Considered by Norwood as one of her favorites on the album, the track expresses a female's addictive passion for a special person, whom she declares her very own aphrodisiac.

Choreographed by Laurieann Gibson, it was filmed in Los Angeles, California and features Norwood dancing in a water-flooded outtrack world, influenced by white, gold and black color.

[1] The track was one of the first songs on the same-titled album that Norwood and her team worked on while recording at the Hit Factory Criteria studios in Miami, Florida.

[1] An uptempo–offbeat R&B song with heavy pop and dance-pop influences,[2] "Afrodisiac" was built along on a flute and a synthesised old-school drum machine groove.

[3] Critics also noted an "orchestra band feel with a definite Caribbean influence and some 1980s electro sound",[4] which incorporates a baby-cry sample, that bears resemblance to fellow Timbaland production "Are You That Somebody?," a recorded by Aaliyah in 1998.

[6] Lyrically, Norwood, as the female protagonist, expresses her addictive passion for a special person, whom she declares her very own aphrodisiac, a substance that increases her sexual desire.

Rachel Kipp from Associated Press wrote that "Afrodisiac" is a "carnival ride",[9] while Nicholas Paul Godkin, writer for Designer magazine, commented that the song "has the feel of a superior Destiny's Child R&B single.

", noting that it "dusts off the baby-cry sample Timbaland made famous with Aaliyah, but the hook is all Brandy – her dry voice circles around itself in a swooping chorus, which sounds open and sexy on her own terms.

He stated that "the strong racial connotations in the title shouldn't be mistaken as anything other than a cry for acceptance as a sex symbol in the Beyoncé mould", and added: "gracefully there's a lot more substance to this through the beautifully sung and equally brilliantly produced song.

Thankfully there's no hint of 'Independent Women' in the song as Brandy takes a rare honest stance: 'I admit that I'm a prisoner of your sex appeal'.

"[13] Allmusic writer Andy Kellman ranked the song among his four favorite tracks on the album along with "Talk About Our Love", "Who Is She 2 U" and "Sadiddy".

[18] In the United Kingdom, a DVD single was released, which additionally featured music videos of the latter and "Afrodisiac", as well as a making of and a digital photo gallery.

[24] Inspired by the song itself, Rolston decided to visualize the sung-about afrodisiac as a liquid, eventually arranging the construction of a water-flooded "outtrack world" that depicts Norwood and her dancers performing in an ankle-deep basin and in front of water-reflecting walls respectively.