Happy Birthday Mary J

She’s the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul and is an icon in the music industry. She’s successfully drifted into acting, garnering Golden Globe and Oscar nominations for her role in the 2017 film, Mudbound. She’s sold over 100 million records worldwide and is celebrating a birthday today! Happy birthday to the one and only Mary J. Blige. 

When she was at a local mall in White Plains, NY, she recorded herself singing Anita Baker’s “Caught Up in the Rapture” into a karaoke machine. The resulting tape was passed to Uptown Records CEO Andre Harrell. He was impressed and signed her to sing backup for local acts. In 1991, Sean “Puffy” Combs took Blige under his wing and began working with her on her debut album.

That debut album, What’s the 411?, was released in 1992 and both critics and fans were floored by its powerful combination of modern soul and edgy hip-hop production. She threw herself and her life into her lyrics which then connected with a female fanbase that hadn’t experienced this from an artist before. It contains her first top ten hit, “Real Love”. I also love her version of the Rufus song “Sweet Thing”.

Her second album was a true breakthrough in many ways. First, it was a raw emotional album that focused on Blige’s personal pain. At this point in her life, she was in a clinical depression, battling both drugs and alcohol, as well as being in an abusive relationship with K-Ci Hailey. It also highlighted more of Blige’s creativity around songwriting (she contributed to fourteen of the album’s tracks). Favorites include “You Bring Me Joy” (with a cool sample from Barry White) and “Be Happy”, a jam that has throwback vibes mixed with modern R&B lyrics. As successful as the album was, she severed ties with Combs and signed with MCA Records, which marked the beginning of a strong partnership with the legendary Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

Share My World, released in 1997 and Mary, released in 1999 are arguably her best albums. She had developed a more rich, full sound. The confidence you hear from Blige is very clear. There’s a classic soul feel to Blige’s music at this point, yet she never shies away from the grittier R&B that helped form her success early on in her career. Highlights include “I Can Love You” (featuring Lil’ Kim), “Everything”, “Beautiful Ones”, “Don’t Waste My Time” (duet with Aretha Franklin) and “Time”.

In 2001, Blige released the album, No More Drama which contained the huge hit, “Family Affair”. Despite album sales being lower than what MCA was hoping for (and that they repacked the album and re-released it a year later), her star kept rising as she was becoming a mentor to younger singers, all while still producing fresh R&B music.

The Breakthrough was a tremendous success for Blige in 2005, spawning a handful of major singles, including the fantastic cover/duet with U2 of their song “One”. The album also debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 charts and has sold over three million copies. 

Blige has continued to release strong albums up to her latest in 2022. She’s truly leaving her mark on the music world, far beyond the world of just R&B. Many have noted the implications of Blige’s presentation and representation of black womanhood and femininity in the typically male-dominated and centric sphere of hip-hop. Blending the vocal techniques of rapping in hip-hop with aspirational messages in R&B, Blige is credited with articulating black women’s experiences in a more factual and objective manner.

She transformed her pain into the sound of an era. As she said in a recent interview, “I want to tell stories of progress and going through the process of getting better, of going through the pain of change.”

“Because change is painful. But being stuck and stagnant is painful as well.” 

Blige certainly has lived a full, fascinating life. Full of pain, recovery, joy, success, failure and everything in between. But the beauty of Mary J. Blige is that she’s a powerhouse who isn’t ever satisfied and will keep doing things that bring her joy. And that brings us, her fans, joy as well.