"Certain calendar years can be used to mark a moment in time when a seismic shift occurred and, in terms of music, 1994 was among the most pivotal to date. As the old guard of stars that dominated the '80s began to face the back-end of their prime, a new influx of talent arrived during the early '90s, including a handful of acts that would dictate and influence the sound of hip-hop and R&B. Among them was Mary J. Blige, a budding vocalist that would help revolutionize the genre and redefine what an R&B artist was supposed to sound and look like.
Raised in Yonkers, New York, Blige discovered her talent as a singer at seven years old, honing her skills with performances for local residents, friends, and family. However, her roots in the rough-and-tumble Schlobohm Houses and a lack of connections within the music industry made her chance at attaining a music career an unlikely one. The course of Blige's future would forever be altered following a visit to the Galleria Mall, in White Plains, New York, where she sang a cover of Anita Baker's "Caught up in the Rapture" in a recording booth on a whim. Unbeknownst to Blige, a demo of the performance would be passed along to Jeff Redd, an artist and A&R at Uptown Records, who was taken aback by Blige's vocal prowess.
Facilitating a meeting with label president and CEO Andre Harrell, Redd's efforts resulted In Blige inking a deal in 1989, becoming the youngest act on the roster and its first female R&B artist. Earning her first credits singing background for Uptown artist Father MC, Blige's career as a soloist stalled before being paired with Sean "Puffy" Combs, a hot-shot A&R with a stylish flair and a pulse on what was hot in the streets and the clubs. Entrusted with transforming Blige and cultivating her image as an artist, Combs, along with stylist Misa Hytlon-Brim, keyed in on her around-the-way girl tendencies and magnified them, outfitting Blige in street-approved designer wears, backward baseball caps, and baggy Girbaud jeans. By the time What's the 411?, Blige's solo debut, arrived in summer 1992, that look signaled a departure from traditional R&B tropes and hip-hop's growing influence on the genre.
Released on July 22, 1992, What's the 411? was a massive success, producing multiple hit singles, including "You Remind Me," "Real Love," "Reminisce" and "Love No Limit." Moving over three million units and spawning a remix album the following year, What's the 411? christened Mary J. as R&B's new "it" girl while ingratiating her with the hip-hop community, who saw some of themselves in Blige's street-wise aesthetic and were partial to the album's percussive production. Featuring contributions from boardsmen like DeVante Swing, Tony Dofat, Dave "Jam" Hall, Mark Morales and Cory Rooney, with Combs overseeing the proceedings, What's the 411? signaled the last days of New Jack Swing and helped pave the way for the sound that would define the genre over the next decade: Hip-Hop Soul.
In spite of her debut being touted as one of the stronger efforts of the year and her star rising at a rapid rate, trouble brewed in Blige's paradise and would begin to become apparent in the aftermath of the album's release. Unable to properly adjust to her newfound fame and suffering from past trauma stemming from being the victim of sexual abuse as a child and teenager, Blige began to self-medicate by using cocaine and alcohol to cope with stress. Notoriously moody and abrasive in interviews, Blige's reputation as an unpredictable unprofessional wild-card with the potential to com
bust at any given moment began to precede her, further solidifying her rugged image in industry circles. Around that time, Blige also began dating label-mate K-Ci Hailey, a member of R&B group Jodeci, who had also set the charts on fire with their 1991 debut, Forever My Lady.
One of the first high-profile relationships between two R&B stars, the pair's sexual and musical chemistry manifested itself in 1992 with "I Don't Want to Do Anything," a duet from What's the 411? Blige and Hailey's love-life was fodder for the tabloids and rumor-mill but had more serious implications with constant reports of physical and verbal altercations between the two making the rounds and adding a toxic element to their romance. "It was really hard because Jodeci was a phenomenal, phenomenal R&B band," Blige recalled during a recent interview. "And I was one of the biggest female R&B singers at the time and we were both big, big artists. And it's very, very hard when you have two famous people, young. Every woman in the world is after him, every man in the world is after me, but I didn't know every man was after me until later 'cause I was too busy wanting him. So it's very difficult."
In 1994, with nearly two years having passed since the release of What's the 411?, Blige began the recording process for My Life, the songstress' highly-anticipated sophomore effort. While the line-up of producers from her first studio album were absent this go-round, one familiar face that would prove instrumental in crafting the album was Combs, who became not only a musical adviser for Blige but a shoulder to lean on. Following the release of What's the 411?, Combs departed from Uptown to launch his own imprint, Bad Boy Records, in 1993. Headlined by rap artists Craig Mack and The Notorious B.I.G., both of whom released commercially successful debuts the following year, Bad Boy's meteoric rise coincided with Combs' own evolution as rap's most ubiquitous impresario. However, the Mt. Vernon kid with the Midas Touch would split time building Bad Boy's infrastructure while assisting Blige in crafting what would become her magnum opus.
In the midst of a break-up with longtime girlfriend Misa Hylton-Brim, Combs found emotional refuge while hunkered in the studio with Blige, who's hot and cold relationship with K-Ci Hailey was on the ropes and as tenuous as ever. Blige and Combs' friendship began to extend beyond their working relationship as the pair confided in one another, drawing from each other's testimonials to create the lyrical content for My Life, the majority of which MJB wrote herself, a contrast from What's the 411? Another key player in helping flesh out Mary's vision was Chucky Thompson, a producer from Washington D.C., who was just breaking into the business at the time. Thompson, who had previously worked on singles from Usher and The Notorious B.I.G., was summoned by Combs to pitch tracks for My Life, which were forwarded to Blige. One particular beat, which would become the instrumental for "Be With You," piqued the singer's interest and when she and Thompson got in the studio, their creative synergy was undeniable. This chemistry led to Blige requesting Thompson to be the chief producer on the album, resulting in the cohesion that sets My Life apart from the other bodies of work in her discography.
Released on November 29, 1994, My Life debuted atop the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, a position it held for eight consecutive weeks. Led by the hits "Be Happy," "Mary Jane (All Night Long)," "I'm Goin' Down" and "You Bring Me Joy," the album was a massive success, debuting at No. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, a spot it held for eight consecutive weeks. Achieving triple-platinum status within two years of its release, Blige’s sophomore effort earned the singer the 1995 Billboard Music Award for Top R&B Album, as well as her first Grammy nomination for Best R&B Album. Hailed by many as a creative and artistic leap for Blige, My Life was acclaimed by critics, with a number of pundits in the R&B and hip-hop worlds hailing the album as one of the strongest releases of the decade and an instant classic.
A gifted instrumentalist, one aspect of Thompson's skillset that was showcased on My Life was his ability to replay classic soul samples live and bolster them with pulsating drum loops, the key ingredients to many of the album's most memorable songs. Inspired by a scene in the classic blaxploitation film Superfly, Blige would request Thompson flip Curtis Mayfield's 1972 cut "Give Me Your Love" for "I'm The Only Woman," one of the premier deep cuts on My Life. On "I Love You," piano keys from Isaac Hayes' "Ike's Mood" are repurposed for a sparse composition on which Blige professes her love with passionate vocals, while "No One Else," is built around elements lifted from Al Green's "Free At Last." However, the album's most prominent samples are found on its singles, which captures MJB covering some of the most memorable jams from yesteryear. "Mary Jane (All Night Long)," the third single released from My Life is an infectious play on “All Night Long" by Mary Jane Girls and also contains elements of "Mary Jane" by Rick James and "Close the Door" as performed by Teddy Pendergrass.
"You Bring Me Joy," perhaps the album's most upbeat offering, contains a sample of "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me" by Barry White, while "Be Happy" revamps Curtis Mayfield's "You're So Good To Me." But the crown jewel of My Life comes via its title-track, which finds Blige pouring her heart out over a familiar loop from Roy Ayers' classic "Everybody Loves The Sunshine." Serving as the climax to the album, this introspective selection marries Mary's pained wails with the sublime grooves of the original and is emblematic of the role sampling played in making My Life a sonic masterpiece and game-changer. Remakes in any genre are usually hit or miss, but MJB's rendition of "I'm Going Down," Rose Royce's 1976 hit from the Car Wash soundtrack, is one that arguably outranks its predecessor. Much like her take on Chaka Khan's "Sweet Thing" from What's the 411?, "I'm Goin' Down" showcased Mary's ability to step out of the realm of hip-hop and deliver a prototypical soul ballad in riveting fashion.
One of the more overlooked wrinkles of My Life that added to its brilliance was its usage of interludes to help the album flow seamlessly from track to track while telling its story. From Puff's phone call on "Intro," to Keith Murray's lyrical flurry on "K. Murray Interlude," the latter of which featured the beat that would be released as the backdrop for The Notorious B.I.G.'s street deliverance "Who Shot Ya," were all memorable in their own right and subtle reminders of Blige's standing within the hip-hop community. But when examining My Life, its make-up and impact, the most endearing attribute is the content and songwriting, which captures the various moods of a woman coping with the spiritual turbulence that comes as a byproduct of heartbreak, heartache, self-loathing and despair. Sure, the album has its fair of uptempo numbers and kicks off with dance-friendly bops like "Mary Jane (All Night Long)" and "You Bring Me Joy," but the majority is driven by ballads that convey its host's yearning for unconditional love and loyalty and the emotional scars endured.
Earning an award for Top R&B Album at the 1995 Billboard Music Awards, as well as a Grammy nomination for Best R&B album in 1996, My Life would entrench Blige as the undisputed queen of Hip-Hop Soul and the unrivaled voice for women in the inner-city looking to heal from their past while hoping for a brighter future. And although names like Fantasia (Free Yourself), Keyshia Cole (The Way It Is), and a number of others have followed in her footsteps with landmark albums dedicated to this demographic, My Life remains the standard-bearer for what constitutes a flawless R&B album and continues to speak to the hearts of young women around the world a quarter-century later.
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