Brandy - Sittin' Up In My Room - Soul Train Awards Babyface Tribute - 2014

"Sittin' Up in My Room" is a song by American recording artist Brandy Norwood. It was written and produced by Babyface and recorded by Norwood for the soundtrack of the 1995 film Waiting to Exhale, starring Whitney Houston and Angela Bassett. 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, of Sly and the Family Stone, on their hit "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)", and its remix featuring LL Cool J contains a sample of "Haven't You Heard" by Patrice Rushen.[Sittin' Up in My Room" was written and produced by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds.[2] Edmonds also helmed the drum programming (along with the production duo Trackmasters), synthesizer, and wurlitzer sounds, while Michael Thompson played the guitar.[2] "Bassy" Bob Brockmann mixed the track; recording was overseen by Brad Gilderman.[2] The record was from a number of songs Edmonds specifically penned for the soundtrack of Forest Whitaker's 1995 romantic drama film Waiting to Exhale, starring Whitney Houston and Angela Bassett.[3] Musically, songs from fellow R&B singer Aaliyah's debut album Age Ain't Nothing but a Number (1994) served as an inspiration while starting the song idea for "Sittin' Up in My Room".[3] Edmonds finished most of the demo on his Los Angeles house, before Norwood came over for recording.[3] 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"] [...] 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.’”[