"Timbo put me on da map. Now you wanna say I ac' ♪ Braaaaan'Nuuuu ♪"

Brandy spoke to MTV at a launch party for Timbaland's Shock value II about her rapping ass alter ego Bran'Nu.

"What I'm doing on the album is a little bit different than what everybody knows me for. I'm rapping on the album. Timbaland endorsed that. He changed my name to Bran'Nu. He really gave me a shot to be different and be versatile. I can't thank him enough for that. This is a wonderful opportunity. I'm blessed to be here"

Many who peeped the production and song writing credits for Bran'Nu's contributions to Shock value II would have noticed 'B. Norwood' listed as a songwriter for "Meet in tha middle" and "Symphony". But Brandy confirms she ain't needing no ghost writer...

"I wrote my own verses. Anything I did, I wrote myself. It was a great experience. I got a chance to be another part of myself. He even allowed me to mix in the singing with the rapping. It feels good. It feels like this is what I'm supposed to do. This is a reinvention for me. I'm excited about it. [Rapping was] something I did for my friends and just played around on ideas and stuff like that. Timbaland [saw a video I'd posted on] YouTube. He called me. He was like, 'Yo, you have to do this. You have to come to the studio. Let's see how you sound.' So I went to the studio, and we did a smash. It was incredible. All I could think about was, 'I just wanna blow him away. I wanna make him proud, because I really wanna sign with Timbaland and spend the rest of my career making music with Tim.' It was an interesting process. Like I said, I'm excited. It's different from anything I've ever done. To be right by his side is amazing."

So Brandy co-wrote two songs for Shock value II! That's one more song than she wrote for Afrodisiac.

I wouldn't mind another Brandy and Tim album, given how amazing Afrodisiac was and still is. That album is a timeless classic. "Afrodisiac", "Who is she 2 U" and "Come as you are" are staples in my playlists. Brandy seems to be switching allegiances with the quickness though. It was only last year she was saying how she wanted to roll with Rodney 'til the wheels fell off. And now she's all up in Tim's passenger side. I honestly don't care, as long as Brandy drops a hot album. I'm wary of her working with Timbaland though, because I'm still not sold that he can give Brandy the same level of consistent hotness that he gave her for Afrodisiac. Because Tim did NOT put a foot wrong with that album.

It's great to know she still seems to have that hunger to want to make music. I just hope she doesn't limit herself with producers. She needs to stay having Eric Hudson and Bryan Michael-Cox by her side, because them n***a's have not steered her wrong with the material they gave her.

Brandy thanks Timbaland for endorsing her new rap career @ MTV.com
Watch her go: Bran'Nu spits live @ Miami