CD single No.Ĭredits lifted from the liner notes of Full Moon. Track listings Īll tracks written by Brandy Norwood, Warryn "Babby Dubb" Campbell, and Harold Lilly, and produced by Campbell. Similarly, Vibe found that the song was a vessel for a "a wide range of emotions" on Full Moon, with "a more matured voice shining" on "He Is." Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine ranked the song among his three favorite tracks on the Full Moon album along with the title track and " What About Us?". Jet magazine found that the "sensuous sound" of "He Is" was evidence of Norwood's musical growth with the album. The cut certainly makes for good music, fitting for quiet-storm shows, but as a single, it would have a hard time standing out on radio." His Billboard colleague Michael Paoletta called "He Is" one "of the most shining moments" on Full Moon. He felt that the track prioritized style over melody, and "the simple chorus – using only three notes – does not include much of a hook. In his review for Billboard, editor Chuck Taylor wrote that "the slow jam offers a sensual groove, with the sparse production leaving ample room for a vocal spotlight". Calling the product of the recording session "real shit", Norwood left Roche's version unused. Underwhelmed with the outcome, Norwood initially questioned whether to release "He Is" as the third single, since she felt it was not modifiable into a crossover hit. Norwood also worked with Guy Roche, producer of her 1998 song " Almost Doesn't Count," on a guitar-led pop version with entirely new vocals.
The recording of additional ad-libs for these remixes were tracked by the MTV reality series Brandy: Special Delivery (2002). While it received no international release, its US release was accompanied by a promotional CD single, including two slightly shorter radio remixes that were also produced by Campbell.
"He Is" was selected as the third single from the Full Moon album in the United States and serviced to rhythmic contemporary radios playlists on September 17, 2002. She has probably figured it out by now." Release and reception And I wanted her to sing it like it's about birth. In an interview with Yahoo! Music in August 2002, Campbell revealed, "I've never told. Though Norwood later joined the couple for additional writing on the track, Campbell and Lilly kept the initial meaning of the song a secret until its single release. Determined to get Norwood to sing a gospel song however, Campbell convinced Lilly to craft a song which would speak discreetly about God in third person. Norwood, who was raised in a Christian household, read a lot of religion and spiritual texts as that time, but while conversations prompted Campbell to ask Norwood to record a gospel song, Norwood declined. During the first month they worked together, Campbell, Lilly, and Norwood discussed spirituality.
Though he left the band two years later to pursue a career in music production, the pair reteamed in 2001 along with songwriter Harold Lilly to collaborate on Norwood's third studio album Full Moon. Producer Warryn Campbell met Brandy Norwood at age 15 when he started playing keyboards in her live band. Likewise, the track failed to reprise the success of the album's previous singles " What About Us?" and " Full Moon" while it failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, "He Is" reached number 78 on the official Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. It received mostly positive reviews by music critics, many of whom applauded Norwood's vocal performance and the sparse production, but dismissed "He Is" as a weak single choice. The song was released as the album's third and final single in September 2002. Lyrically speaking about God in third person, Norwood was unaware, "He Is" was not a relationship song when she recorded her vocals for it. Conceived during spiritual discussions with Norwood, Campbell and Lilly conceptualized the pop- and R&B-influenced ballad secretly as a soul song as they were keen to hear her sing a religious track, a genre which Norwood declined to record at that time. It was written by Warryn Campbell, Harold Lilly and Norwood, with production handled by the former two. " He Is" is a song by American singer Brandy Norwood from her third studio album Full Moon (2002).