Brandy released her debut album at the tender age of fifteen in 1994. She won a Grammy for The Boy Is Mine, a duet with Monica. Her second album Never Say Never in 1998 established her as one of the most successful R&B female vocalists in the 90's. She also starred in the sitcom Moesha and a number of starring roles including horror movie I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. Brandy also released Full Moon and Afrodisiac in 2002 and 2004. She left Atlantic Records in 2005 and signed with Epic Records with her new album Human which will be released in December of this year with its debut single Right Here (Departed).

How's the day going for you?

It's just been about music! I'm at home right now doing interviews and later on I'm going to go to rehearsal for my upcoming show. My whole focus right now is the Human project.

You're on a new label for this album. How did that happen?

It's a sweet story. The president of the company actually ran into my brother and my A&R heard a song of mine that was pitched for Jennifer Lopez. They set up a meeting, I was asked to come along and we got the deal from there. I'm with Epic now and it's really great to be with a team that really believes. It's given me a great opportunity to get my music back out there. I'm really blessed and excited about the whole thing.

What is it like to be coming back into the music industry after the break you've had?

It feels brand new to me like I've never done it before even though I have. Music has been my life for 15 years so to have that "new artist" feel and hunger and drive is great. Taking the time off, I felt a bit unfulfilled like something was missing but my life is complete again with music at the forefront of my life.

How do you feel about the newer, younger artists that have come out in the mean time?

I'm fans of a lot of people that are out right now and it feels great to be one of the artists that have opened the door for these artists to do their thing. I think there's some great talent out there but, for me, I try to stay focused on myself and what I need to do as an artist. I don't really focus on other people but I do like artists like Leona Lewis, Jazmine Sullivan and Beyonce.

What kind of music have you got on this album?

It's hard to say what it is; I just know that it's R&B/Pop with a little bit of Country. At the end of the day it's honest and good quality music. I think it has its own sound which is what I usually get when I'm working with Rodney Jerkins. We have our own sound when we work together which is what we had on this album as well.

What was it like to work with Rodney Jerkins again?

It felt like old times. We always bring out the best in each other and we both want the same things and we get very excited around each other. It feels like a musical marriage between us. It's great, I love working with Rodney.

Who else did you work with on the album?

I worked with a lot of great writers like Toby Gad who wrote If I Were A Boy for Beyonce and Big Girls Don't Cry for Fergie. I also worked with James Fauntleroy who wrote No Air for Jordin Sparks. There was a sloe of great writers who were able to translate my feelings. I also wrote a song with Natasha Bedingfield called Fall which I really love. Brian Kennedy, who produced Disturbia for Rihanna and Flying Solo for Chris Brown, did some amazing tracks for me. He's so fresh and new.

How do you feel you've grown as an artist in the past few years?

I've grown as a person which has helped my music evolve naturally. The songs I'm singing now are very inspirational and message driven and I think they are songs that touch the soul. Not that I didn't do songs like that before but I am 29 now so the subject matter is different to when I was younger.

Would you still like to be singing and recording when you're 60 years old?

Absolutely! I want to be like Diana Ross and all of the greats. Tina Turner and Madonna are still touring and out there blessing the people with their music. I definitely see myself doing music until the day I die and also TV. I feel like I have a whole new career in front of me and I'm excited to take on what's next for me. I need all the luck in the world because I really want to make all my dreams come true again.

Do you have anymore plans to act in the future?

I definitely want to act again. My personality is so bubbly and I love playing somebody else besides myself. Moesha was such a fun job to do to create a character and have an audience that follows her every move. Even though reality TV is taking over the world I feel like there's room for a good sitcom to be introduced and I want to be the person who does that.

What keeps you focused?

I look at what I do as a service to the world, I feel like God has blessed with this gift of singing and it's my responsibility to give that back. This is what I'm born to do and you always feel like you're life's on track when you're doing what you're supposed to do and that's what keeps me going. My fans keep me going, they always find a way to encourage and support me. I'm close with all of my fans and I'm always talking to them on MySpace. The things they say about my music and what it does for their lives makes me continue on. Also my daughter, her love and her being proud of me and seeing me do what I'm supposed to do is a big thing to me. I'm going and I don't want to stop.

Is your daughter listening to the new album?

For a while she was listening to everyone else's songs and so was I but I always wanted her to listen to my music and be excited about it. She's now seeing me out there with this album and it feels great. We were in the car the other day and she said "Mama, play Right Here" and all of her friends were singing the song word for word and it feels so good for her to do that for me. I've been her mom for all of her life so she's never really seen me as Brandy.

Do you think she'll want to enter the music industry as well when she's older?

I think so, even though I want her to have a normal life and be a lawyer or something like that. She definitely wants to sing and act but she also wants to do well in school and be a lawyer. She said she wants to do both but I'm going to encourage her to go the lawyer route but if it's something undeniable then I'm going to show her the ropes of the business.

Are you thinking of putting together a tour for this album?

Definitely, I've become very comfortable on stage. I just did two performances for the single that I was really happy with and I got great reviews. It feels good to be on stage and to reach out and touch the fans and hear them singing my songs is amazing. I definitely want to tour all around the world and see what that feels like again because I haven't toured for a very, very long time.

- By Rashmi Shastri