This week is special here in South Florida. Tuesday evening the great Toni Braxton will be appearing in concert at the Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida. Of course, I was well aware of her concert several months ago. There were a couple of facts that I was surprised to realize. First, it was quite interesting to learn of the Grammy award nominations garnered by Braxton for her most recent album Sex & Cigarettes. Second, I found it hard to believe this is her first time featured in Weekly Music Commentary. In fact, sister Tamar Braxton was featured a few years ago. Quite interesting when you look at the career highlights of Toni Braxton.
Many years ago I was speaking with a friend about Toni Braxton’s self-titled début album. I mentioned how it would be almost impossible to top the popularity of that album. Her album (1993) reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States, selling 10 million copies worldwide and seeing the international success of the singles “Another Sad Love Song” and “Breathe Again”. The album brought Braxton three Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist. Most music fans are still listening to the hits from that album, almost twenty-six years later. However, it seems that Toni Braxton might be ready to add to her trophy case. For those unfamiliar with the illustrious career of Ms. Braxton, I’ll try to bring you up to date.
Toni Michelle Braxton was born in Severn, Maryland. Her father, Michael Conrad Braxton Sr., was a Methodist clergyman and power company worker, and her mother, Evelyn Jackson, a native of South Carolina, was a former opera singer and cosmetologist, as well as a pastor. Braxton’s maternal grandfather was also a pastor.
Braxton is the eldest of six siblings. She has a younger brother Michael Jr. (born 1968) and four younger sisters Traci (born 1971), Towanda (born 1973), Trina (born 1974), and Tamar (born 1977). They were raised in a strict religious household, and Braxton’s first performing experience was singing in her church choir.
Braxton attended Bowie State University to obtain a teaching degree, but decided to sing professionally after she was discovered by William E. Pettaway Jr. Pettaway, working as an attendant at the Annapolis service station where she was refueling, recognized her from local performances and introduced himself, saying he wanted to produce her. Although skeptical, Braxton decided to, in her words, “take a chance” and accepted.
I have heard that story many times, and it still sounds unbelievable. Nevertheless, this was the start for Toni Braxton. Braxton and her four sisters (Traci, Towanda, Trina, and Tamar) began performing as The Braxtons in the late 1980s and were signed to Arista Records in 1989. Their first single, “Good Life”, was released in 1990. Though the song was not successful, it attracted the attention of Antonio “L.A.” Reid and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds.
Reid and Babyface recruited her to record a demo of “Love Shoulda Brought You Home”, a song that they had written for Anita Baker for the soundtrack of Eddie Murphy’s film, Boomerang. Baker, who was pregnant at the time, did not record the song but suggested, that Braxton record it. Her recording was later included on the soundtrack along with “Give U My Heart”, a duet by Braxton and Babyface. Braxton, meanwhile, was signed to Reid and Edmonds’ Arista-distributed imprint, LaFace Records, and immediately began recording her solo début album.
Like so many artists of modern times, Braxton received a big break from Anita Baker, and delivered when the time arose. As I wrote earlier, that début album was something special. In addition to the Grammys, she won two American Music Awards (for Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist and Favorite New Adult Contemporary Artist) in 1994 and another one in 1995 (for Favorite Soul/R&B Album). Toni Braxton was certified 8x platinum in USA and has sales of over 10 million worldwide.
Remember I wrote earlier about my doubts that Toni Braxton would ever create music more popular than her first album. Guess what? In June 1996, Braxton released her second and most successful album, Secrets. Braxton said of the album: “The motivation for this album was to include a little bit of everything. Our aim was to come up with material, that would have a familiar ‘feel’ to the people, who bought the first album without being musically redundant.” Along with Babyface, Braxton also worked with R. Kelly, Tony Rich, and David Foster on the album. Braxton co-produced the album and co-wrote two of its songs, including the 1997 single “How Could an Angel Break My Heart”. She won two Grammy Awards; one for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Un-Break My Heart” and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for “You’re Makin’ Me High” as well as two American Music Awards for Favorite Female Soul/R&B Artist and Favorite Soul/R&B Album.
Through all the personal and health problems, Toni Braxton has proved to be a survivor. Musically, the singer has been blessed with a great career. Last year she released studio album number eight Sex & Cigarettes, coming eight years after her last album Pulse in 2010. On September 5, 2017, in an interview with The Insider, Braxton confirmed the title, Sex & Cigarettes, stating: “I feel like I’m older, I wanna say what I feel. I don’t wanna be censored”. The album serves as her début for the Def Jam label, after signing a new record deal. Sex & Cigarettes is Braxton’s first album to be issued with a Parental Advisory warning, and an edited version was also made available.
As I wrote at the start of this post, Sex & Cigarettes has received Grammy nominations. The album received three Grammy Awards nominations: Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song for “Long as I Live”, and for Best R&B Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. Braxton already has seven Grammys and wins would place her in a prestigious category. Will she win? It’s always hard to predict. We do know Toni Braxton has given us a very good, grown-up album.