"Brave" is a song recorded by American recording artist

Kelis Kelis Rogers-Mora (; born August 21, 1979), known mononymously as Kelis, is an American singer, songwriter and a professionally trained chef. At age 14, she was admitted to New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Perform ...

for her fifth studio album, ''

Flesh Tone ''Flesh Tone'' is the fifth studio album by American singer Kelis, released on May 14, 2010, by the will.i.am Music Group and Interscope Records. Recorded while the singer was unsigned and pregnant with her first child, the album is an ode to m ...

'' (2010). She co-wrote the song with Jean Baptiste,

James Fauntleroy James Edward Fauntleroy II (born May 16, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Inglewood, California. He is best known for writing credits on tracks by high-profile artists such as Travis Scott, Frank Ocean, Kendrick ...

, while production was handled by

Benny Benassi Marco "Benny" Benassi (; born 13 July 1967) is an Italian DJ, record producer and remixer. He is widely seen as a pioneer of electro house, a genre brought into the mainstream by his 2002 summer club hit " Satisfaction". He started his career ...

, and his cousin

Alle Benassi Alessandro "Alle" Benassi is an Italian DJ, songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of Benassi Bros. and as a co-writer of several hits for Chris Brown. Career Benassi and his cousin Benny Benassi began DJing in their home town ...

(known together as the Benassi Bros.). It premiered on January 6, 2011, by

Will.i.am Music Group will.i.am Music Group is a vanity label founded by music artist will.i.am of Black Eyed Peas. Popular artists that were signed to the label other than will.i.am or Black Eyed Peas include Fergie, Macy Gray, Cheryl, and Sérgio Mendes. Initial ...

and

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

as the fourth and final single from the album. Musically, "Brave" is a mid-tempo

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

song, influenced by heavy elements of electronic dance music. The song opens with a slow-pace, until it progresses with electronic dance music. Throughout the song, Kelis' vocals are heavily processed with

autotune Auto-Tune (or autotune) is an audio processor introduced in 1996 by American company Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a proprietary device to measure and alter pitch in vocal and instrumental music recording and performances. Auto-Tu ...

and

vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''voice'' and ''encoder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder was ...

post-production tools. Lyrically, the song is a

self-empowerment Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming strong ...

anthem that discusses several phases of her personal life, including marriage/divorce, self-discovery, and the birth of her son. The song received universal acclaim from critics, who praised its composition and production. Several critics highlighted the song as one of her most personal efforts, and selected it as an album standout. Despite this, "Brave" charted poorly in selected record charts. It reached number 29 on Belgium's

Ultratip Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization of ...

chart, and number 123 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. It became Kelis' second single to chart outside the top 100 in the latter country, and is one of her worst performing singles there. A music video was directed by British photographer Rankin, which was released online on November 19, 2010. The video features Kelis in front of a white background, with constant vibrations affecting the camera. "Brave" was performed exclusively at the Cherry Live Lounge, and was eventually included on her 2010 Vevo Summer Sets concert.

Background and release

"Brave" was the final song recorded for the album. It was written by Kelis, with Jean Baptiste,

, and

Will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "Will-I-am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is the founding and lead member of the musical group Black Eyed Peas. ...

, while production was handled by

, and his cousin

(known together as the Benassi Bros.); Will.i.am is the song's co-producer. This was Kelis' second collaboration with the Benassi Bros., the other being her track "Emancipate" from the single's parent album, ''

'' (2010). For the tracks instrumentation, Alain Whyte played the acoustic guitar, and the Benassi Bros. played the keyboards and synthesizers. In an interview with Kelis for the

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...

Webisodes of the album, she said that it was a "good choice to record it as the last song, because its kind of a nice resolution," of several emotions she was feeling whilst recording the album. It was selected as the fourth and final single from ''Flesh Tone'', and was released on January 6, 2011, by

and

. It served as the third single in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, following "

Acapella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

" and " 4th of July (Fireworks)". The

promotional CD A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

only contains the single. It was released in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

as a promotional single only. A digital extended play (EP) was released on January 9 that same year, including the single, plus remixes of the track by Arveene & Misk, Marc Spence, Gemini, Dark Sky, and Third Party. The CD and digital cover sleeve has a portrait of Kelis, photographed by British photographer Rankin. She is seen holding down the collar of her shirt. "Brave" is featured in the PC Game The Sims 3: Late Night, re-recorded in the game's fictional language of Simlish.

Composition

"Brave" was recorded in 2010 at Casa de Kelis studios in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Robert Orton mixed the track, whilst Ryan Buendia recorded it. Orton had arranged and edited the

and

post-production tools. Kelis' edited vocals are delivered during the first verse, between 30 and 34 seconds of the song. Musically, "Brave" is a mid-tempo

song, influenced by heavy elements of electronic dance music. ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' editor Gavin Haynes labelled it a dance track that incorporated " DFA1979 distorted crash cymbals". Alex Young from Consequence of Sound noted elements of tribal house and

1970s File:1970s decade montage.jpg, Clockwise from top left: U.S. President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office following the Watergate scandal in 1974; The United States was still involved in the Vietnam War i ...

music, "that reinforces some of the good impact nostalgia has on today's musical landscape". Writing for ''

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio o ...

'', Sarah Bee said it was the most "

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

-esque track here". Writing for the online music blog MuuMuse, Bradley Stern said that the song "finds Kelis taking on her divorce, pregnancy, and various other inner demons in a rave-happy, carnal explosion of noisy synthesizers and grinding electronica." Ken Capobianco from ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' identified elements of

eurodisco Eurodisco (also spelled as Euro disco) is the variety of European forms of electronic dance music that evolved from disco in the late 1970s, incorporating elements of pop and rock into a disco-like continuous dance atmosphere. Many Eurodisco ...

in the songs' compositions. A reviewer from Urb.com believed that, although the track was influenced by

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

, it "isn't forced or calculated". Lyrically, the song is a

anthem, discussing several aspects of Kelis' personal life. One of the first themes is her marriage and divorce to American rapper

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

. In an interview with

Us Weekly ''Us Weekly'' is a weekly celebrity and entertainment magazine based in New York City. ''Us Weekly'' was founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, who sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986, and sold to American Media Inc ...

, Kelis' said about the song's "therapeutic" delivery; "After the split, everyone was like 'You are going through a rough time, you should write something personal.' I wear my feelings on my sleeve. The hardest decisions are the best ones and for me that was really the case..." The lyrics "I'm not ashamed of winning / but it wasn't that way in the beginning," "tells her side of the story in her divorce from her husband..." She references the word "Braveheart" in the lyrics, which is a recording group formed by her ex-husband Nas and his brother. Another lyrical theme is

self-discovery A "journey of self-discovery" refers to a travel, pilgrimage, or series of events whereby a person attempts to determine how they feel, personally, about spiritual issues or priorities, The third and final aspect, as analysed by music critics, is the birth and living of Kelis' and Nas' son, Knight. Bee found that the discussion of her son was the most "explicit" element to the song. Writing for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'', Jessica Hopper stated "In recent interviews, Kelis has insisted that she returned to the studio and made ''Flesh Tone'' to support herself and her son. That determination is significant—and audible—throughout. On 'Brave,' she credits her baby for saving her." The song starts with soft electronic music, until it progresses by the second verse. According to

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

blogger Allan Riable, he analysed the song; "An electronic effect is evident on her voice, but it's subtle enough not to draw attention away from the track's focus. Such an effect is more of a sonic decoration than a vocal fix." During the third chorus, the electronic synths are replaced with an

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

. During this section, Kelis' vocals are not edited with autotune or vocoder. The final chorus goes back to electronic music, and it ends with an interlude track that leads directly into the following album track, "Song for the Baby". The interlude track is included on the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

version of ''Flesh Tone''.

Critical response

The song received universal acclaim from most music critics. 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 York ...

'' had highlighted the "clever" lines and hooks in the song. Writing for ''

'', Sarah Bee positively said that Kelis' "husky" vocals and "explicit" songwriting were highlights to songs like "Brave". Caroline Sullivan from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' highlighted the song as one of the best tracks from the album; she labelled its production, lyrical, and vocal deliveries as "striking". Similarly, ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' writer Margaret Wappler felt "Brave" was one of the album tracks that demonstrated a "new niche for Kelis". A reviewer from Art Nouveau magazine also highlighted the song as one of the best tracks from the album. Dan Paridalis from 411Mania felt it was one of the better tracks from the album that delivered "revealing" lyrics. Bradley Stern from MuuMuse selected the song as the best track, labelling it a "true triumph". He stated, "An immediate favorite from the get-go, 'Brave' is truly what brings ''Flesh Tone'' from greatness to the upper echelons of incredible." Similarly, Talia Soghomonian 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 and launched by ...

felt that "Brave" was one of the "paramount moments on the album with its sharp synths and fuzzy electronics". Allan Riable, writing for the

blog, reviewed the album track "Emancipate" as an "unfortunate weak spot". In follow-up, he reviewed "Brave", the following track on the album, and said it "works better, returning her to more of an electro-clash realm." He also commended its "acoustic section". Writing for ''Ur Chicago Magazine'', Neil Miller, Jr. also believed it was the album's "stand out" moment.

Commercial performance

Commercially, the single underperformed in selected record charts. In the Flemish region of Belgium, it debuted at number 48 on their

chart during the week of February 12, 2011. The following week of February 19, it reached number 38, and rose again to number 31 in its third week of February 26. It reached its final peak position of number 29, during the charting week of March 5. It was its last charting week before falling out completely. It debuted at number 48 on their Ultratop Dance Singles Chart during the week of February 12, 2011. After seven weeks in that chart, it reached its final peak position of number 31 during the week of April 2. The song lasted 10 weeks in the chart, with a final charting position at number 39.

Music video and reception

A music video, directed by Rankin, for the single was uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

on November 19, 2010. The video shows a still camera of Kelis, wearing a white top with a white background behind her. Throughout the entire video, the camera shots jitter and move in different directions. Overall, the music video received positive reviews from music critics. An author of Homorazzi.com was positive towards the music video; He said, "Instead of all the special effects, colors, and futuristic feel, she went simple. Very, very simple." He carried on saying, "He's a smart guy and definitely knows how to make her look good... The style certainly matches the personal lyrics that come from Kelis on this track..." A reviewer from Rap-Up labelled the visuals as "minimalistic". In an extended review of the single's music video,

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staff member's said;

"Kelis looks stunning, wearing white against white, with a classy blonde ‘do and bright red lipstick that provides a splash of color in this otherwise muted video. Surely not every performer could get away with doing one long unbroken take for a whole video, but Kelis owns every frame with her emotive delivery and a sense of gravitas —she's able to command the screen with just her emotive expressions and minimal movement. The shot remains fixed on her, though Kelis and Rankin do shake things up a bit by having the camera pulse to the beat — a nifty effect that livens up the video just enough... This video is just Kelis, and she owns it. True to the song's title, this less-is-more approach was courageous, and "Brave" delivers."

However, a reviewer from That Grape Juice online was particularly negative towards the video in their review. The writer felt it was "underwhelming" by saying, "this concept-based clip was somewhat pre-disposed to underwhelming me. This only heightened by the fact that, believe it or not, the London based shoot was very expensive – hence in reality could have seen more effort put into it creatively." Although the writer felt the close-ups were "boring", they praised Kelis' look in the visual. The reviewer opened a poll whether the song's music video was good or bad; 65.93% of the votes felt it was good, whilst 34.07% voted otherwise.

Live performances

The song has been included on several concert performances by Kelis. In promotion of ''Flesh Tone'', she performed "Brave", alongside several other album tracks, at a concert in

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

in May 2010. During her

All Hearts Tour The All Hearts Tour was a joint concert tour by American R&B singer Kelis and Swedish pop singer Robyn in support of their albums ''Flesh Tone'' and ''Body Talk Pt. 1'', respectively. The announcement for the tour was unique in that the duo annou ...

, a collaborative concert tour with Swedish recording artist

Robyn Robin Miriam Carlsson (born 12 June 1979), known as Robyn (), is a Swedish pop singer, songwriter, record producer, and DJ. She arrived on the music scene with her 1995 debut album, ''Robyn Is Here'', which produced two Billboard Hot 100, ''Bil ...

, she performed the single at Music Box Theatre on July 23, 2010. She performed the song again at the September 2010 Vevo Summer Set concert. Through the performance, Kelis wore a glittery wig and a silver mini-skirt. Three days after the singles release, she sang an acoustic version of the track at the Cherrytree Live Lounge. She performed the song at the annual 2011 Demo Fest at the Kastel Fortress in

Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. I ...

, the second largest city in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. She performed the track at the Bristol Gay Pride event in 2011.

Track listings and formats

*Promotional CD # "Brave" – 3:33 *Digital download # "Brave" (Arveene & Misk Remix) – 4:03 # "Brave" (Marc Spence Remix) – 5:53 # "Brave" (

Gemini Gemini may refer to: Space * Gemini (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac ** Gemini in Chinese astronomy * Project Gemini, the second U.S. crewed spaceflight program * Gemini Observatory, consisting of telescopes in the Northern ...

Remix) – 4:54 # "Brave" (Dark Sky Remix) – 5:20 # "Brave" (

Third Party Third party may refer to: Business * Third-party source, a supplier company not owned by the buyer or seller * Third-party beneficiary, a person who could sue on a contract, despite not being an active party * Third-party insurance, such as a Veh ...

Remix) – 7:16

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of the ''Flesh Tone'' album. *

– vocals, background vocals, songwriting * Jean Baptiste – songwriting *

– songwriting *

– songwriting, co-producing *

– composition, producing, keyboards, synthesizers *

– composition, producing, keyboards, synthesizers * Robert Orton – mixing *Ryan Buendia – recording *Alain Whyte – acoustic guitar *Recorded at Casa de Kelis studios in

(2010).

Charts

Release history

References

{{authority control 2011 singles Kelis songs Songs written by Kelis Songs written by Jean-Baptiste (songwriter) Songs written by James Fauntleroy Songs written by will.i.am Song recordings produced by Benny Benassi Song recordings produced by Alle Benassi 2010 songs