Brandy Bounces Back.

BRANDY, 1979-; RICHARDSON, Quentin

The article profiles singer Brandy and her new album 'Afrodisiac.' The singer-actress from McComb, Miss., has had a bumpy three years. She secretly married music producer Robert Smith in July 2001, gave birth to their daughter a year later and had split from Smith by the time Sy'rai turned 1. While that was happening, she put her career on hold at its peak--a risky move for a woman who had her first big hit, the triple-platinum CD Brandy, at 15 and was a TV star two years later. The hiatus was marked by "struggle" and "pain," says Brandy. Brandy says motherhood suited her from the start. Now she is dating L.A. Clippers guard Quentin Richardson. According to her mother, Brandy likes the fact that the Chicago native acts like a "southern boy"--down-to-earth, polite and attentive to Sy'rai. Between recent trips to Jamaica and the Bahamas, they hunker down at one of their homes in L.A. and play X-Box, watch TV--she's an American Idol junkie--and practice hoops.