Why Brandy almost gave up on music

Although she's seen plenty of success with No. 1 hits like "Have You Ever?" and "The Boy Is Mine," there were moments when singer Brandy wanted to give up on music entirely.

On the road to putting out her newest album, "Two Eleven," the singer told CNN that "there were times when I tried to come back and it didn't work. Then I started to feel like, maybe this is not my purpose, maybe this is not what I'm supposed to do, because it's not happening to me."

It didn't help that others seemed to have little faith in her future as a singer.

"People are calling me a has-been, people are calling me washed-up and all these things," Brandy continued. "That starts to effect you mentally a little bit because you're like, 'Am I? Do I still have it?'"

But considering that she now has another album under her belt, "clearly there was another plan in place, and I was able to connect with that destiny plan that is within us all and make a different choice."

That choice was "to believe in myself so I can do what I got to do to have a relationship with the people that love my music."

The title of her new album represents evolution and purpose, she said, but it also has another meaning. "Two Eleven," or February 11, is Brandy's birthday, as well as the date of Whitney Houston's death this year.

"To lose my idol who introduced purpose to me, a dream to me, on that day - it solidifies our bond and what I need to do to go forward. The time is now," Brandy said. "I will never get over Whitney passing. ... I just have to do what I promised her, and I have to follow the words she gave me right before she died - which is another strange thing, that we talked right before she passed on. I'm in a great place and I feel like she's with me. I feel like she's helping the angels and God to guide me to do what I have to do."