Queen Bee Battle: 'Beyoncé vs. Brandy' Has R&B Fans Baffled
Queen Bee Battle: ‘Beyoncé vs. Brandy’ Has R&B Fans Baffled
After everything that Brandy and Monica, two pioneers of the ’90s R&B era who once saw themselves at odds, had to get through personally in order to currently come together as a duo for their well-received The Boy Is Mine Tour, nobody would’ve thought that it would result in yet another beef with one of their chanteuse contemporaries.
Especially when that chanteuse just so happens to be Beyoncé.
The viral video seen above making its way around social media over the weekend stems from the original statement that made headlines not too long ago by Brandy’s wild child brother, Ray J. The reality TV sensation stated that Beyoncé attending The Boy Is Mine Tour on multiple occasions and making zero interaction with one of the two leading ladies has started to feel intentional. As we all know, Bey has been there in support of her Destiny’s Child bandmate Kelly Rowland, who’s the core opening act alongside a rotating lineup of respected vocalists including Keyshia Cole, Coco Jones, Muni Long, American Idol winner Jamal Roberts and fellow ’90s contemporary R&B queen, Mya.
Some have argued that Beyoncé isn’t required to do anything except enjoy the show, much like Brandy did a few years prior when she attended The RENAISSANCE World Tour with her daughter, Sy’Rai, on Beyoncé’s 42nd birthday at that. Others feel like pettiness might be at play given her willingness to pose it up backstage with the other star of the tour, Monica.
Ironically enough, there’s multiple decades-worth of images showing Beyoncé and Monica being as friendly as one would expect from industry peers of the same era.
Given that all this started over a simple photograph, it’s interesting to discover that in almost three decades of being in the same industry and having a handful of mutual friends, particularly Kelly Rowland, you’d be hard-pressed to find one good image of Beyoncé and Brandy in the same room together. We tried and came up at best with the photo seen below, captured on September 3, 1998 backstage at the Lady of Soul Awards in Los Angeles.
At the time, the 19-year-old Never Say Never singer could be considered the bigger star of the two, co-hosting the event alongside LL Cool J and the now-disgraced Brian McKnight. However, it was Beyoncé as the lead vocalist of Destiny’s Child, one day shy of her 17th birthday, who ended up a big winner of the night by nabbing three awards as a group for the combined efforts of their R&B chart-topper debut single, “No No No,” and sleeper hit self-titled debut album. It would be the first of many accolades to come in the immediate years following for her quartet, who soon became a trio before she finally branched out as a solo star in her own right.
Brandy on the other hand moved the needle slightly beyond her quadruple platinum 1994 self-titled debut and aforementioned sophomore success in 1998, the 79th best-selling album of the 1990s for going quintuple platinum in just over a year no less. After the 2002 release of her fan-favorite third offering, Full Moon, the Moesha star’s career suffered a notable decline that coincided ironically enough with Beyoncé’s rise as the top-selling female artist of the 2000s.
As the debate gets boiling hot amongst fans on both sides, some even going low by arguing who the true Vocal Bible is, we can only hope a flick of these two pops up on the ‘Gram at some point in the immediate future — for the sake of Ray J, at least!
See the conversation happening on social media below on the brewing beef between the “B’s of R&B,” and let us know where you fall in the ‘Beyoncé vs. Brandy’ debate:
1. No shade but I kinda don’t give af Beyoncé does or does not like brandy. Like okay so??? What now.😭😭
via @stallinek0
2. Beyoncé got tf when she saw Brandy approaching I’m crying… 😭
via @DiaryOfKeysus
3. Genuinely believe that Bey and Jay have complexes where they can’t handle someone else being regarded as more talented than them. And while that is cute for the sake of competition, when it’s overdone, it’s very off putting to many people. Their brands are suffering from it too.
via @Nightshawn101
4. Michelle didnt take pics with Brandy either oop
via @TrellBeyloved
5. Why is Ray J on Brandy’s phone leaving comments on a Beyoncé fan page trying to start trouble?
via @TheRocSupremacy
6. Since Ray J got people focused on Beyonce and Brandy then lets talk about how Rihanna got everybody together for a group picture ❤️
via @freakymarko
7. I’m not arguing with no one over Brandy or Beyoncé. Them my queens them my girls or whatever Yung Miami said.
via @bigfairee
8. Brandy came to the Renaissance, enjoyed the show, took photos, and left. No one complained.
Beyoncé came to The Boy Is Mine to support her sister, took photos with Monica, Patti Labelle, and Solange and it still wasn’t enough.
They never let Beyoncé just exist.
via @LeosCalvinJames
9. Yall really let Ray J spark beef between Brandy and Beyoncé’s fanbases just to distract from his arrest for making criminal threats with a gun to Princess Love. Some of yall are too easily distracted.
via @TheKempire
10. brandy when she finally catches beyoncé
via @ericabankheads
Queen Bee Battle: ‘Beyoncé vs. Brandy’ Has R&B Fans Baffled was originally published on blackamericaweb.com
