INTERVIEW: Toni Braxton's Songwriter On Why She's The 'Queen Of R&B'

Toni Michelle Braxton is a music icon like no other. Stepping onto the scene and rising to fame in the early 1990s, Toni’s distinguished voice gave the R&B world something that it was missing, and would immediately fall in love with.

Throughout her 20-year plus career, Toni has dazzled fans with her one-of-a-kind talent and her beautiful spirit. She’s sold over 67 million albums, with 41 million of these albums being sold worldwide, by singing her heart out on songs like “You’re Making Me High”, “Un-Break My Heart,” “He Wasn’t Man Enough” and more. She's also won seven Grammys, nine Billboard Music Awards, and countless other honors. 

Today (Oct. 7) is the star’s 49th birthday, and in the words of her younger sister Tamar, she’s still snatched to capacity! To celebrate the B-Day girl in all of her iconic glory, we spoke to one of her longtime songwriters Daryl Simmons.

Daryl has written and produced music for many of the music industry's top entertainers like Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Usher, TLC, Destiny’s Child, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and more. And not only that, Daryl also founded the infamous LaFace Records with Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds.

When Babyface and L.A. Reid introduced Daryl to Toni and had them collaborate, it turned out to make music history. The songwriter wrote many of Toni’s chart-topping singles including 1990s tracks “Another Sad Love Song,” “You Mean The World To Me,” and “Love Shoulda Brought You Home,” all the way to songs from her most recent 2014 album like “Hurt You,” “Heart Attack” and more.

Take a look below to see what Daryl Simmons says about Toni’s rise to her legendary status, and why she’s the Queen of R&B and he calls her “the black Barbra Streisand“ in an exclusive interview.

What was your first impression of Toni when you started working with her?

I thought she had an amazing voice when we first started with her. I didn't really know what to expect after that, but I loved how her voice sounded when it was recorded. Still, to this day, [her's is] my favorite voice to record. I thought her voice was amazing.

Did you think that she had star quality at the time?

I don't know if I could say that I knew that. I'm a song man first, so I was focusing more on the songs and recording her. L.A. [Reid] was probably more into that part of it, because they [He and Babyface] thought she had the star quality. But when I came on board, it was more of just the recording aspect of it for me. Later, I grew to think it, but not in the beginning.

What did others who worked with her say about her? You said L.A. and Babyface were big cheerleaders of hers.

Yes, they thought she was the star. They picked her. I wasn't there that day when the Braxtons came. I think I was working on something, and they did the audition. Then when I came back, they said, ‘Hey, we got this girl, Toni Braxton. She's amazing. We're going to sign her.’ I was like, ‘Okay, great. Can't wait to meet her.’ That's how it went down.

You wrote "Love Shoulda Brought You Home," as well as "Another Sad Love Song." Did you feel any pressure about making her first two singles super perfect? The world was going to be introduced to her through them.

No, we never really approached anything as 'making it perfect.' We always made sure that it felt good [and] sounded good. But for her, she was a natural, so we were really excited. There never was a struggle with her to do anything, so that really excited us. We knew that anything that we wrote, she was going to kill it because she had the vocal ability to do it.

I don't remember any pressure of any kind once we got into it, and she was doing some demos for us for the ‘Boomerang’ soundtrack, and she was doing really well on those. When Anita [Baker] didn't want those songs, we were like, ‘Hey, L.A. said you got four songs for your album.’

How did she react when the songs dropped? Was she nervous or excited about getting some fame at first?

She was excited just to be recording and hearing her songs and [say], ‘Hey, these are my songs. They're going to come out.’ It wasn't a fame thing. She was young, and she was just really excited about the music aspect of it. We felt good about the record.

I remember riding around with L.A. in the car because we would ride around and listen to the mixes. When we were finished, he said, ‘How many do you think she's going to sell?’ I said, 'I think she'll do 1.3.’ He said, ‘No, she'll do two million easy.’ I said, ‘Really?’ He goes, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘I'll give her 1.5.’ I think her first album sold nine million. The rest is, as they say, history.

Were there any songs that she recorded that were ever difficult for her to perform?

No, nothing's ever really difficult with Toni. As a producer, I like to push her because I always say Toni doesn't know how really good she is. That's our job, to bring that out. So [we] just have to push her and make her work hard. Everything was always good. She was one those artists that just would say, ‘This is how it goes,’ and she'd get in there and kill it.

Did you and Toni ever clash over any songs? Were there songs that she didn't really want to sing or didn't like?

No, I don't remember that. She trusted us. Anything that we wrote [and] we said, ‘Hey, this is a smash. Sing this like this.’ She's like, ‘Okay.’ Her saying was always, ‘If you like it, I love it.’  She's just a great artist to work with.

What type of woman and artist has Toni evolved into today?

She's grown into an amazing artist. I think for everything that she's been through in her personal life, her lupus that she still continues to battle, she's still here. I don't know how many years Toni's been in this business. She still looks great, she stills sounds great. She's truly one of those amazing artists.

We were talking one day, [ and wondered] who would be on Mt. Rushmore as we lose these great people? And I think Toni is one of those artists that would be on that new Mt. Rushmore years from now. Of course, we have Aretha, Gladys and Whitney. But I'm talking about the next wave of those next legendary females that have come along. I think Toni is definitely there. Beyonce, of course, will be there.

I think that's where she stands at the end of the day. She will have an amazing legacy of a great career. It's been a great, amazing career when you think about how long people last in this business. That's what I admire about her, maintaining her dignity, her artistry, the way that she started it.

Why is Toni the Queen of R&B?

It's her voice. It's totally unique. She doesn't sound like anybody. It's the uniqueness of Toni Braxton's voice, the way she phrases words and delivers them. That's what we look for. We look for that originality, and everybody knows Toni. It's a signature sound when you hear it. You know that's Toni Braxton. I say she's the black Barbra Streisand -- the essential queen, classy, elegant, all of that. That's who I compare her to on that level.

With her Lupus diagnosis, we know that she just recently came out of the hospital. Have you spoken to her since?

"She’s good, I spoke to her. She’s getting stuff checked out, but she said everything was good. [It’s] just little flare ups that happens, but she’s good. She’ll be continuing [her tour], absolutely. And she’s recording. I haven’t written anything yet, but I have some ideas I wanna get to her soon. So, she’s working on that. [She’s] doing what she does, staying busy."

Photos: Getty Images