Image: Raw-Hollywood.com

Watching Brandy unveil her video for “Put It Down” on 106 & Park this week, it’s easy to see why the world fell in love with her in the first place.  In her early thirties, she still has the sweet likeability of an innocent 15 year old that makes you want to smile with her.

That makes this that much harder.

She looks gorgeous in the video. Her close-ups are undeniable proof the woman hasn’t aged since Never Say Never  in 1998. But, it wasn’t “Thriller.” And to warrant three months of hype – the song hit the blogosphere in April – it needed to be “Thriller.”

“Put It Down” is the lead single for Two Eleven, the singer’s comeback album slated for release in October. I want Brandy to win. When I heard the single, in April, I was fully on board. But, she’s not going anywhere if she doesn’t pick up the pace. By the looks of things, she and her team are living in 2001.

“Put It Down” dropped on April 26 , but was not available on iTunes until May 8. For twelve days people downloaded her song illegally. Hardcore fans may have gone back to buy the single, but the rest of us kept it moving as illustrated by the song entering Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart at number 98.

Filming for the video started on July 10^th. What was Brandy doing for three months? She received a lot of attention for her July performance at the BET Awards. Brandy’s tribute to Whitney Houston was arguably one of the best performances we’ve ever seen her do. This would have been a good time to release a video. The purpose of content is to extend the conversation around your brand. It’s a great tool for prolonging buzz. But, it would be another month before we saw a glimpse of the clip.

For two weeks the four-minute clip was parceled out. Video stills on August 1, a trailer five days later, and a preview the week after online and on 106 & Park. It was a valiant effort to sustain interest in the song. But keep in mind a whole summer has taken place, countless dramas have unfolded, and Brandy is still talking about “Put It Down” repeatedly. It was the equivalent of someone who keeps interrupting your conversation talking about the same thing. If you’re not bringing anything new to the table, your content is worthless. Audiences can see through repackaging.

When a brand struggles in an area, it is a smart business move to look at what other brands dominating that area of the industry are doing and learn from their success. I want Brandy to learn from Rihanna. Rihanna has mastered the changing nature of the music industry and content in general. She doesn’t have a number one album, the classic measurement of an artist’s success, but she is the best-selling digital artist of all time. Rihanna’s last single, “We Found Love,” premiered on September 22, 2011 and was available for digital download on the same day. The music video was shot in late September, and premiered shortly after on October 19.

I don’t know what the personal issue is for Brandy, but the handling of this single reflects a strategic problem many brands, especially older ones, struggle with. Old models don’t work. The news cycle is too quick and our attention spans are too short.

The level of success Brandy once had now requires that she provide more new content, more often. When done correctly it will extend the work she puts into her music and performances. For her second single, let’s hope she gets it right.

Cortney Cleveland is a freelance writer and content strategist in New York City. You can follow her on Twitter @CleveInTheCity and visit her personal column The Red Read.

If you have been missing “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl” since the season finale where J picked White J as her man, met Donald Glover and got a new crazy boss, then no need to be sad any longer. Creator Issa Rae, who also plays the hilariously awkward J, premiered a trailer for the new season, which is premiering on June 14. In the trailer, Rae recounts season one and all the drama that came with it, but does so in hysterical and lyrical fashion. Her TWA is a bit bigger and her rhymes are still crazy. And in it she also shouts out all the stereotypes of black folks you see on screen that she is not: “Not a basketball wife, not a n***a in a dress, not a sassy fat b***h, not a hot s****y mess, I’m awkward and blaaaaack…” Pharrell then stops in to give her the side eye and make her feel even more awkward. But let me not give it all away. Check out the trailer and let us know your thoughts.

Excited for the new season?

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It’s a new day, and alas, it is time to celebrate or skewer the style moves of our favorite celebs. So let’s not waste any time!

Mariah Carey

Well, well, well…someone may have lost a crazy amount of weight in a short time, but I see the momma of #dembabies hasn’t lost her penchant for spandex everything. Carey showed up at a Jenny Craig event today, touting her new role as the brand’s ambassador, in this long spaghetti-strapped number in a strawberry red. No belt, no necklace on top of it, no flash…She wore the dress with strappy platform heels in a red that I must admit is a bit darker than her dress, and finished the look with some bright bling on her fingers and some hoop earrings. The hair stayed down with a good ‘ol middle part and some soft curls near her ends, and the makeup was chill. So uh…doesn’t Mariah have money? Sorry if I sound like a jack butt, but ever since she decided to start dressing more risque as her age has increased, her style has been all spandex, all the time. I know this chick’s body is smoking right now, so why not do better than this? We know it’s just a Jenny Craig event, but damn…Sorry boo, congrats on the weight loss, but I’m going to have to give this a girl, stop.

Tamar Braxton

In NYC yesterday for the premiere of season two of Braxton Family Values, little sis Tamar had all eyes on her (probably because Toni didn’t show up…) in this fanciful blue number. It’s a different look, I’ll give her that. I see that she’s trying to go for an edgy look, and she seems pretty satisfied and confident in it. But there is A LOT going on right now. The dress seems to be a light blue flirty cocktail number that’s ruffled at the bottom and comes in at the waist. The shirt underneath it (which could be attached) is a royal blue sheer top with a tie at the neck. She has on some ornate black tights underneath her blueberry look, and kicks it in white and black booties that have a zipper detail and show off a little toenail. She finishes it all off with beaded bangles, a big ‘ol watch and some straight hair with choppy bangs. Whew! Real talk, everything might work if the pieces for this ‘fit were worn SEPARATELY. Until that happens, this chick gets a girl, stop for trying her hardest to look like an A-list celeb in a Rainbow outfit.

Nicki Minaj

COLOR! That’s what I think when I look at this get-up. Last night, Minaj hit up the Versace for H&M show in NYC, where she also performed to help launch the fashion house’s partnership with the popular retailer. She showed up in true Nicki form: as always, big, BIG hair, and big ‘ol heels. This time though, the ‘fit wasn’t as horrid as you would think. Rocking what looked to be a Versace combination, she wore a long sleeve rhinestone embellished top with open slits around the shoulders. The bottoms to the outfit were similar: fitted, colorful, adorned with flowery details and of course, there were more rhinestones. She kicked up her heels in sky-high color-block stilettos, wore big baubles on her fingers, a large cat choker around her neck, and some more jewels atop her bangs. You will be shocked, but I give this a style to steal. While I wouldn’t wear something like this the way she did, this is definitely one of Minaj’s better looks. Instead of putting any ‘ol thing together per the usual, this actually matches in some way. I don’t know the way, but you can figure that out. I say just ditch that big a** wig (we couldn’t get the cute bob?), the tacky choker and we’ve got a winner…

Which looks do you like? Which do you loathe?

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Actress Nia Long, producer Dana Offenbach, and writer/director Qasim Basir were in New York this week promoting their latest film ‘Mooz Lum.’ The indie film, also starring Evan Ross, Roger Guenveur Smith and Danny Glover, addresses Muslim acceptance and self identity. It is expected to hit theaters February 11, 2011. Check out pictures from the event on the following pages.