Chicago’s Manasseh has a new album. It’s a tribute to his younger self

Manasseh listened to Brandy’s 1994 debut on cassette so many times that the tape melted. It was the first secular album the Chicago artist was allowed to own, a gift from his mother, Idella. Twenty-six years after her death, Manasseh still feels his mother’s presence on his upcoming sophomore album “R&B[eyond]” — out Tuesday, the day he turns 39. “I would hear her sing all the time in the house; we would sing together,” he said. “When I’m singing, I’m having my lowest days, I really do feel…