#YOUTUBE MARY J BLIGE MY LIFE ALBUM HOW TO#
#YOUTUBE MARY J BLIGE MY LIFE ALBUM PLUS#

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вЂњAll I really want is to be happy,вЂќ she repeats over its seven-minute groove-a prayer, promise, and earned affirmation. For her last trick on My Life, she anchors вЂњBe HappyвЂќ to Curtis MayfieldвЂ™s вЂњYouвЂ™re So Good to Me,вЂќ its slap-bass front and center. The album points toward the late 2000s when Blige found simpatico partners in Bryan-Michael Cox for 2005вЂ™s The Breakthrough (its megahit вЂњBe Without YouвЂќ is a sleeker, shattering variant on вЂњI Never Wanna.вЂќ ) and Stargate for 2007вЂ™s Growing Pains. My Life, though occasionally tedious, remains a lovable album its flaws deepen its charms. If she could survive, hey, there was hope for the rest of us.

She may have lied when titling its follow-up No More Drama (2001), but, oh, what drama-after 9-11, BligeвЂ™s dismissing hateration and holleration on вЂњFamily AffairвЂќ worked like aspirin. Mary (1999) perfects My LifeвЂ™s old-is-new ethos, with Lauryn Hill, Aretha Franklin, and Elton John as collaborators and inspiration. Energized, Blige recorded two of her best albums back-to-back. Ghostface Killah called her up for вЂњ All That I Got Is You,вЂќ a grim remembrance of things past. She then scored her biggest solo pop hit to date, the Babyface-composed вЂњNot GonвЂ™ CryвЂќ from the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack while no different from other performances of survivor-hood, the specificity of the songwriting suggested BligeвЂ™s capabilities when paired with the right collaborator. On the remix of вЂњ YouвЂ™re All I Need to Get By,вЂќ she plays Tammi Terrell to Method ManвЂ™s Marvin Gaye.

#YOUTUBE MARY J BLIGE MY LIFE ALBUM PLUS#

On the plus side, Combs hadnвЂ™t yet turned sampling into the mechanical Puff-ery of the late-вЂ™90 No Way Out era he lets Blige tiptoe over the vocal melody of вЂњYou Bring Me JoyвЂќ without the rhythm track from WhiteвЂ™s вЂњItвЂ™s Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to MeвЂќ overcoming her.ДЄfter My Life strengthened her commercial appeal, Blige embraced traditional feminine roles on duets. To listen to вЂњIвЂ™m GoinвЂ™ DownвЂќ in sequence after the torpid вЂњI Never Wanna Live Without YouвЂќ is to wonder how a covers album of classic-R&B deep cuts recast as manifestos of self-reliance mightвЂ™ve played. Blige isnвЂ™t tacky sheвЂ™s incapable of bad taste, which sometimes cuts into her sense of fun. Indeed, she has less in common with her soul forebears than with Annie Lennox, also blessed with pipes so formidable that she sings like a lead guitar, bending and stretching notes on material that, fortunately, didnвЂ™t stint on tackiness and depended on shows of vocal derring-do. Less gifted predecessors compressed BligeвЂ™s whole career into five minutes, as Karyn White did with вЂњSuperwoman.вЂќ When Blige out-sings on tracks like вЂњDonвЂ™t Go,вЂќ her technique strands her. Tensile, brassy, and confident, her mezzo-soprano has little warmth. Belters like Blige rely on audience submission: Admire the voice, ignore the material. While pairing artists for the sake of consolidating streams is the way the business works in the 21st century, the guest spots expose My LifeвЂ™s often ho-hum songwriting. and Method ManвЂ™s вЂњThe WhatвЂќ into a transformed вЂњIвЂ™m GoinвЂ™ DownвЂќ?

And who knows how many young listeners gave rap a try after Combs and Thompson wove Notorious B.I.G. The presence of Smif-N-Wessun and LL Cool J on the second discвЂ™s remixes attest to her dialogue with hip-hop Blige had no interest in settling for Anita BakerвЂ™s market share. Hayes and White, after all, had long stopped scoring pop crossovers here was a Black woman artist modernizing them as part of glistening triple-platinum product.

The anniversary edition confirms the novelty if not radicalism of the HitmenвЂ™s approach: R&B as tradition and living history.

#YOUTUBE MARY J BLIGE MY LIFE ALBUM HOW TO#

A вЂ™90s fly girl hearkening back to Ella Fitzgerald over a Reagan-era jam, Blige had learned how to contextualize her melancholy. On the other hand, вЂњMary Jane (All Night Long)вЂќ finds her and the source material in harmony: by brightening Rick JamesвЂ™ original synth-flute line, Thompson and Combs give Blige the chance for some old school scatting over the outro. The title track interpolates the hook and ascending three-note keyboard from AyersвЂ™ 1976 вЂњEverybody Loves the Sunshine,вЂќ creating a healthy tension between BligeвЂ™s blue mood and the sampleвЂ™s shafts of light. These ancestral voices reassure but offer subtle contrasts, too. There's Isaac Hayes and Barry White, Roy Ayres and Slick Rick-history as group therapy. Sandwiched between the buoyant debut WhatвЂ™s the 411? (1992) and the austere, inevitable divadom of Share My World (1997), My Life positions Blige as heiress to an R&B fortune, thanks in large part to the sampling acumen of Bad BoyвЂ™s Hitmen team members Chucky Thompson and Sean вЂњPuffyвЂќ Combs.

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