Bark + Bite

Brandy confirms duet with Monica, possibly recording Drake-penned song

Brandy is ready for her comeback. The singer, who is now signed to RCA records after a brief, unsuccessful stint at Epic Records, has been busy as of late. She's ditched her rapping alter ego for good. And she's back on TV, with a recurring role on BET's hit show The Game. She's also back in the studio with her old pal Monica. Guess Brandy is hoping that retracing her roots will return her to the yellow brick road?

The singer confirmed her duet with Monica, which appears to be a Rico Love-helmed affair, saying that the duet is a dream come true for her in an interview with Silent of TrueExclusives.com.

"I've been talking about doing something Monica for a very long time all because the fans have wanted that more than anything. Not to repeat or redo "The Boy Is Mine," but something new," Brandy said.

A certain Canadian rapper also caught Brandy's fancy as she gushed about her love for Drake's catalogue and confirmed that she might be recording a song he wrote for her upcoming album.

Watch Brandy talk about her duet with Monica and working on a Drake song below

Things get tense for Brandy and Ray J in Family Business Season 2 Trailer

Brandy just wrapped up a high-profile appearance on ABC's Dancing With the Stars, but she's also been filming for the second season of her and Ray J's VH1 reality series Family Business.

In the trailer for the second season, things get tense between Ray J and Brandy as Ray finds new love and Brandy continues her search for a mate. But the pot really boils over when Ray accuses Brandy of being jealous of his success. And to think that we thought this should would be too tame because it was centered on family?

Brandy and Maks are really friends, little bro Ray J lands a piece of the action

There have been bad vibes going around about Brandy and her dance partner Maksim ever since Dancing With The Stars producers aired footage of the couple arguing during rehearsals for their jive routine last week. But Brandy and Maks have both denied charges that the couple are feuding and insist that they're the best of pals. Maks spoke out about the brouhaha with TV Guide.

"We don't fight. We're very good friends. I don't know how to say it so that people will believe me, but we have a great relationship," Maks says. "I really like Brandy. I don't want to get eliminated and I think we have a good shot at winning."

In other DWTS news, Brandy's little brother Ray J will get to do more than just sit on the sidelines as she performs, he'll be giving Extra the scoop on everything DWTS as a correspondent for the entertainment news show. US Weekly has the details.

R&B superstar Ray-J has signed on to become a one-time Extra correspondent for Dancing With the Stars, his rep confirms to UsMagazine.com exclusively.

"He's doing it because he loves the show and wants to support Brandy's effort to win," his rep tells Us.

The VH1 reality star, 29, will make his appearance on DWTS Monday. He will then interview the contestants -- including his sister, Audrina Patridge and The Situation -- for Extra on Tuesday.

Hey, it's an honest paycheck and it's not party promoting. Ray J is making progress, give the man a round of applause.

Brandy sparkles in debut performance of "Dancing with the Stars"

Looking like the Cinderella character she played in that ABC TV movie, Brandy wowed the judges and the crowd with a stunning debut performance last night on "Dancing with the Stars." Performing the Viennese waltz, Brandy seemed to be floating on air as she made her way around the dance floor. Twinkle toes, you can call her. And Brandy likes to say that she can't dance? Who's she foolin'? We all knew she had dancing feet since the "Baby" video when she was doing a mean jig back in the day.

Watch Brandy's elegant Viennese waltz below

Brandy does elegant fashion spread, possibly signing with new label

Photo Credit: Stephen Gomillion and Dennis Leupold

Watch an episode of Brandy and Ray J's VH1 reality show and one of the major running themes will crop up within minutes: Brandy's journey to rediscover success. Brandy makes no bones about the subpar performance of her last album, "Human." (Though she does, however, understandably assign a large portion of blame to partner-in-crime Rodney Jerkins.) This commercial disappointment and subsequent dissolution of her record deal with Epic, is forcing Brandy to evolve. She is toying with her image, her sound and everything in an effort to discover the Brandy that will click with today's music-listening audience.

In an elegant spread for 160 Grams, Brandy appears to have hit the jackpot. She looks every bit the part of a sophisticated, mature, confident woman. Wearing a long-banged, black wig and clean, modern garments, Brandy looks mysterious and poised. The photos are sensual, in fact she's topless in one shot, but the sexuality is nowhere near as in your face as her infamous VIBE cover where she was bent down on all fours.

There's an interview splashed across the pictorial as well, and it reaffirms much of what was shown on the show: The new album will feature production from Timbaland and it's hip hop oriented. But knowing how Brandy's mom rolls and the success of her bathroom sessions, there'll also be ballads that show off Brandy's golden pipes.

Brandy and Ray-J want to be the black Donnie and Marie Osmond

Photo: Courtesy of JET Magazine

Brandy and Ray J are determined to get in where they fit in. And in their eyes, what the world needs now is another brother-sister act like Donnie and Marie Osmond. The duo have been on a promotional blitz for their upcoming VH1 reality show "Brandy and Ray J: A Family Business" and in one of their interviews with Rap-Up.com, Brandy and Ray J say that although the two are working on their solo projects, this show is the launching pad ultimately for a Donnie and Marie-type project, complete with albums, merchandising, television shows and films. Is the Norwood Dynasty rising?

Brandy lets another one rip from the bathroom

Is Brandy producing all of this bathroom material for an album called "The Toilet Paper Diaries"? No, but Brandy is smartly doing what she needs to do to make her fans happy. With her record label situation in reportedly in purgatory, Brandy is sort back to square one with her recording career. Brandy uploaded a video of herself singing the Etta James-turned-Beyonce classic "At Last" in her bathroom on her YouTube Channel on Friday. It's not quite the Presidential Inauguration, but it'll do.

The music industry in 2010 is radically different from what it was in the 90s when Brandy was dominant. Celebrities back then got away with Sears photoshoots for Right On! magazine and music videos were guaranteed hours of exposure on BET and MTV. These days, a significant portion of what wins in music is based around reality television and complete and total immersion in the artist as a person, not just a singer. Fans don't just want to hear their favorite singers sing. They need to breathe them. Live them. And what's more intimate than turning on the camera in the most intimate of personal spaces,  like your bathroom.

Brandy just needs to give us some of her own material from bathroom, like "Full Moon" and "I Tried." The hairbrush or toothbrush as a microphone would also help. It would make the whole thing very, "See, stars are just like you! They sing in the bathroom too!"

Ray J embarrasses himself in front of Brandy and fam in reality TV promo

Maybe this reality show starring Brandy and Ray J won't be such a train wreck after all. In a promo for the show, set to premiere in April on VH1, Ray J thinks he's all alone in the recording studio. He catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror, and just like those moments with the hair brush (or toothbrush) in the bathroom, proceeds to act a plum fool, doing the running man and trying out some Michael Jackson moves.

Unbeknownst to him, his big sister Brandy and her parents are watching him cut up from the other side of the glass. Judging by this clip, if they can keep a Cosby/Run's House vibe to the show, with lots of amusing situational humor like this, then the reality show could turn out to be a blessing for both Brandy and Ray J's careers.

Via: CherryConnect.com