Interview Time: Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blidge The album has two themes, love and perseverance; a real combination of love and strength when the chips are down, a very inspirational album. ‘Take Me As I Am’, is a song that perfectly describes what Mary is all about now and holds the key to the album.
This time, she’s worked with a varied crew of artists to create an essentially soulful sound from producers Rodney ‘Darkchild’ Jerkins, Cool and Dre, Raphael Saadiq formerly of Toni Toni Tone and rappers Will.i.am and of course her old partner in the rap game Jay. Z. On the Jay Z track, ‘Cant Hide From Love’, you’d be mistaken for thinking that the song had just stepped out of a 70’s night club. She uses a sample from an old Motown track, ‘I wanna be where you are’ to bring a little 70’s flavour, to an album of the new millennium. “Turn the music up, I gotta feel it in my soul” in the words of Jay Z himself. She sings her heart out with feeling. However, this is not the only track where she breaks it down; her album is a message of love and strength and is an inspiration to anyone that needs it.
A beautiful stand out track is ‘Can’t Get Enough’, a smooth, harmonised track with warm heartfelt lyrics. Mary breaks down her feelings, so much so that you can feel every emotion in her heart. It’s produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis who have enjoyed great success since the 80’s with various artists, most notably Janet Jackson.
The Breakthrough showcases the debut of Brook, who for those of you that don’t know is the mysterious alter ego of MJB. Brook is the Hip Hop to MJB’s Soul and together they make up Mary J. Blige, who has the title, Queen of Hip Hop Soul. Brook features on ‘Gonna Breakthrough’ and ‘Enough Cryin’
Near the end there’s a surprise where Mary hooks up with U2 to do ‘One Mary J. Blige’. It makes for a very interesting collaboration.
The album can be listened to from start to finish without a touch of the skip button and the lyrics jump out at you throughout.