Mary Jane Blige is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and "Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Awards, twelve NAACP Image Awards, and twelve Billboard Music Awards, including the Billboard Icon Award. She has been nominated for three Golden Globe Awards and two Academy Awards, including one for her supporting role in the film Mudbound (2017) and another for its original song "Mighty River", becoming the first person nominated for acting and songwriting in the same year.
"Ooh!" is a song by American recording artist Mary J. Blige, taken from her sixth studio album, Love & Life (2003). It was written by Blige, Sean Combs, Dimitri Christo, and Mechalie Jamison, while production was helmed by Combs and Christo. The song contains excerpts from Hamilton Bohannon's 1973 track "Singing a Song for My Mother." Due to the sample, Bohannon ist also credited as a writer. "Ooh!" was released as the album's second single in 2003. It reached number 29 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
"Not Today" is a song by American R&B singer Mary J. Blige, featuring guest vocals by rapper Eve. It was written by Blige, Eve, Mike Elizondo, Theron Feemster, Bruce Miller, and Dr. Dre for Blige's sixth studio album Love & Life (2003), while production was helmed by the latter. Built upon a "plinking beat," "Not Today" emphasizes the theme of broken promises and has Blige singing about how her partner told her promises every day, but never followed through, prompting her to walk away from the relationship.
American singer Mary J. Blige began her career as a backing vocalist for Uptown Records in the early 1990s. In a career spanning more than thirty years, she has released 14 studio albums and 83 singles—including more than 20 as a featured artist. The "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" has sold an estimate of over 100 million records worldwide, and over 20 million in the United States alone. Billboard ranked Blige as the 18th Greatest Billboard 200 Woman of all time, the 45th Greatest Hot 100 Woman of all time and 88th Greatest Artist of all time.
"911" is a duet between Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean and American soul music singer Mary J. Blige. It was released on 5 September 2000 as the third single from Jean's second studio album, The Ecleftic: 2 Sides II a Book (2000), and was later included on Blige's compilation Reflections (2006). The song peaked at number 38 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and had success worldwide, particularly in Scandinavian countries, reaching number one in Norway and Sweden.
"Take Me As I Am" is a song by American singer Mary J. Blige It was written by Jordan Suecof and Thabiso Nkhereanye along with three members of the writing collective The Clutch, Ezekiel Lewis, Candice Nelson, and singer Keri Hilson, for her seventh studio album, The Breakthrough (2005). Production was helmed by Infinity and Ron Fair, with co-production from Tal Herzberg. The song samples "Garden of Peace" (1979) by American jazz musician Lonnie Liston Smith. Due to the inclusion of the sample, he is also credited as songwriter. Released as the album's fourth and final single, "Take Me As I Am" debuted on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in August 2006, reaching number three.
Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis is a Haitian music producer and musician. His first major success was as a producer for Fugees' 1996 album The Score. He also played the bass guitar with the Fugees, and group member Wyclef Jean is his cousin.
"Hurt Again" is a song by Mary J. Blige, that was intended to be the third single from her eighth studio album, Growing Pains, but was canceled in favor of "Stay Down". The song was produced by Dre & Vidal, and co-written by Dr. Dre collaborator Brian Sledge. The song was released on March 4, 2008 for airplay, but never was given an official release as it was canceled as a single.
Priscilla Renea Hamilton, known professionally as Muni Long, is an American singer and songwriter from Gifford, Florida. Under her birth name, she signed with Capitol Records to release her debut studio album Jukebox (2009), which was met with positive critical reception despite failing to chart. She then spent the following decade co-writing songs for other artists, including the hit singles "California King Bed" for Rihanna, "Worth It" for Fifth Harmony, "Love So Soft" for Kelly Clarkson, "Imagine" for Ariana Grande, "Who Says" for Selena Gomez & the Scene, and the global hit "Timber" for Pitbull.
"Someone to Love Me (Naked)" is a song recorded by American singer Mary J. Blige for her tenth studio album My Life II... The Journey Continues (Act 1) (2011). It features guest vocals by American rappers Diddy and Lil Wayne. "Someone to Love Me (Naked)" was written by Blige, Jerry Wonda and Leroy Watson, and was produced by Wonda. The song is a remix of "Someone to Love Me" from Diddy-Dirty Money's debut studio album, Last Train to Paris (2010). It samples "You Roam When You Don’t Get It At Home" performed by The Sweet Inspirations. It was released on March 29, 2011, as the first promotional single from the album.
"25/8" is a song by American R&B recording artist Mary J. Blige. It was written by Blige, Crystal Johnson, Al Sherrod Lambert, and Eric Hudson for her tenth studio album, My Life II... The Journey Continues (2011), while production was handled by Blige and the latter. An R&B and soul song, "25/8" is built on drum splashes and a fluttering flute, and samples from B. T. Express's rendition of "Now That We Found Love", written by Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff. Lyrically, it features the female protagonist expressing her need to have more than 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to spend time with her love interest.
"Mr. Wrong" is a song taken from American R&B singer Mary J. Blige's album My Life II... The Journey Continues (2011). It features rapper, Drake. The song was written by Drake, Jim Jonsin, Danny Morris, and Rico Love, while production was helmed by Jonsin and Love. The song contains a sample from "Me and Mrs. Jones" (1972) by American singer Billy Paul. Due to the inclusion of the sample, Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, and Cary Gilbert are also credited as songwriters. The song was released as the album's second official single on October 28, 2011.
"Love a Woman" is a song recorded by American R&B singer Mary J. Blige featuring Beyoncé from the former's tenth studio album My Life II... The Journey Continues (2011). It was written by Mary J. Blige, Beyoncé, Sean Garrett and Menardini Timothee while production was handled by Garrett, Team S. Dot and BridgeTown. Originally written for Beyoncé's fourth studio album 4 (2011), the singer felt that it did not fit with the sound she had created for her album, and she thought that it would be better if she recorded it as a duet with Blige instead.
"Why" is a song performed by American recording artist Mary J. Blige, from her tenth studio album, My Life II... The Journey Continues (2011). It was written by Blige along with Dave Young, Eric Hudson, and William Roberts II, with Hudson producing the song and Rick Ross having featured vocals. A soulful R&B song that makes use of hip hop soul influences and a beat-heavy, strings–led production, the song initially impacted on US radios on April 10, 2012 as the album's third single.
My Life II... The Journey Continues is the tenth studio album by American singer and songwriter Mary J. Blige, released on November 21, 2011, by Geffen Records and Matriarch Records. Titled as the sequel and serving as a thematic extension to her 1994 breakthrough album My Life, which portrayed a dark period in Blige's personal life, it talks about the themes of struggle, heartbreak, and strength while reflecting the growth and evolution she had experienced since the release of its predecessor.
Think Like a Man Too is the first soundtrack album by American singer Mary J. Blige. It serves as the soundtrack from the romantic comedy film of the same name (2014). The album was released on June 17, 2014, by Epic Records. It features guest appearances from The-Dream and Pharrell Williams, while production was handled by Rodney Jerkins, The-Dream, Tricky Stewart, Williams, Pop & Oak, Jerry Duplessis, Darhyl "Hey DJ" Camper, Mark J. Feist, and Ronald "Flippa" Colson, among others.
"Doubt" is a song by American singer Mary J. Blige. It was written by Blige and English musician Sam Romans for her twelfth studio album The London Sessions (2014), while production was helmed by Romans and record producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins. "Doubt" is a R&B ballad, with gospel influences. The song was released as the album's fourth and final single on March 9, 2015. "Doubt" peaked in the top ten on the US Adult R&B Songs.
Strength of a Woman is the thirteenth studio album by American R&B singer-songwriter Mary J. Blige. It was released on April 28, 2017, by Capitol Records. The album serves as the follow-up to her twelfth studio album The London Sessions (2014). Strength of a Woman is predominantly a R&B and hip hop soul album. Blige worked with producers and songwriters such as DJ Camper, Brandon "B.A.M." Hodge, Hit-Boy, Jazmine Sullivan, Lamb, Bigg D, Neff-U, Kaytranada, and BadBadNotGood on the album. It also features guest appearances by Kanye West, Quavo, DJ Khaled, Missy Elliott, Prince Charlez, Kaytranada, and BadBadNotGood.
Coloured is the second studio album by American singer and songwriter Priscilla Renea, released on June 22, 2018 through Thirty Tigers. The first two singles, "Gentle Hands" and "Heavenly", were released on April 6, 2018 with accompanying music videos. "Family Tree" was released on May 10, 2018 as the third official single from Coloured.
