"Sittin' Up in My Room" is a song by American recording artist
Brandy Norwood
Brandy Rayana Norwood (born February 11, 1979), better known by her mononym Brandy, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actress and model. She is known for her distinctive sound, characterized by her peculiar timbre, voice-layer ...
. It was written and produced by
Babyface Babyface or Baby Face can refer to:
Nicknames
* Lester Joseph Gillis a.k.a. Baby Face Nelson, an infamous 1930s bank robber
* Roosevelt "Baby Face" Willette (1933–1971), an American hard bop and soul-jazz musician
* "Baby Face", Jimmy McLarnin ...
and recorded by Norwood for the
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrac ...
of the 1995 film ''
Waiting to Exhale
''Waiting to Exhale'' is a 1995 American romance film directed by Forest Whitaker (in his feature film directorial debut) and starring Whitney Houston and Angela Bassett. The film was adapted from the 1992 novel of the same name by Terry McMil ...
'', starring
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Voice", she is Whitney Houston albums discography, one of the bestselling music artists ...
and
Angela Bassett
Angela Evelyn Bassett (born August 16, 1958) is an American actress. She had her breakthrough with her portrayal of singer Tina Turner in the biopic '' What's Love Got to Do with It'' (1993), which garnered her a nomination for the Academy Award ...
. The track was one out of five singles the album spawned and reached number two on the
US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming Norwood's most successful single on that particular chart up to that point. It is of note that the characteristic bass intro is a replica of the famous riff performed by bassist
Larry Graham
Larry Graham Jr. (born August 14, 1946) is an American bassist and baritone singer, both with the psychedelic soul/funk band Sly and the Family Stone and as the founder and frontman of Graham Central Station. In 1980, he released the single ...
, of
Sly and the Family Stone
Sly and the Family Stone was an American band from San Francisco. Active from 1966 to 1983, it was pivotal in the development of funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic music. Its core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi ...
, on their hit "
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)
"Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" is a 1969 song recorded by Sly and the Family Stone. The song, released as a double A-side single with "Everybody Is a Star", reached number one on the soul single charts for five weeks, and reached numbe ...
", and its remix featuring
LL Cool J
James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, along ...
contains a sample of "
Haven't You Heard "Haven't You Heard" may refer to:
* "Haven't You Heard" (Patrice Rushen song), a 1980 song by Patrice Rushen
* "Haven't You Heard" (Shirley Myers song), a 1998 song by Shirley Myers
* "Haven't You Heard", a 1998 song by Jeff Buckley from his post ...
" by
Patrice Rushen
Patrice Louise Rushen (born September 30, 1954) is an American jazz pianist and R&B singer. She is also a composer, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and music director.
Her 1982 single "Forget Me Nots" received a Grammy Awar ...
.
"Sittin' Up in My Room" was performed on several television and award show ceremonies, such as ''
Late Show with David Letterman
The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production ...
'', the
23rd Annual American Music Awards, the 1996 Soul Train Awards, the
39th Annual Grammy Awards
The 39th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 26, 1997, at Madison Square Garden, New York City. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Babyface was the night's biggest winner, with 3 awards. Celine Dion, Toni ...
, and the
2015 Soul Train Music Awards
The 2015 Soul Train Music Awards was held at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Centric and BET on November 29, 2015. Jill Scott was honored with Soul Train Awards' first ever Lady of Soul Award. The ceremony, hosted by Erykah Badu, hon ...
. A music video was also filmed, depicting Brandy keeping herself penned up in a retro, brightly colored room after her friend tells her that her
love interest is joining the party downstairs. Actor
Donald Faison
Donald Adeosun Faison (; born June 22, 1974) is an American actor and comedian, best known for his leading role as Dr. Chris Turk in the ABC/ NBC comedy-drama '' Scrubs'' (2001–2010), and a supporting role as Murray in both the film '' Cluele ...
appears as her love interest in the video, directed by
Hype Williams
Harold Williams (born August 1, 1970) is an American music video director, film director, film producer, and screenwriter.
Early life
Williams was born in Queens, New York. He is of mixed African-American and Honduran descent. He attended Ade ...
. It won the award for
Best Song from a Movie and was nominated for
Best Video from a Film
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Video from a Film was first awarded in 1987, recognizing the best videos whose songs were a part of a movie soundtrack or featured in a film. As time went on, though, music videos taken from movie soundtracks beca ...
at the
1996 MTV Awards. The song has since been performed on several awards shows and Norwood's concerts and tours, including the 1998
Never Say Never World Tour and the 2016
Slayana World Tour
The Slayana World Tour (sometimes referred to as the Slayana ''In These Streets'' Tour) was the third headlining concert tour by American singer Brandy. The tour was announced on February 23, 2016, and started on June 15, 2016 in Auckland, New Z ...
.
Background and recording
"Sittin' Up in My Room" was written and produced by
Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds
Kenneth Brian Edmonds (born April 10, 1959), better known by his stage name Babyface, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has written and produced over 26 number-one R&B hits throughout his career and has won 12 Grammy A ...
.
Edmonds also helmed the
drum programming
Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices and computer software, such as sequencers and workstations or hardware synthesizers, sampler and sequencers, to generate sounds of musical instruments. These ...
(along with the production duo
Trackmasters
The Trackmasters are an American hip hop production duo composed of music producers Poke (Jean-Claude Olivier) and Tone (Samuel Barnes), best known for their commercial hit records in the mid-late 1990s and early 2000s. Frank "Nitty" Pimentel joi ...
),
synthesizer, and
wurlitzer
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...
sounds, while
Michael Thompson played the guitar.
"Bassy" Bob Brockmann
"Bassy" Bob Brockmann is an American record producer, recording and mixing engineer. He has collaborated on recordings with The Fugees, Notorious BIG, Craig Mack, Toni Braxton, Babyface, Cee Lo Green, Soulive, Surface, Brian McKnight, Christina ...
mixed the track; recording was overseen by Brad Gilderman.
The record was from a number of songs Edmonds specifically penned for the
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...
of
Forest Whitaker
Forest Steven Whitaker (born July 15, 1961) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
After making his f ...
's 1995 romantic drama film ''
Waiting to Exhale
''Waiting to Exhale'' is a 1995 American romance film directed by Forest Whitaker (in his feature film directorial debut) and starring Whitney Houston and Angela Bassett. The film was adapted from the 1992 novel of the same name by Terry McMil ...
'', starring
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Voice", she is Whitney Houston albums discography, one of the bestselling music artists ...
and
Angela Bassett
Angela Evelyn Bassett (born August 16, 1958) is an American actress. She had her breakthrough with her portrayal of singer Tina Turner in the biopic '' What's Love Got to Do with It'' (1993), which garnered her a nomination for the Academy Award ...
.
Musically, songs from fellow R&B singer
Aaliyah's debut album ''
Age Ain't Nothing but a Number
''Age Ain't Nothing but a Number'' is the debut studio album by American singer Aaliyah. It was released on May 24, 1994 by Blackground Records and Jive Records. After being signed by her uncle Barry Hankerson, Aaliyah was introduced to recordi ...
'' (1994) served as an inspiration while starting the song idea for "Sittin' Up in My Room".
Edmonds finished most of the
demo
Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to:
Music and film
*Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release
* ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes
* ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...
on his
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
house, before Norwood came over for recording.
Commenting on the recording process, Norwood later elaborated: “I was going crazy with my vocal runs because I really wanted to impress Babyface. I knew how to pull back, but it was one of those things where I thought, ‘This is my chance!’ I always wanted to work with Babyface going back to
Tender_Lover".html"_;"title="Tender_Lover.html"_;"title="Tender_Lover">Tender_Lover"">Tender_Lover.html"_;"title="Tender_Lover">Tender_Lover"[....html" ;"title="Tender_Lover">Tender_Lover".html" ;"title="Tender_Lover.html" ;"title="Tender Lover">Tender Lover"">Tender_Lover.html" ;"title="Tender Lover">Tender Lover"[...">Tender_Lover">Tender_Lover".html" ;"title="Tender_Lover.html" ;"title="Tender Lover">Tender Lover"">Tender_Lover.html" ;"title="Tender Lover">Tender Lover"[...Actually, he was the most legendary producer that I had worked with to that point. So when I was recording ‘Sittin’ Up In My Room,’ I was thinking, ‘This is my chance to show Babyface that I could sing!’ But he was like, ‘You don’t have to do all of that. Just sing, baby. Just keep your vocals simple.’”
Reception
Critical reception
Craig Lytle from AllMusic wrote that "with a Sly Stone twist, Babyface (musician), Babyface concocts a laid-back funk groove for "Sittin' up in My Room," which features the humble vocals of Brandy. Though the song does not allow her to unwind with her higher notes, it does, however, reveal her lower octaves."
Larry Flick from ''
Billboard'' felt it "places endlessly charming ingenue Brandy at the center of a wickedly infectious pop/funk confection." He added, "The chorus is instantly memorable and a perfect match for Brandy's unaffected, soulful style." In 2014, ''
Complex
Complex commonly refers to:
* Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe
** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
'' magazine ranked the single 39th on its list of the ''50
R&B Songs of the 1990s''. Cheo Hodari Coker from the ''
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 U ...
'' praised Babyface for his production on the song, stating "Babyface's funky-but-restrained background track is the real star of this jam. Using a pleasant mixture of plunking bass and synthesizer chords,
he songproves that he has a grabbag of styles at his disposal."
British magazine ''
Music Week
''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future.
History
Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...
'' rated it four out of five, calling it "the one that could finally break Brandy into the big time. Funky." Alan Jones added, "A soft
swing shuffle with a delightful hook, it is the sort of confection that eats the opposition in the American R&B chart, and should do pretty well here, too." David Sinclair from ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' viewed "Sittin' Up in My Room" as "a quietly smouldering slice of swingbeat-funk performed with a firm, sensual touch." He also remarked that "she sings in a deep, velvety voice that would have most men fumbling for their key-pads there and then."
Commercial performance
Released as the second single from the soundtrack, "Sittin' Up in My Room" debuted at number forty-six and number thirteen, on the US
''Billbard Hot 100 Singles chart and Hot R&B Singles chart, the issue date of December 30, 1995, respectively.
The single reached the number two on the Hot R&B Singles chart, the issue of February 17, 1996, and stayed there three consecutive weeks.
It also peaked at number two on the Hot 100 Singles chart, staying on the chart for a total of thirty-three weeks.
"Sittin' Up in My Room" earned a
platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Pla ...
award by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on May 23, 1996, with 1,000,000 copies sold.
Music video
![Donald Faison](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Donald_Faison.jpg)
The accompanying
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
for "Sittin' Up in My Room" was directed by
Hype Williams
Harold Williams (born August 1, 1970) is an American music video director, film director, film producer, and screenwriter.
Early life
Williams was born in Queens, New York. He is of mixed African-American and Honduran descent. He attended Ade ...
. Norwood declared filming as "fun" as she had a "great relationship" with Williams at that time, having previously worked with him on the videos for the Hip–Hop Remix of "
I Wanna Be Down
"I Wanna Be Down" is the debut single of American recording artist Brandy from her self-titled debut album (1994). It was written by musicians Keith Crouch and Kipper Jones, with production helmed by the former, it was released on September 5 ...
" and her second single "
Baby
An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...
".
Actor
Donald Faison
Donald Adeosun Faison (; born June 22, 1974) is an American actor and comedian, best known for his leading role as Dr. Chris Turk in the ABC/ NBC comedy-drama '' Scrubs'' (2001–2010), and a supporting role as Murray in both the film '' Cluele ...
appears in the video; Faison played the son of
Loretta Devine
Loretta Devine (born August 21, 1949) is an American actress, singer and voice actor. She is known for numerous roles across stage and screen. Her most high profile roles include Lorrell Robinson in the original Broadway production of '' Dreamg ...
's character Gloria in ''Waiting to Exhale''.
Commenting on the result, Norwood remarked: "It was a great video, dance and everything. It was dope.”
Track listings
* US CD and cassette single, Japanese mini-CD single
# "Sittin' Up in My Room" (album version) – 4:52
# "My Love, Sweet Love" (performed by
Patti LaBelle) – 4:21
* US 7-inch single and UK cassette single
# "Sittin' Up in My Room" (radio edit) – 3:53
# "My Love, Sweet Love" (performed by Patti LaBelle) – 4:21
* US remix CD and cassette single
# "Sittin' Up in My Room" (Doug Rasheed remix featuring
LL Cool J
James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, along ...
) – 3:53
# "Sittin' Up in My Room" (album version) – 4:52
* US 12-inch single
:A1. "Sittin' Up in My Room" (Doug Rasheed remix) – 4:52
:A2. "Sittin' Up in My Room" (Doug Rasheed remix instrumental) – 4:52
:A3. "Sittin' Up in My Room" (album version) – 4:52
:B1. "Sittin' Up in My Room" (Doug Rasheed hip hop remix) – 4:52
:B2. "Sittin' Up in My Room" (Doug Rasheed hip hop instrumental) – 4:52
:B3. "Sittin' Up in My Room" (acappella) – 5:16
* US maxi-CD and maxi-cassette single
# "Sittin' Up in My Room" (Doug Rasheed remix) – 4:52
# "Sittin' Up in My Room" (Doug Rasheed hip hop remix) – 4:52
# "Sittin' Up in My Room" (Doug Rasheed remix instrumental) – 4:52
# "Sittin' Up in My Room" (Doug Rasheed hip hop instrumental) – 4:52
# "Sittin' Up in My Room" (album version) – 4:52
* UK CD1 and Australian CD single
# "Sittin' Up in My Room" (radio edit) – 3:53
# "Sittin' Up in My Room" (LP version) – 4:52
# "My Love, Sweet Love" (performed by Patti LaBelle) – 4:21
* UK CD2
# "Sittin' Up in My Room" (radio edit) – 3:53
# "Sittin' Up in My Room" (Doug Rasheed remix) – 4:52
# "Sittin' Up in My Room" (Doug Rasheed hip hop remix) – 4:52
# "Sittin' Up in My Room" (acappella) – 5:10
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
Cover versions
In 1997, jazz fusion/contemporary jazz group
Pieces of a Dream offered their take on the album ''Pieces''.
References
External links
ForeverBrandy.com— official site
*
{{Authority control
1995 singles
1995 songs
1996 singles
Arista Records singles
Bertelsmann Music Group singles
Brandy Norwood songs
Music videos directed by Hype Williams
Song recordings produced by Babyface (musician)
Songs written by Babyface (musician)