 When her debut album, What's the 411?, hit the street in 1992, critics and
fans alike were floored by its powerful combination of modern R&B with an edgy
rap sound that glanced off of the pain and grit of
Mary J. Blige's Yonkers, NY, childhood. Called alternately the new
Chaka Khan or new
Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige had little in common stylistically with
either of those artists, but like them helped adorn soul music with new textures
and flavors that inspired a whole generation of musicians. With her blonde hair,
self-preserving slouch, and combat boots, Mary J. Blige was street-tough and
beautiful all at once, and the record company execs who profited off of her
early releases did little to dispel the bad-girl image that she earned as she
stumbled through the dizzying first days of her career.
As she exorcised her personal demons and softened her style to include sleek
designer clothes, she remained a hero to thousands of girls growing up in the
same kinds of rough places she came from.
Mary J. Blige reinvented her career again and again by shedding the bad habits and
bad influences that kept her down; by the time her fourth album, Mary, was
released in 1999, she had matured into an expressive singer able to put the full
power of her voice behind her music, while still reflecting a strong urban
style. With her fifth album, No More Drama, it wasn't just
Mary J. Blige's style that shone through the structures set up for her by
songwriters and producers, it was her own vision -- spiritual, emotional,
personal, and full of wisdom, and reflected an artist who was comfortable with
who she was and how far she had come.
Born in the Bronx on January 11, 1971,
Mary J. Blige spent the first few years of her life in Savannah, GA, before moving
with her mother and older sister to the Schlobam housing projects in Yonkers,
NY. Her rough life there produced more than a few scars, physical and otherwise,
and Mary J. Blige dropped out of high school her junior year, instead spending time
doing her friends' hair in her mother's apartment and hanging out. 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 by
Mary J. Blige's stepfather to Uptown Records' CEO, Andre Harrell. Harrell was
impressed with Mary J. Blige's voice and signed her to sing backup for local acts like
Father MC. In 1991, however,
Sean "Puffy" Combs took
Mary J. Blige under his wing and began working with her on What's the 411?, her
debut album.
Combs had a heavy hand in What's the 411?, along with producers
Dave Hall,
Mark Morales, and
Mark Rooney, and the stylish touches that they added to
Mary J. Blige's unique vocal style created a stunning album that bridged the gap
between R&B and rap in a way that no female singer had before. Uptown tried to
capitalize on the success of What's the 411? by issuing a remixed version of it
a year later, but it was only a modest success creatively and commercially.
Her 1995 follow-up, My Life, again featured
Combs' handiwork, and if it stepped back stylistically from its urban roots
by featuring less of a rap sound, it made up for it with its subject matter. My
Life was full of ghetto pathos and
Mary J. Blige's own personal pain shone through like a beacon. Her rocky
relationship with fellow Uptown artist
K-Ci Hailey likely contributed to the raw emotions on the album. The period
following the recording of My Life was also a difficult time professionally for
Mary J. Blige, as she severed her ties with
Combs and Uptown, hired Suge Knight as a financial advisor, and signed with
MCA.
Released in 1997, Share My World marked the beginning of
Mary J. Blige's creative partnerships with
Jimmy Jam and
Terry Lewis. The album was another hit for
Mary J. Blige and debuted at number one on the Billboard charts. Critics soured
somewhat on its more conventional soul sound, but
Mary J. Blige's fans seemed undaunted. By the time her next studio album, Mary, came
out in 1999, the fullness and elegance of her new sound seemed more developed,
as Mary J. Blige exuded a classic soul style aided by material from
Elton John and
Bernie Taupin,
Stevie Wonder, and
Lauryn Hill. Mary made it obvious that the ghetto fabulous style and more
confrontational aspects of her music were gone, while the emotive power still
remained.
That power also helped carry the more modern-sounding 2001 release, No More
Drama, a deeply personal album that remained a collective effort musically yet
reflected more of
Mary J. Blige's songwriting than any of her previous efforts. The Mary J. Blige on No More Drama seemed miles away from the flashy kid on
What's the 411?, yet it was still possible to see the path through her music
that produced an older, wiser, but still expressive artist. In 2003 she was
reunited with
P. Diddy, who produced the majority of that year's Love and Life album. The
Breakthrough followed two years later. ~ Stacia Proefrock, All Music Guide
Contact Grabow for more information or to book Mary J. Blige
for your next corporate or private event.
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