TAPE: EF02/0993 IN_TIME: 14:54:30 DURATION: 4:36 SOURCES: APTN/ BMG/ ARISTA RESTRICTIONS: music video/performance rights must be cleared DATELINE: Los Angeles. Recent SHOTLIST: 1. Clip video 'Hit the Freeway' Toni Braxton 2. SOUNDBITE Toni Braxton on single: "The Neptunes wrote it, I heard the track , I had never heard the song until I went into the studio. They had some guy lyrics and I was like I am a girl, can we get some chick lyrics in here and they said no no just hip hop, and I said I know what hip hop is so I tried their way first and the next time I went in I did it my way, and what you've got is a combination." 3. Clip video 'Hit the Freeway' 4. SOUNDBITE Toni Braxton on including rap and hip hop on the new album: "Because I was trying to maintain the new style of music and how the whole style of music and how the whole music industry is just changing, it is not the same anymore. Hip hop which everyone thought a phase has been here 20 plus years and that is the new pop music to me, it comes in on the charts and it does incredibly. Everyone sings a song and they have a rapper featured on it from Christina (Aguilera) to Justin (Timberlake) to myself, everyone does that now. So I was very conscious of trying to maintain being current." 5. Clip video 'Un-break My Heart' Toni Braxton 6. SOUNDBITE Toni Braxton on attitude to old hits and fans' associations with past work: "Not trying to top it, just trying to stay here, keep it going. I don't want to be on the VH1 commercial where are they? Where is she? I am not ready for that. So I think I have been very fortunate that I have introduced myself with other songs like 'You're Makin Me High' and 'Man Enough For Me' where I have introduced a little bit of hip hop. So I don't think people are totally surprised because I have done it before. But the only songs they tend to remember when you hear my name is the 'Unbreak My Heart''s and the 'Breathe Again''s which is okay too but there are so many other sides of me. " 7. Clip video 'Hit the Freeway' 8. SOUNDBITE Toni Braxton on attitude to music industry since bankruptcy: "Well a little more negative on some parts of the industry than positive only because, because of the bankruptcy I was privy to a lot of things and I know a lot of things about the music business. It is not called music friends, it is not called music talent, it is called the music business. So I know a lot of things so I can't be as creative as I once was. I am not as green, the innocence is gone now that I wish I didn't know about the business. I know now it is really about a bottom line, the industry, that is the industry as a money making thing." 9. Clip video 'Hit the Freeway' 10. SOUNDBITE Toni Braxton on plans for 2003: "My child is due in March but in June I am going to be starring in Aida in New York so I am excited about that. " 11 Clip video 'Hit the Freeway' STORYLINE: TONI BRAXTON BACK WITH 5th STUDIO ALBUM TONI BRAXTON has been a superstar at 23 and she's been bankrupt - now she's back with her fifth album and a spruced up, hip hop sound. 'Hit The Freeway' is the first single from the album 'More Than A Woman' The R&B singer Toni Braxton is also a mother these days - she had baby boy, called Denim Cole Braxton Lewis, in December 2001, the first child for the singer and her husband Keri Lewis, of the band Mint Condition. She is expecting her second in March 2003. Braxton became the first female artist signed to LaFace in 1991, and her 1993 debut album 'Toni Braxton' was a smash hit churning success with eventual sales of more than 8 million. It earned her two Grammys and hit singles including 'Another Sad Love Song,' 'Breathe Again' and 'You Mean the World to Me.' Her second studio album 'Secrets,' released in 1996, included the hit 'Unbreak My Heart' - which stayed at the US number one for 11 weeks, and is the song most fans still associate with her. The album became her second eight million seller, and earned her another two Grammy awards. Towards the end of 1997, Braxton surprised many fans by filing for bankruptcy. The singer had filed a lawsuit against LaFace Records, in an attempt to gain release from a contract she felt was no longer fair. LaFace had countersued, and the bankruptcy move sheilded her from further legal action. Braxton spent most of 1998 in legal limbo, taking on the lead role in Broadway's 'Beauty and the Beast' until a settlement was reached with LaFace in early 1999. A third and fourth album followed, 'Heat' and the holiday season album 'Snowflakes.' For 'More Than A Woman' Braxton brought in seasoned hip hop producers to help her catch the mood of the market. She admits her experiences have made her more conscious of the business side of the music industry, but remains optimistic. Fans are unlikely to see her tour soon, as the birth for her second child is due next March, but they can still see her perform live next summer. Braxton is scheduled to star in her second Broadway show, 'Aida' in June. CLEARANCE DETAILS TITLE: Hit The Freeway ARTIST: Toni Braxton WRITER: TBC PUBLISHER: TBC LABEL: BMG TITLE: Un-break My Heart ARTIST: Toni Braxton WRITER: PUBLISHER: LABEL: ARISTA