Cedric Brazle Kicks Us off With Cologne (Vol. I) EP
R&B singer-songwriter Cedric Brazle steps fully into his next chapter with the release of Cologne (Vol. I), available now via Emperium Entertainment. Two years in the making, the EP is Cedric’s most personal and fully realized project to date, capturing love and its aftermath through an immersive collection shaped by romance, memory, and self-discovery.
Designed to feel like a film you can hear, Cologne (Vol. I) moves through desire, distance, heartbreak, and reflection. Beginning in Paris, where romance feels cinematic and possibility feels endless, the project travels through different places and perspectives, from the sensual and devotional “woman.” to the agonizingly smooth “playing with fire.”, while exploring what it means to love deeply and still be learning who you are.
On the new single “casanova.” featuring Reggie Becton, Cedric ventures into the uglier side of love and heartbreak, where disappointment turns to anger and forces you to decide who you will be on the other side. Created during Cedric and Reggie’s first session together in Los Angeles, the song draws on Brandy and Monica’s 1998 classic “The Boy Is Mine,” flipping the premise into a modern, male-led duet. Rather than feuding, the two men are searching for clarity.
“With ‘Cologne’, I wanted to explore the full range of a man in and out of love: the confidence, the desire, the yearning, the vulnerability, the mistakes and the reflection that comes after,” Cedric shares. “It’s a story about what happens when a man who thinks he knows himself is changed by intimacy, heartbreak, and the realization that being vulnerable doesn’t make him less powerful; it makes him more human.”
Like a fragrance that can transport you back to a person, place, or moment, Cologne (Vol. I) explores the traces relationships and memories leave behind. The title carries a deeply personal connection to Cedric’s late grandfather, his earliest example of manhood and closest representation of a father figure. After his grandfather passed, Cedric received an unopened set of his “Hei” cologne by Alfred Sung, a fragrance he still wears today as a connection to his memory and legacy.
Musically, the EP expands Cedric’s sound through his vision of “international R&B,” pairing the intimacy and soul of R&B with atmospheric production, new textures and influences designed to travel beyond any one place. Working alongside Justin Wiggins, Tracksion and ObieIII, Cedric pushes his sound into new territory while keeping his powerhouse vocals and storytelling at the center.
Cologne (Vol. I) follows Cedric’s recent singles “mine.” and “again & again.”, the latter earning attention from Billboard, Entertainment Tonight, VIBE, Rated R&B and more. The track also landed on Spotify’s Fresh Finds R&B playlist and brought Cedric into its newly expanded Fresh Finds Forward program.
Credit: Amos Reece III