly Clarkson.
- Oh my gosh.
I literally was sitting here talking to my friend
and sitting here and I was like,
oh my gosh. I used to jam, like, to your records,
like all the way to volleyball games.
I'd have my Walkman, I'd be like,
♪ Sitting up in my room ♪
- Come on!
- I think that you are so great!
What an amazing career. - Thank you.
And like not only your hits,
but other hits you've written for people
like as a writer, you're just insane.
But how are you?
Like how's the family, how's quarantine?
How's everything?
- It's been...
It's been crazy, such a crazy time, you know?
But I feel like my family and I,
we've been, you know, a lot closer.
You know, I've been blessed to have my parents
here with me, my daughter.
So we've just been spending a lot of quality time together.
- So your new song, "Baby Mama,"
first of all, I love the video, I love the song,
but it's dedicated to your daughter, right?
So how is- - It is.
- [Brandy] It's dedicated to my daughter.
- Yeah, and was she excited about that
and the fact that you got Chance the Rapper on it?
That's amazing.
- Super, super excited.
You know, I had to get my mommy points for that,
you know, just doing a song about her,
about my unconditional love for her,
and then just a shout out to all the single moms out there
who have it tough, you know, raising their families,
and Chance the Rapper,
being as though he's such an amazing, amazing talent.
And getting him on board - Yeah.
was a great collaboration.
I'm so thankful that he got on board with that.
- Oh my gosh.
Yes, it was great.
So the new album is your first in eight years.
So I mean, first of all took a minute,
but like, so what does it mean to you
to actually finally get to release this?
Do you feel like you've been working on it
for quite some time,
just kind of evolving like how it's gonna end up sounding?
- I do.
I feel like this is a very special album for me
because it's taken so long
and because it's so personal for me.
I got a chance to write a lot of the songs on this album
and just really take my time to craft a body of work
that I can really be proud of.
So I just hope the fans really connect to it
and relate to it.
- Oh, I'm sure, I'm sure they will.
You have, I mean, I'm just gonna keep doting on you,
but you have literally the coolest tone of any singer.
Like it's, it's so incredible.
It's the perfect amount of like pure, but like raw,
and like raspy and, and just soulful.
It's so good.
I just, and I remember like when I was a kid,
I was so excited because I loved you,
I loved Whitney Houston, and y'all both did "Cinderella."
So I found out this story though that you, way before this,
is this true that you literally snuck backstage
to meet her before you were famous?
- I definitely did.
I was in the nosebleed section of her concert
and I talked my way all the way backstage.
I told everybody,
all the ushers that I was gonna pay their bills
'cause one day I was gonna famous and they believed me
and I talked my way all the way backstage,
but by the time I got back there,
she was gone and that broke my heart.
But I met her later on
and I got a chance to do so many amazing things with her
and create a beautiful friendship.
And I miss her to this day, so.
- Yeah.
I mean, and what an amazing thing too, like, I can...
I'm with you in the sense of like some of that
just inspired me as a vocalist as well.
I also heard that Miss Diana Ross gave you some advice.
I love your life, by the way.
I'm like, life is awesome!
So where, it was when you were coming up, right,
that she gave you some advice?
What was that?
- Yeah.
She gave me a lot of cool advice.
Number one, I was chewing gum a lot at the time
when we worked together and she told me
I need to close my mouth when I'm chewing gum,
she told me I need to make sure the powder
that I use on my face matched my neck.
Of course.
And then she also told me to give everything that I do 100%.
You know, she's such a beautiful, poised,
classy, you know, timeless artist.
And, you know, I always wanted to, you know,
follow in her footsteps in that way.
Just such a great example and, you know,
shout out to Miss Ross, I love her very much,
and just had the pleasure of working with her.
- Yeah, she just like, you know,
when you think of like what the definition of like a lady,
like a true lady. - Yes, she is.
- Such a lady, such grace.
- Yeah, I know!
I love that.
I'm a big fan of hers as well and her daughter.
But so when are we finally going to see
a "Moesha" reboot, okay?
We see all these reboots and I was such a "Moesha" fan.
When is this happening?
- You know what?
We're still talking about it.
I'm so open for it, I want it so badly,
and I think just the way the show ended,
it ended on a cliffhanger, and I think, you know,
the people that have supported "Moesha" over the years,
they want answers.
And I feel like it would be so appropriate to do one.
And I just want everybody that's watching, I'm with it.
I really want to do it. - Yeah.
- So is there a young singer actress
you could see starring in this?
Like taking on your part in "Moesha?"
- I don't want to give my part up.
I want to do the reboot. (laughs)
- I love it, I love it.
I didn't know if you'd reboot it in a different way.
You know how people keep rebooting in a different way
and they almost take like a different role
and like somebody else comes up?
I didn't know how y'all would do that.
But that's cool!
You're like me, you like a lot of jobs. (laughs)
- I love to act.
I love acting, and I just would love to just tell that story
and see how far I could go.
- Yeah.
Well, it is great to see you.
I'm literally, I'm such a big fan.
I really wish we could have done this in my real studio
'cause I want to do nothing but give you a giant hug
and say thank you from the girl that played volleyball,
like growing up listening to all of your music.
And I think that even now, like I love "Baby Mama,"
I love all, I love your texture,
I love your like attack on a song,
I think, and I thought it was really interesting.
And as a songwriter,
I really enjoyed just being inspired by you.
So thank you. - Thank you so much.
- You know what?
I feel the same way about you.
My daughter told me to tell you that she loves you
and just, we love you and support you,
and congratulations on your show
and everything that you're doing.
You're such an inspiration, Kelly, honestly.
- Oh, thank you so much!
Well tell her I said hey! - You're welcome.
- I will.
- And hey, everybody,
Brandy's latest album B7 is out right now.
You got to go get it.