In her recently released memoir, “Phases,” R&B icon Brandy reflects on a relationship that has long haunted her—her teenage romance with Wanya Morris, a member of the famed group Boyz II Men. Brandy, now 47, opens up about their connection, which began in the mid-1990s when she was just 16 years old, while Morris was in his early twenties. This candid revelation offers fans insight into a deeply personal chapter of her life, filled with both vulnerability and regret.
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The genesis of their relationship can be traced back to their collaboration on the hit song “Brokenhearted” in 1994. What started as a professional partnership soon morphed into something more intimate. Brandy recalls the thrill and confusion of sneaking around to nurture a secret relationship, which she felt compelled to keep hidden from her parents. “They barely liked the idea of me dating at all, and telling them about us was out of the question,” she recounts in her memoir.
Brandy describes the emotional landscape of their romance, detailing how it influenced her formative years. The secrecy surrounding their relationship created significant pressures for both parties. They concocted a plan to pretend they were waiting for her eighteenth birthday to officially date, fully aware that the truth could lead to substantial scandal. “Wanya and I understood, with diamond-cut clarity, that public knowledge of our relationship would ignite scandal, potentially threatening everything we’d both worked for,” she noted.
However, as their relationship progressed, Brandy began to recognise troubling patterns. She writes candidly about losing her virginity to Morris, and how he began to measure her against other accomplished artists, particularly her duet partner Mariah Carey. Brandy reflects, “These are the things that with hindsight you realise are wildly obvious signs of something wrong.” She emphasises how she could not see the manipulative dynamics at play, believing instead that she was experiencing genuine love.
As their romance unfolded, the communication between them increasingly deteriorated. Brandy recounts how she often had to page Morris before she could even call him, and as circumstances became more tumultuous, she found herself constantly questioning their relationship’s status. Ultimately, Brandy ended things after discovering that Morris had been unfaithful.
In her memoir, she confronts the narrative that has often surrounded their relationship, where Morris has previously downplayed it as a “schoolgirl crush.” Brandy firmly disagrees with this characterisation, asserting, “I believe he took advantage.” She seeks to clarify the power imbalance and the emotional impact on her youthful self. “I was a child. And he was an adult. And it’s time the world understood the difference,” she states resolutely.
In the context of this powerful recollection, Brandy expresses a determination to end the silence surrounding her experience. “The shame ends here. The silence ends here,” she declares, signalling her journey towards reclaiming her narrative. This memoir is not just a personal reflection; it serves as broader commentary on relationships, power dynamics, and the complexities of young love.
While representatives for Morris have yet to provide a comment on Brandy’s revelations, he has previously addressed their past relationship with a degree of nostalgia. In a live social media session in 2021, he remarked on the youthfulness of their romance, suggesting, “as time progressed we grew out of each other… I might have grown out of her a little bit faster.”
“Phases,” published by Hanover Square Press, is now available in bookstores, promising readers an unvarnished account of Brandy’s past and a poignant look at the effects of first love—especially when that love is marked by such stark age differences and power imbalances. As she confronts her past, Brandy invites her audience to join her in a journey of self-discovery, healing, and empowerment.