Atlantic consulted relatively unknown then-21-year-old writer-producer Keith Crouch, nephew of gospel singer Andraé Crouch, to work with Norwood on the bulk of the throwback, funk-soul production of the album. Norwood noted that her collaboration with Crouch "was very important for me as a young artist. At the time he was not trying to be like anyone else on radio. He was all about his own sound," she commented in 2012, and added: "But what I really loved about Keith is he gave me real music. He didn’t give me teenybopper records. It was age appropriate, youthful records, but it was still real music. We had a great connection." Crouch would go on to work on fifty percent of "Brandy", setting much of the tone of the album, with four from his five tracks becoming singles upon its release. While recording her vocals with him, Norwood was inspired by several singers, citing Whitney Houston and gospel group The Clark Sisters as major inspirations, particularly on "Movin' On." However, the teen singer struggled to identify with some of Crouch's material at first, especially on "Baby" whose lyrics made her afraid of not being old enough and the producer had to convince her to record.