I’m just trying to get my art out there and be respected for that.”įor Smith, who has become one of Blige’s close buddies, the experience has verged on the surreal: “She’s a legend, an icon!” he says. “Just to do something completely different that liberates me and that gets people listening. It’s a trans-Atlantic collaboration with some of the United Kingdom’s biggest, coolest breakout stars, including Sam Smith and Disclosure, that seems as likely to be embraced by Pitchfork as by BET - but maybe not by mainstream R&B and pop fans. Her 13th album, The London Sessions, sounds like nothing she has ever done before. Instead, she has undertaken a reinvention. She could lean harder on her loyal-in-the-extreme fan base (which works - her 2013 Christmas album sold 334,000 copies). These days, like most of her long-famous peers, Blige no longer reliably sells millions of records. “How did I get here? It makes all the struggle and pain worth it. “The very first time I went to sing for the president, it made me think of when I was living in Yonkers and in the projects,” recalls Blige, who now lives in Saddle River, N.J., a small and very pricey suburb of Manhattan.
The disbelief stems from what roils underneath all those hits: struggles with addiction and depression that date back to her teenage years. 1 on the Billboard 200), arenas filled around the world. It’s not that Blige, 43, doesn’t have the kind of résumé that gets you to the White House: 24.5 million records sold in the United States (among female R&B singers, only Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston have moved more in the Nielsen SoundScan era), eight platinum albums (four of them, bookended by 1997’s Share My World and 2007’s Growing Pains, hitting No. Even with a side of arena-sized bombast, it remains a pleasure to hear Blige effortlessly rise above the drama.THIS COVER STORY FIRST APPEARED IN BILLBOARD MAGAZINE GET THIS WEEK’S ISSUE HERE OR SUBSCRIBE TO BILLBOARD HERE
MARY J BLIGE MY LIFE ALBUM COVER FRONT FULL
The sexy grit she adds to “Come See About Me,” the way she casually finds the pocket on the sumptuous “Love Without the Heartbreak,” the full minute and a half when she simply riffs over drums and cinematic strings during the title track’s climax-the sheer strength and breadth of her voice is like comfort food. Nonetheless, Blige draws poignancy from Good Morning Gorgeous’ highlights. When Blige dabbles in drill, the effect is similarly awkward: “On Top” is a boastful victory lap at its core, but the staid production makes both Blige and Fivio Foreign sound bored by the time it’s over. For every strong team-up, like the silky throwback R&B she whips up with Usher on “Need Love,” there’s something like “Amazing,” a DJ Khaled production that blows up a sample of Dawn Penn’s “ You Don’t Love Me (No, No, No)” to garish proportions. The album’s assorted collaborations range from solid to baffling. The song recasts a personal low as a vulnerable, revitalizing pep talk to herself and thus everyone else: “All the times that I should’ve been careful with me,” she laments, “Why did I hate myself?” Opener “No Idea” is another standout, with a thick bassline, energetic drum patterns, and one of her best lines in years: “I ain’t never been the type to talk about some shit I never really been through,” she sings, laying out her ethos as an artist in one fabulous swoop. and longtime Blige collaborator D’Mile, is quintessential Mary: an anthem of self-love to lift yourself out of the darkness, gilded with fingersnaps, leisurely guitar melodies, and dynamic backing vocals. The title track, a torchy cut co-produced by H.E.R. Now she’s ready to get back in the saddle. Good Morning Gorgeous picks up on the other side of Blige’s divorce, a seismic life event the singer used as a conduit for self-discovery on 2017’s stellar Strength of a Woman. Paak, come across as scattered, an unfortunate side effect that hinders the album’s invigorating self-empowerment. But her collaborations with a wide cast of stars, including DJ Khaled, Fivio Foreign, and Anderson. Blige succeeds in the former category, with plenty of pathos and technical bravado. Though it’s easy to peg as a commercial tie-in, Blige’s latest LP stands on its own as a celebratory record that mixes uplifting, soulful affirmations with exercises in contemporary rap and R&B. Blige’s appearance at the halftime show coincides with the release of Good Morning Gorgeous, the singer’s 14th studio album.
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