If her name is Brandy, you might think you know, but you might be wrong.

She’s not gracing your prime-time anymore as Moesha and she’s not at your multiplex starring in a new summer blockbuster. After a three-year break from the glare of spotlights, a three-year period of growth, of self-evolution and re-examination, Brandy is about to step back onto the world stage in a major way—this time, however, with a newfound sense of purpose and desire to buttress her audio attack on the masses.

On the eve of the release of "FULL MOON," her third Atlantic CD – a sure-to-be-mega-selling-platinum disc – Brandy is back with her most heartfelt and mature work to date. She also has a new outlook on life, fortified with a spiritual centeredness that only makes her star shine brighter.

This is Brandy 3.0, you might say, the newly music-focused adult Brandy, sleek and streamlined and ready to take on all comers with a dazzling new CD. "FULL MOON" is both a declaration of independence and a full-circle revelation of a woman who once emerged a full-fledged star but is now ready to be recognized as a spiritually and emotionally developed woman.

In the years between her last record and this new release, it was important for Brandy to reconcile those sides of her. "A part of yourself is taken from you in the public eye," she says. "And that was one of my problems. I didn’t know who I was because so many people had this idea and image of me that wasn’t necessarily who I was. But I’ve experienced some things and I’ve learned some lessons, good and bad. I’m a woman now."

So how does the little girl from McComb, Mississippi, who has spent the last eight years doing it all – selling tens of millions of records; starring in one of the highest-rated TV specials ever (Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella); starring on two sitcoms (Thea and Moesha); acting in movies; representing one of the biggest cosmetics companies in the world – find her way from girlhood to womanhood under the bright and shining glare of the pop culture spotlight?

She retreats, looking within herself to find the power and beauty of personal growth. She moves out of her parents house, buys her own, and, to quote one of her own hits, "sits up in her room" to figure out how to make the world work for her rather than feel like she’s working for the world. She chooses to be a fully-formed person, rather than just a fully-formed celebrity, ultimately choosing music as her main focus in life.

It was a very reflective time, recalls the songstress, starting out with her decision to live on her own almost three years ago. "Moving out on my own was a big step for me because I’ve always been around my parents and protected by them. Moving out allowed me to make my own decisions and spend time by myself.

"I never liked to be by myself until I moved out of my parents’ house and started to spend more time with me. I started to appreciate myself and in the process, my whole attitude about life changed. I started reading New Age material and metaphysics, and I started to get into what life really has

This time was also marked by Brandy’s decision to become vegan, eating healthy to keep her body in spiritual sync with her emotional maturity. "It was all about hamburgers and french fries everyday for me," she remembers. "And I was always getting sick." Then she went to the opposite extreme. "I went on the extra thin thing and became dehydrated. Somewhere in there I realized that my body is my temple and this is where my soul has to reside and take care of myself. I realized that eating to live was better than living to eat." With a laugh she recalls her initial dive into the vegan way. "I had a veggie burger," she says. "And it didn’t taste any different! It’s all about the seasoning and how you make it."

The seasoning indeed. A lesson Brandy took with her when she returned to the studio to record her new album, the process of which felt as spiritually right as her burgeoning feelings of self-discovery.

"This time around," says Brandy, "it felt like I could really focus on music. Before I was doing a number of things and couldn’t feel the overwhelming feeling [of creating] because I was so busy and stretched, doing everything at the same time. I’m really excited about recording and promoting and meeting my fans and staying in touch. And that’s important because I love making music. Sometimes I think if I could just sing and be anonymous for a minute I’d love that. Of course you love the fame and all that, but that’s all extra. Being in the studio and working and creating? That’s the love of it. That’s the best part."

And it sounds like it.

Just listen to the single "What About Us?" and you can hear that chemistry dripping all over the track. This is forward-looking Brandy, raw and stylish and edgy, reaching for that new sound which is a hallmark of her chart-topping career. Says Brandy, "It took a while to get that sound we wanted because I didn’t want that sound that’s already saturated the industry. It’s important to me to be a trendsetter and change the game. It was a great feeling to see Rodney soar like that."

The entire album soars – from the sonic razzle dazzle of Jerkins’ "It’s Not Worth It" (which defies copycats to come up with something as new and funky) and "I Thought" to the sensuous, multi-tracked Brandy balladry that makes Warren Campbell’s "He Is" destined to be a quiet-storm classic; from the title track’s throbbing melodicism to the lilting prettiness of "When You Touch Me" – mostly because Brandy wanted it that way. "These songs were selected based on my own personal experiences," she says, "and those of friends, relatives and surroundings."

As a result, "FULL MOON" is Brandy’s most personal album to date, a statement record from a young diva who is always on the rise, never content to rest on her past successes, even though, she reveals, she wasn’t always sure of her self when it came to recording music.

"Before, I didn’t really know who I was or what I liked to do or understand the love that I really had for music. I think on this album, you can tell through the vocals and creativity that it’s just different. It’s because I’m more into me now so I can bring me into the music."

She’s 23 years old now, staking her claim on the musical world with a mature mixture of creativity, grace and fortitude. "I’m just really thankful now,"

Why does she think it could be her biggest ever?

"Because I really put love into this one. It represents who I am and what I am and where I am. I wish I had a story to tell, like I have my own label and three artists about to come out or a movie about to drop or something like that. But that ain’t happenin’. I don’t have a label or a movie. It’s just me and the album I have to present. I’m in love with everything now."

That challenging period of growth – musically, emotionally – since "NEVER SAY NEVER," has brought her to this fabulous state of being but that doesn’t mean she expects to stop growing and experimenting and developing.

It’s natural for her, so natural, in fact, it provided her with the perfect name for her album. "I've come full circle," she says, "made a 360 degree change in my life and, rediscovered my love for music and hey, crazy things happen during a ‘FULL MOON.’"