"True" is a song by American singer

Brandy Norwood Brandy Rayana Norwood (born February 11, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, model and actress. Born into a musical family in McComb, Mississippi, Norwood was raised in Carson, California, beginning her career as a backing vocalist ...

recorded for her fifth studio album ''

Human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

'' (2008). Originally written and composed by

RedOne Nadir Khayat (, Latn, ar, Nādir Ḵayyāṭ; born 9 April 1972), also known as RedOne, is a Moroccan-Swedish record producer, record executive, singer and songwriter. He has worked in production for high-profile recording artists including La ...

along with

Claude Kelly Claude Kelly (born December 27, 1980)Shirley Halperin and Bob Love"THR Names Music's 35 Top Hitmakers,"''The Hollywood Reporter'', February 6, 2013. is an American record producer, songwriter, and singer. A four-time Grammy Award nominee, and h ...

for entertainer

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

, the song deals with betrayal and heartbreak. A

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

- R&B ballad that features instrumentation by the

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

and strings, "True" deals with trust issues lyrically. The protagonist sings to an indifferent love interest, wondering whether she is his only one and whether he loves her. The song garnered generally mixed to positive reviews by contemporary

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

who considered it one of the album's strongest ballads, but felt it was overproduced. Following the release of ''Human'', "True" charted at number 18 on the

Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 po ...

, a chart composed of 25 positions that represent songs that are making progress to chart on the main R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart.

Background and recording

"True" was written by Nadir "RedOne" Khayat and

and conceived amid recording sessions for singer

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...

's debut album ''

The Fame ''The Fame'' is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Lady Gaga. It was released on August 19, 2008, by Interscope Records. After joining KonLive Distribution and Cherrytree Records in 2008, Gaga began working on the album with di ...

'' (2008) in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 2007. The pair originally wrote the song from a male perspective with entertainer

in mind. Khayat and Kelly both had been working with Jackson on new songs at that time; the opportunity of handing it over to Jackson and his team upon finishing their demo however, "kind of passed", according to Kelly. The following year, Epic Records A&R manager Brandon Creed heard a demo version performed by Kelly, feeling that it would fit Norwood's ''Human'', her upcoming debut album with the company. Kelly said, "Creed heard the song and was like 'this would be great for Brandy'. So Brandy went in and we changed the key, changed a couple of words so it made sense for her and made it honest to her point of view. Perfect vocals, perfect emotions, she brought that song to life very easily." Kelly declared Norwood's version "one of isfavorites too." Norwood's version of "True" was recorded at Larrabee Studios, in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, in 2008. Production on the track was handled by

, while vocal production was overseen by Norwood, Kelly and RedOne. Adam Messinger and RedOne played the piano, while Mathias Bylund performed the strings. The song was mixed by

Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is a Guatemalan-American record mixing engineer. He has been credited on albums for high-profile pop, R&B, hip hop and rock acts. He has worked with artists including Rihanna, Kanye West, Katy Perry ...

and RedOne with assistance by Chris Plata and Erik Madrid. All

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

and

harmonies In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

were arranged by Norwood and feature additional vocals by Kelly and Swedish singer Kee. Mastering was handled by

Brian Gardner Brian Knapp Gardner, also known as Brian "Big Bass" Gardner, is an American mastering engineer. He has worked on a number of recordings since the mid-1960s, including classic rock, funk, disco, alternative rock, R&B, hip hop, pop punk and dance-p ...

. Lyrically, the song deals with a broken love relationship. It finds Norwood as the female protagonist pleading a lover to let her know that her love for him is reciprocated.

Critical reception

Sarah Rodman of ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' gave the song a positive review and called the song "one of the album's strongest ballads." Elliot Robinson, writing for ''So So Gay'', declared the record "another stunning ballad that appears in the middle of the album." He felt that Norwood's "vocal performance on this track is wonderful, showing off her range particularly well, and also just how absurdly in control of her instrument Brandy is, as she navigates key changes and notes falling all over the scale — a joy from start to finish and a definite album highlight." In his album review, Ben Hogwood from

MusicOMH ''MusicOMH'' (stylized as ''musicOMH'') is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B. History ''MusicOMH'' was founded an ...

wrote, that "inevitably there are the more indulgent ballad moments, and "True" is one of these but by and large the edge cultivated in the faster tracks carries through." Sal Cinquemani from

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

found the song was a "minor onslaught of adult-contemporary schmaltz which prevented ''Human'' from "being a sort of '' Afro Pt. 2''." He felt that "the presence of '90s-style ballads" like "True" should "come as no surprise given that the album asan obvious attempt at recapturing Brandy's past successes."

Credits and personnel

Lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

: Brandy Norwood *

Background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

: Brandy Norwood, RedOne, and Kee * Producer:

*Vocal production: Brandy Norwood *Recording engineer: RedOne *

Piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

: RedOne and Adam Messinger * Mixing:

and RedOne **Mixing assistance: Chris Plata and Erik Madrid *Mastering: Brian Gardner *Live strings arranged by: RedOne and Mattias Bylund

Chart performance

For the week ending December 12, 2008, "True" debuted at number 18 on the ''Billboard''

chart, based on downloads only.

References

External links

*
Human
' at

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

{{Brandy songs 2000s ballads 2008 singles 2008 songs Brandy Norwood songs Contemporary R&B ballads Epic Records singles Pop ballads Song recordings produced by RedOne Songs about heartache Songs written by RedOne Songs written by Claude Kelly