Readers of That Grape Juice know what avid music lovers we are – especially of hits past.

So, as our retrospective features ‘From the Vault’ and ‘TGJ Replay’  allow us the chance to re-spin the gems and jams of yesterday of one artist, our newest feature Chart Rewind – a variation of our current Retro Rewind assay – accedes salutes to an entire era of music history.

This week we’re talking about ‘Talk About Our Love’ – the lead single from Brandy‘s fourth studio album, ‘Afrodisiac’ (2004).

After her first release of the new millennium – 2002’s critically and commercially acclaimed ‘Full Moon’ – showcased her most mature artistic efforts to the date courtesy of its address of sensuality, adult subject matter, and progressive instrumentation in ways absent from its predecessors, 2003 saw R&B vet and then-new mom Brandy rush back to the studio to continue the trend.  In a move that surprised longtime fans, “professional disagreements” led to the songstress distancing herself from longtime collaborator, Rodney Jerkins, in favor of experimenting with producer extraordinaire Timbaland (born Timothy Mosley) and then up-and-coming craftsman Kanye West.

Despite Mosley producing the lion’s share of the new album, later christened ‘Afrodisiac,’ his tune ‘Black Pepper’ (the set’s original first single) was not only replaced at the last minute by the West-penned and produced ‘Talk About Our Love,’ but was left off totally left off the album.  This reportedly led to him distancing himself from the project.

Undeterred, Brandy pushed forward with ‘Talk’ as it was released in March 2004.  Albeit met with warm critical reception, that success was not exactly mirrored commercially in a way the singer had become accustomed to.  Armed with a Dave Meyers-directed video to assist, the song – after three months of promotion – met its Hot 100 peak this week in 2004 at #36 and was marked as her lowest peaking lead single at the time.  Unknown to fans at the time – who quickly pointed to mismanagement and poor promotion as the cause of its nonperformance – the entire ‘Afrodisiac’ era would be stricken with similar misfortune.

After the the dust settled, the song – despite the absence of RIAA certification or Grammy recognition – rests among B-Rocka’s greatest hits as a fan favorite and is saluted for its risk given her history of safer R&B/Pop-leaning tunes at the time.  Look below to see what other hits joined it in the top 40 this week 15 years ago:

Hot 100 This Week in 2004

Hot 100 This Week

Click here to see this week’s full TGJ Chart Check.

Bonus:  Click here to read our ode to ‘Talk About Our Love’s parent album, ‘Afrodisiac.’

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