Toni Braxton Talks New Album, The State of R&B, Her Legacy & More

While working on her 10th studio album, Toni Braxton had a recurring thought: "Put some respect on my name."

The phrase, coined by her longtime beau Birdman, is more than fitting for Miss Braxton given her nearly 30-year musical career, not to mention her indisputable icon status — her accolades speak for themselves — and the fact that respect is just what she's owed — she's Toni effing Braxton!

While Spell My Name, her LP that dropped on Friday (August 28), doesn't necessarily "embrace contemporary movements in R&B," Toni has "more than earned the right to exist on her own terms," as noted by critics. Spell My Name, which includes features from Missy Elliot and H.E.R., is the embodiment of Toni's legacy — the LP is filled with her quintessential "sad love songs," as she calls them — and it remains true to the Toni we've known and loved.

In an interview with iHeartRadio, the Grammy award-winning R&B artist spoke about the album — her first full-length LP since 2018's Sex & Cigarettes, which hit No. 4 on Billboard's Top R&B Albums chart — what it was like working on it while in quarantine, the current state of R&B, and, of course, her legacy.

Keep scrolling to read our full interview with the legendary Toni Braxton.

1. Let’s talk Spell My Name. What inspired this album and what does it mean to you?

This is my 10th solo album and I thought what do I do for the 10th project? I just said, ‘You know what, I'm just going to do music that I love. I'm going to write songs that inspire me.’ And, of course, I love writing and singing about sad love songs.

[The album title] came from a song that's on the album called ‘Spell My Name’ and it's about an older woman being with a younger guy. It's a little explicit, I'll say. I just thought, Spell My Name, Toni Braxton: I've been in this business for a long time and I've been blessed, so, put some respect on my name a little bit. I don't know. I just thought it was a cool title to be honest.

2. Do you have a favorite song on the project? If so, what is it and why?

I think my favorite song on this entire project is ‘Gotta Move On.’ When I heard the track, I lost my mind. I got the track from Jeremih, who sang the song ‘Oui.’ Remember that song? Love him. Super talented. And I fell in love with it, and I said, ‘Can I do my thing?' He was like, ‘Yeah, do your thing.’ And I was very happy with how it came out, and it's a sexy song, but it's, of course, a sad love song. [At the same time], it's also, like ‘I'm determined, I'm going to get over you, and I'm going to move on.’ And I fell in love with it.

3. What was it like working on your album during quarantine? 

It wasn't that difficult for me because most of my album was done. It was just about putting it together, deciding the sequence, the order, mixing and mastering.

I have speakers at home but not like in the studio so that part made it challenging. I would get in my car and drive around for a little bit, masked up, with gloves and a hoodie and big giant sunglasses and two or three masks on, [and] that was how I listened to the songs was in my car during COVID. Sometimes that's the best thing because you can hear the songs on the radio and then play your songs right after hear how it sounds. Does it sound like something you would hear on the radio? So that was kind of helpful. It actually kind of helped me a bit.

4. In addition to working on your music, what has quarantine looked like for you?

The silver lining with quarantining is that it allows me to spend a lot of time with my kids. I'm home with my kids. We spend family quality time, we cook together, we laugh together, we play more games, because my oldest is going off to college. Well, he's not going to college now. He's going to do it on the online, but it just gave me that time with me and my boys. I enjoyed it probably a lot more than them. I mean, I learned that my kids couldn't cook, and that wasn't good. I'm like, ‘Son, how you can't cook? That's not good.’ So like, okay, how do I teach my kids how to make something other than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?

So needless to say we had some really good cooking classes. Cooking with Mom. It was kind of fun, actually.

5. Spell My Name is your 10th studio album. What does it mean to you to get this far in your career, and have people still listening and loving your music?

Being in this business almost 30 years and still being relevant and still being able to do what I love doing and to know that people connect with me through my work, it's a wonderful feeling. I feel blessed.

It's the best feeling to know that you're still inspiring people. I love performing, I love writing, I love singing. But you never think that others love it as much as you do, and it makes me feel like they appreciate my work.

I remember when I was younger and how much I loved Gladys Knight, the late great Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, and all of them and they're still here, and you never think that you're going to be in the situation 20 or 30 years from now. You can never see yourself as an artist 20 or 30 years in the game. You can only see the immediate. So I just feel blessed. I promise you, I feel so blessed. I can't believe that I was picked. God picked me to do this, because I love it, love it so much, and I'm so appreciative of it. So I feel really blessed and fortunate.

6. Speaking of your legacy, “Un-Break My Heart” recently broke 500 million views on YouTube. What does it feel like to have your music from the 90s still breaking records?

Yeah, 'Un-break My Heart' recently broke 500 million on YouTube. When I got that call, I was shocked, but humbled. I can't even explain to you how it makes you feel. It's surreal. And sometimes you forget to be happy because in a career with so many ups and downs, you can forget to be grateful for the things you have. Sometimes you concentrate, ‘Well, I don't have this. I don't have that.’ But look what I do have. Look what I've been blessed with, and look how fortunate I've been. You have to remind yourself, and I am just, all I can say is thank you. Thank you. It's good.

7. R&B has changed so much in recent years. There are so many sub-genres within it. What are your thoughts on the current state of R&B? 

I do think R&B has changed a little in recent years. One of the reasons I think it's changed is because, it's became a little more hip-hop, which I think, they put it all in one, like R&B and hip-hop. And it's not really the same. It's different genres of music. I mean, I love hip-hop. I'm a hip-hop girl. I love the music, but I sing traditional R&B. My listening pleasure is definitely more hip-hop influenced, but I think there's several sub-genres of R&B music.

I think there's R&B, then there's rhythm and blues and then there's ribs and barbecue. What would I classify as a rib and barbecue song? Like, that song you listen to at your auntie house when everybody is singing at family reunions. You hear the rib and barbecue song.

8. 2020 will definitely be a year we will all never forget. What are some of your takeaways from the year thus far? 

2020 has been, excuse my language, a b*tch. It has not been a year to smile about. It's been a sad year. It's been labored. I cannot deny it.

What I want to [takeaway from] this year is family awareness, friends awareness, life awareness, how precious it is and how important it is. And I don't know if there's anything I can take away from it right now, but I often tell myself weekly that I have to remember to be happy and be grateful, and thankful for what we have. And find that the best thing in life that you can have is family and health. If you have great health, you can survive it. It's better if you have great health and family with you and support. So, 2020. I'm looking forward to 2021. I'm looking forward to it.

This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

Photo: Getty Images