What's the 411? is the debut album by American R&B singer Mary J. Blige. It was released on July 28, 1992, by Uptown Records and MCA Records. After signing a record contract with Uptown, Blige began working on the album with producer Sean "Puffy" Combs. Other producers and songwriters included DeVante Swing, Tony Dofat, Dave Hall, Mark Morales and Mark "Cory" Rooney. The resulting music covered hip hop soul, contemporary R&B, and new jack swing styles.
Uptown Records is an American record label, based in New York City, founded in 1986 by onetime rapper Andre Harrell. From the late 1980s into the early 1990s, it was a leader in R&B and hip hop.
"Family Affair" is a song by American singer Mary J. Blige. It was written by Blige, her brother Bruce Miller, Camara Kambon, Michael Elizondo, and producer Dr. Dre for her fifth studio album, No More Drama (2001).
"Dance for Me" is a song by American singer Mary J. Blige featuring American rapper Ahkim Miller from Blige's fifth studio album, No More Drama (2001). Produced by Dame Grease, the track was written by the artists alongside Bruce Miller with an additional writing credit going to Sting for the sampling of the 1979 song "The Bed's Too Big Without You" by English rock band the Police. For the No More Drama 2002 re-release, the version featuring Ahkim Miller was replaced with the more widely-known version featuring Common. The subsequent single release was the version with Common.
"No More Drama" is a song by American recording artist Mary J. Blige, taken from her fifth studio album of the same name (2001). It was released as the album's second single in the United States on October 30, 2001, and as the third single in certain European markets, where "Dance for Me" served as the second single instead. The Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis-produced track became another hit for Blige, peaking at number 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number nine in the United Kingdom.
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.
"I Love You" is a 1995 single by American singer-songwriter Mary J. Blige, taken from her second album My Life.
"Real Love" is a song by American singer Mary J. Blige from her debut studio album, What's the 411? (1992). Based on real life experiences, it was written and produced by Cory Rooney and Mark Morales, and samples Audio Two's 1987 song "Top Billin'". The song was issued as the album's second single on July 28, 1992 by Uptown and MCA. It became Blige's first top-10 hit, peaking at number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100. It also topped the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Rhythmic charts and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on November 4, 1992. Marcus Raboy directed the song's music video. Rolling Stone included "Real Love" in their list of "500 Best Songs of All Time" in 2021 at number 327.
"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.
My Life is the second album by American R&B recording artist Mary J. Blige, released on November 29, 1994, by Uptown Records and MCA Records. Many of the topics on My Life deal with clinical depression, Blige's battling with both drugs and alcohol, as well as being in an abusive relationship. Unlike her debut, What's the 411? (1992), Blige contributed lyrics to fourteen of the album's tracks, making it her most introspective and personal album at the time. Similar to her debut album, My Life features extensive production from Sean "Puffy" Combs for his newly founded label, Bad Boy Entertainment, which was at the time backed by Arista Records.
"Girlfriend" is a song by American singer Pebbles from her 1987 self-titled debut studio album. Written and produced by L.A. Reid and Babyface, "Girlfriend" was released as the album's lead single on October 26, 1987, by record label MCA. The song charted in several countries, peaking at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 and reaching the top 10 in Ireland and the United Kingdom.
"As" is a song written and performed by American singer and musician Stevie Wonder from his eighteenth album, Songs in the Key of Life (1976). The song was released in October 1977 by Tamla and reached number 36 on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and Black Singles chart. It gets its name from the first word of its lyrics.
"You Don't Have to Worry" is a song by American R&B singer Mary J. Blige. It was written by Kenny Greene and Edward "DJ Eddie F" Ferrell for the soundtrack of the film Who's the Man? (1993), while production was helmed by Ferrell, with co-production from Kenny "K-Smoove" Kornegay and Darin "Piano Man" Whittington. It contains a sample of "Papa Don't Take No Mess" by James Brown. Released as a single, it charted on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 63, while reaching number 11 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. A remix version featuring rapper Craig Mack was produced by Sean "Puffy" Combs and Tony Dofat and later included on Blige's remix album, What's the 411? Remix (1993).
"Everything" is a song by American singer Mary J. Blige. It was written and produced by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis for Blige's third album, Share My World (1997). The song contains samples from "You Are Everything" (1971) by American soul group The Stylistics and "The Payback" (1973) by American singer James Brown, also incorporating elements from "Sukiyaki" (1961) by Japanese singer Kyu Sakamoto. Due to the inclusion of the samples, Brown, Hachidai Nakamura, Rokusuke Ei, Linda Creed, Thom Bell, John Starks, and Fred Wesley are also credited as songwriters.
"Be Happy" is a song by American singer Mary J. Blige. It was written by Blige, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Arlene DeValle, and Jean-Claude Olivier from duo Poke & Tone for her second studio album, My Life (1994), while production was helmed by Combs and Olivier. "Be Happy" contains an instrumental sample of the song "You're So Good to Me" (1979) by musician Curtis Mayfield and a re-sung vocal portion of the record "I Want You" (1976) by Marvin Gaye.
"I'm Going Down" is a song written and produced by Norman Whitfield, and performed by American soul and R&B group Rose Royce in 1976. It is from the film Car Wash and is featured on its soundtrack. In 1994, it was covered by American singer Mary J. Blige.
"Love No Limit" is a song by American recording artist Mary J. Blige. It was co-written by Kenny Greene and Dave "Jam" Hall for her debut album, What's the 411? (1992), while production was overseen by Hall. Released as the album's fourth and final single, the song became a top five hit, reaching number-five on the US R&B singles chart, and peaked at number forty-four on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Hall has stated in interviews, that he wanted to give the song an urban, hip-hop feel to a much more jazzy sound, when it was created.
"My Love" is a song by American R&B singer Mary J. Blige from her debut album, What's the 411? (1992). The song, released by Uptown and MCA, was co-written by singer-songwriter Kenny Greene and Dave Hall, who served as the song's original producer. It peaked at number 23 on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and at number 29 on the UK Singles Chart in 1994, becoming Blige's second single to reach the top 40 in the United Kingdom.
"Reminisce" is a song by American singer Mary J. Blige from her debut album, What's the 411? (1992). It was co-written by Kenny Greene and Dave "Jam" Hall, who also produced it. Described as a new jack swing song inspired by 1970s soul music, it contains a sample of "Stop, Look, Listen" (1989) by American rapper MC Lyte. The single peaked at number fifty-seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and number six on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. A more uptempo and hip hop-inspired remix of the song, featuring duo Pete Rock & CL Smooth, later appeared on Blige's 1993 remix album of the same name.
