Talk About Our Love

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"Talk About Our Love"

Single by Brandy & Kanye West
from the album Afrodisiac
Released	April 2004
Format	Vinyl single, CD single, download
Recorded	Record Plant, Los Angeles, California; 2004
Genre	R&B
Length	3:34
Label	Atlantic
Writer(s)	Claude Cave II, Harold Lilly, Kanye West, Carlos Wilson, Louis Wilson, Ricardo Wilson
Producer(s)	Kanye West
Chart positions
#6 (UK) #25 (Netherlands) #27 (Ireland) #28 (Australia) #36 (Italy, United States)
Brandy North American singles chronology
"He Is" (2002)	"Talk About Our Love" (2004)	"Who Is She 2 U" (2004)
Brandy Australia/Eurasia singles chronology
"Full Moon" (2002)	"Talk About Our Love" (2004)	"Afrodisiac" (2004)
Kanye West singles chronology
"Jesus Walks" (2004)	"Talk About Our Love" (2004)	"Diamonds from Sierra Leone" (2005)

"Talk About Our Love" is an R&B song written by American rapper-producer Kanye West, Harold Lilly, Claud Cave II and Carlos, Louis and Ricardo Wilson for Brandy's fourth studio album Afrodisiac (2004). The song was entirely produced by West, who also appears as a featured artist on it. It received a positive reception from music critics and was released in the second quarter of 2006 (see 2006 in music) as the album's lead single. "Talk About Our Love" saw moderate success when it peaked within the top 30 in the Australia, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. It, however, peaked at number 6 on the UK singles chart.

1 Song information
2 Chart performance
3 Critical response
4 Music video
5 Charts
6 Formats and tracklistings
- 6.1 International CD single
- 6.2 US CD single
7 Official versions
8 Notes
9 External link

[edit] Song information

Kanye West and Brandy playing a love-couple in the music video for "Talk About Our Love".

In contrast to Timbaland's preponderant influence on Afrodisiac the song was written by West and assistant Harold Lilly, being one of two eleventh-hour additions to the album, commissioned by executive producer Graig Robertson after West's success in 2004. Adapting elements of West's own sound, the single incorporates strings by violinist Miri Ben-Ari, and a retro sample of Mandrill's "Gilly Hines", written by Carlos, Louis, and Ricardo Wilson, and Claude Cave II. Brandy described "Talk About Our Love" as being about "two people in a relationship where everybody is in and out of their business, which is something that everybody in a relationship goes through."^[1]

When "Talk About Our Love" became Afrodisiac's lead single instead of its title track, Timbaland protested the decision in several magazine interviews. The pending release of "Talk About Our Love" caused more positive comments from Brandy's advisors, who felt the song would become a success because of West's involvement, rather than from Brandy's own fanbase.

On March 26, 2004 the song made its world premiere via AOL's Music's First Listen program, and by March 28 the final version of the track had leaked.^[2] "Talk about Our Love" was shipped to radio in early April 2004, while the CD single in Australia and the United States was eventually released on April 27, 2004, including a re-worked version of "Turn It Up", Afrodisiac's first buzz single.^[3] Elsewhere, Mike City produced "Like It Was Yesterday" appeared as a b-side on the CD single.

[edit] Chart performance

Upon its release, however, "Talk About Our Love" underperformed. It peaked at #36 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart, and #16 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, making it Brandy's least-successful lead single in the U.S. It became Brandy's first single to fail to reach the Top 20, since "U Don't Know Me (Like U Used To)".

While the song entered the Top 10 of the UK singles chart at number 6, it failed to reach the Top 20 in Ireland and Australia. After the single's failure in summer 2004 Brandy proclaimed that "Talk About Our Love" being chosen as Afrodisiac's lead single was the decision of her manager, Benny Medina, and her label, Atlantic Records. The singer herself had favoured "Afrodisiac" to lead the album.

[edit] Critical response

"Talk About Our Love" attracted generally positive comments from professional reviewers. Andy Kellman of All Music Guide praised the song as "a career highlight for both producer and singer", calling it one of the most exceptional tracks, produced by West to date [1], while Tareck Ghoneim, writing for Contact Music, defined the song as a "well put together soul track", which is "cleverly arranged that is soulful, funky and keeps an old skool classic soul flavour" [2].

Keshawnta J. of Whudat considered "Talk About Our Love" as one of the best tracks of the Afrodisiac album, [3], while M.P. of Billboard saw indirect similarities to 1970s band Shalamar, Mary J. Blige and the sound of Alicia Keys' 2003 single "How Come You Don't Call Me", referring to West's "effortless way of bringing the musical past into the tech-savvy here and now", and adding, "Breezy and melodic, "Talk About Our Love" intertwines disco-era orchestration and electro-hued hip-hop. All the while, Brandy, sounding more sultry than ever, delivers a sublime tale of "he said, she said"." [4].

The song also attracted a few negative reviews, such as that of Jane Stevenson of JAM! Music who called the song less interesting, and Kai Kopp who noted the single "unspectecular and a stereotyped West production" [5].

[edit] Music video

Brandy and her back up performers during the dance sequence.

The video for "Talk About Our Love" was filmed in Los Angeles between March 6 and 7, 2004 and was the third Brandy video to be directed by Dave Meyers, who had worked with her on the videos for "What About Us?" and "Another Day in Paradise" before. Beside Kanye West, who plays Brandy's love interest, Brandy's younger brother Ray-J also made a cameo. Despite already being divorced in 2004, the video's plot can be seen as a reflection on Brandy's 2002 marriage with producer Robert "Big Bert" Smith.

The concept of the video was influenced by Brandy's personal experiences at that period, picking up the idea of nosy friends and neighbours, who keep on popping in and out of her house to find out about her affairs. The opening scene begins with Brandy entering a modern building in a white designer dress and confronting Kanye, who's standing behind the kitchen's table, with the song's first verse, when other people switch constantly in and out the room and watch what's happening. The camera follows Kanye's fleeing steps through the floor, incessantly backspacing on Brandy, who runs after him. The scene shifts into the living-room, showing Brandy in a tanktop and coat before changing into a dance sequence with two male dancers performing the second verse's content to Kanye, who's standing in front of a huge window. Afterwards they change the mic and Kanye begins performing his rhymes, when Brandy leaves the room to take stairs into the bedroom. He follows and sings to her next on the bed, when once again pop strangers in the room and Brandy and Kanye decide to escape out of the house. The video ends with both singers sitting in an oldtimer and driving down the street.

The video received its premiere on March 26, 2004 via AOL Music's First Listen program. Respectively, it peaked at #3 on TRL and #2 on 106&Park.

[edit] Charts

Chart (2004)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart	28
Ireland Singles Chart	27
Dutch Singles Chart	25
German Singles Chart	89
Swiss Singles Chart	42
Irish Singles Chart	27
Italian Singles Chart	36
UK Singles Chart	6
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	36
U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	16
U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales	8
U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay	11
U.S. Hot Dance Music/Club Play	13
U.S. Hot Dance Singles Sales	2
World Singles Official Top 100	28
World Airplay Official Top 100	28
World Dance/Trance Top 30	14
World R&B Top 30 Singles	5