Beggin & Pleadin'

Album: Single release only (2016)
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Songfacts®:

  • Brandy dropped this bluesy track on Soundcloud immediately following the premiere of her BET scripted series, Zoe Ever After on January 5, 2016. According to the songstress, it's "based on a true story!"

    Brandy added in a Facebook post, "As I grew through the subject matter of this song, I realized that I needed ME to forgive me for not believing what I felt!!!"
  • The song was produced by Pop & Oak, the production duo behind hits from Nicki Minaj ("Your Love") and Alessia Cara ("Here") .
  • Brandy was in a bad place in 2014 after splitting from her fiancé, music executive Ryan Press. Inspired by the breakdown of that relationship, the singer co-wrote this song with Roc Nation singer-songwriter Kirby Lauren (Kanye West's "Only One," Rihanna's "FourFiveSeconds").

    "I told her my story, just a bit about what I experienced and how I went through a really hard breakup, and I wasn't able to just let it go and get over it so I was still in that place," she explained in a video clip. "When I did the song, it felt real. It felt like a true apology. Everything I had in that moment, I gave it right there because of how I was feeling. It felt like the song was writing itself."
  • Brandy recalled creating the emotional tune in the studio. "I like the way it sounds when I hear it back. It feels like I'm listening to somebody else and not me," she said. "It's like bitch, what? It makes me feel bossy. Even if it's for two minutes and 45 seconds, I feel empowered by the story, the vocal, the production, it sounds fearless to me."

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