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Mary J. Blige

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Mary J. Blige is an American singer from the Bronx in New York, born in 1971. At eighteen she signed with Uptown Records, as the label's youngest artist and first woman. She was nicknamed the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, and that name says exactly what she did: she sang soul and R&B over the beats and samples of hip hop.

Music and breakthrough

Her debut What's the 411? (1992) reached number 1 on the American R&B albums chart and went triple platinum. My Life (1994) followed, and with Share My World (1997) she topped the Billboard 200 for the first time. She later did so again with Love & Life (2003), The Breakthrough (2005) and Growing Pains (2007). The Breakthrough sold 727,000 copies in its first week, a record for a solo R&B singer. Her biggest single was Family Affair (2001), which spent six weeks at number 1 on the American Hot 100.

Influence

Blige won nine Grammys and in 2024 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She also acts in films; for Mudbound (2017) she received two Oscar nominations, for her role and for the song Mighty River. She was thereby the first person to be nominated in the same year for acting and for a song. In her music the singing tradition of soul and the sound of 1990s hip hop come together.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen in Family Affair to how the beat by the producer Dr. Dre almost stands still on a short, repeated keyboard figure. Notice how Blige takes all the space above it: she sings, shouts and encourages, as if she were leading a party.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

See also

Categories: Artists