After being blown away by Mary J. Blige's new video 'Just Fine', we were inspired to find out more about the "Queen of Hip Hop Soul" who deftly infuses the pain of the streets into some of the greatest tracks to have come out of urban music. Influenced by artists like Chaka Khan and Aretha Franklin, we thought it only fitting we also take a look into the lives of other great black stage divas who have taken the music world by storm, plus what makes them such sizzling superstars. By Alicia Broderson.
Mary J. Blige
Born January 11, 1971
This 36-year-old queen of hip hop soul signed to Uptown records in 1989, but it wouldn't be until 1992 that she released her debut album,
What's the 411?.
Initially her career was overseen by Sean ''Diddy'' Combs, who at various times acted as her manager, producer and collaborator. However, it was the failure of her sixth album
Love and Life that put an end to that relationship.
Mary J. Blige's Love and Life and Sean "Diddy" Combs
Fortunes would turn around with the release of Mary's next record
The Breakthrough in 2006, though — selling over half a million albums in its first week of sales, it set the bar for the near-perfect body of work Blige has released ever since.
Her latest record,
Growing Pains, also sold over half a million copies in its first week, and recent duets with legendary divas Chaka Khan and Aretha Franklin have seen Blige nominated in both R&B and gospel categories for next month's Grammy Awards.
Ms Blige has revelled in diva behaviour (her record label reportedly failed in trying to get her to attend lessons in etiquette), but in 2006 she found God and a new sense of self. As she told
Rolling Stone, "I'm not an ignorant idiot jerk that don't want to learn no more … but I must admit — I still have my ignorant moments!"
What's so hot about Mary?
The dark side of Mary's life seems to have taken all the worst bits of Whitney's and Tina's and rolled it in to one — born in the Bronx, she's lived through substance abuse, depression and abusive relationships (she even had a gun pulled on her once), not to mention a two-year, pack-a-day cigarette habit and revealing on
Oprah that she was molested as a child. Of her life, Mary says, "The pain was so excruciatingly heavy for me, I didn't know what else to do" but channel it in to music.
Mary J. Blige with Oprah
Still, having found religion, Blige now has a new outlook — and as
Rolling Stone said in 2006, upon the release of Mary's collaboration with U2, "For more than a decade, 'One' was U2's defining hit. After four minutes, Blige owns the song. By the time she gets to 'love is a higher law', you want to aid the afflicted, change your life or touch the face of God."
Such is the effect of the voice of a true Urban Diva — and no amount of bad history can take that away from her.
From the editor:
When a little file called "Mary J. Blige — 'Just Fine'" popped into our email inbox, we were totally unprepared for the powerhouse track that smacked us in the face with it's electro-bounce goodness. Definitely set to become one of our favourite songs of the summer.
|
