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My Life (Mary J. Blige album)

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Untitled
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Robert Christgau(3-star Honorable Mention)(3-star Honorable Mention)(3-star Honorable Mention)[2]
Entertainment Weekly(B)[3]
NME(7/10)[4]
Rolling Stone(favorable)[5]
Spin(mixed)[6]
The Washington Post(favorable)[7]

My Life is the second studio album from American R&B singer-songwriter Mary J. Blige, Released by Uptown/MCA Records on November 28, 1994. Recording sessions for the album began in fall of 1993 and ended almost one year later. 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. Similar to her debut album What's the 411?, My Life features vast production from Sean Combs, who provided a hip hop soul sound.

Considered to be her breakthrough album, My Life became Mary J. Blige's second album to reach the top ten of the Billboard 200 charts, peaking at number seven, and debuting at number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for eight weeks. The album was nominated for Best R&B Album at the 38th Grammy Awards, while in December of the same year, the album was certified 3x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, for excess in sales of over three million copies.[8] and won the Billboard Music Award for Best R&B Album.

Though receiving mostly mixed to favorable reviews upon its release, the album's reception among music critics and writers has improved over time, with some regarding it as one of the greatest albums of all time. In 2002, Blender ranked My Life number 57 on their 100 greatest American albums of all time list,[9] in 2003, the album was ranked number 279 on Rolling Stone magazine's the 500 greatest albums of all time,[10] and in 2006, it was included in Time's 100 greatest albums of all time list.[11]

The sequel to the album, My Life II... The Journey Continues (Act 1), was released on November 21, 2011.

Overview

Many of the songs on My Life deals with Blige's personal life, including her relationship with then-boyfriend K-Ci Hailey of Jodeci. Since its release, the album has been regarded as Blige's magnum opus.

Following the success of her debut album, What's the 411?, and a remixed version in 1993, Blige went into the recording studio in the fall of 1993 to record her second album, My Life. The album was a breakthrough for Blige, who at this point was in a clinical depression, battling both drugs and alcohol, as well as being in an abusive relationship with K-Ci Hailey, which was reported in several tabloids. In this period, Blige would once again dominate the charts with her singles: the Top 40 hit "Be Happy", a cover version of Rose Royce's 1977 hit "I'm Goin' Down", and "Mary Jane (All Night Long)", an elucidation of the Mary Jane Girls' "All Night Long", Rick James's "Mary Jane", and Teddy Pendergrass's hit "Close the Door". The album uses primary soul samples from R&B musicians such as Curtis Mayfield, Roy Ayers, Al Green, Teddy Pendergrass, Marvin Gaye, Barry White, Rick James, and his protégés, the Mary Jane Girls.

Other memorable songs include a cover version of Aretha Franklin's hit single "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", "You Bring Me Joy" (which samples "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me" by Barry White) and "My Life," alongside an official remix version of the song "Be With You", which features Lauryn Hill rapping on the introduction and closing verses. (In 1998, Lauryn Hill would duet with Blige on the hip hop soul ballad "I Used to Love Him" on Hill's album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.)

She has announced that her sequel to the album, My Life II... The Journey Continues (Act 1), was released on November 21, 2011 under Blige's label, Matriarch Records and Geffen Records.

Chart performance

In its first week sales, My Life debuted at number seven on the US Billboard 200 and debuted on the top spot of the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for eight unprecedented eight weeks. It ultimately spent 46 weeks on the Billboard 200 and 84 weeks on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The album also charted in Canada peaking at number thirty-seven, and at number fifty-nine on the UK Albums Chart.[12] On December 13, 1995, My Life was certified 3x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipments over three million copies.[13]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Intro"Mary J. Blige, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Chucky ThompsonChucky Thompson, Sean "Puffy" Combs1:04
2."Mary Jane (All Night Long)"Blige, Combs, Rick James, ThompsonChucky Thompson, Sean "Puffy" Combs4:39
3."You Bring Me Joy"Blige, Combs, Joel "JoJo" Hailey, ThompsonChucky Thompson, Sean "Puffy" Combs4:13
4."Marvin Interlude"Blige, Combs, ThompsonChucky Thompson, Sean "Puffy" Combs0:36
5."I'm The Only Woman"Blige, Combs, ThompsonChucky Thompson, Sean "Puffy" Combs4:30
6."K. Murray Interlude"Keith Murray, Combs, Nasheim Myrick, ThompsonNashiem Myrick, Chucky Thompson0:22
7."My Life"Blige, Combs, Arlene DelValle, ThompsonChucky Thompson, Sean "Puffy" Combs4:17
8."You Gotta Believe"Blige, Big Bub, Combs, Faith Evans, Cedric "K-Ci" Hailey, ThompsonHerb Middleton, Chucky Thompson, Sean "Puffy" Combs5:02
9."I Never Wanna Live Without You"Blige, Big Bub, Combs, Evans, ThompsonHerb Middleton, Chucky Thompson, Sean "Puffy" Combs6:17
10."I'm Goin' Down"Norman WhitfieldChucky Thompson, Sean "Puffy" Combs3:42
11."My Life Interlude"Blige, Big Bub, Combs, ThompsonChucky Thompson, Sean "Puffy" Combs1:15
12."Be With You"Blige, Combs, ThompsonChucky Thompson, Sean "Puffy" Combs4:26
13."Mary's Joint"Blige, Combs, ThompsonChucky Thompson, Sean "Puffy" Combs5:02
14."Don't Go"Blige, Combs, Evans, ThompsonChucky Thompson, Sean "Puffy" Combs4:59
15."I Love You"Blige, Combs, ThompsonChucky Thompson, Sean "Puffy" Combs4:31
16."No One Else"Dalvin DeGrate, C. HaileyMr. Dalvin4:14
17."Be Happy"Blige, Combs, DelValle, J.C. OlivierSean "Puffy" Combs, Poke5:49
International bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)ProducerLength
18."(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"Gerry Goffin, Carole King, Jerry WexlerJames Mtume2:56

Sample credits

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1994) Peak
position
Canadian Albums Chart 37
UK Albums Chart[14] 59
US Billboard 200[15] 7
US Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[16] 1

Accolades

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Blender United States The 100 Greatest American Albums of All time 2002 57
Entertainment Weekly The 100 Best Albums from 1983 to 2008 2008 70
Rolling Stone 50 Essential Female Albums 2002 17
Rolling Stone The 100 Greatest Albums of the 90s 2010 63
Rolling Stone The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time 2003 279
Rolling Stone The Essential Recordings of the 90s 1999 *
Time Top 100 Albums of All Time 2006 *
Vibe 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century 1999 *
Vibe 150 Albums That Define the Vibe Era (1992–2007) 2007 *
The Rough Guide Soul: 100 Essential CDs 2000 *
The New Nation United Kingdom Top 100 Albums by Black Artists 38
FNAC [disambiguation needed] France The 1000 Best Albums of All Time 2008 862

See also

References

  1. ^ Swihart, Stanton. Review: My Life. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-03-13.
  2. ^ Christgau, Robert. Consumer Guide: My Life. The Village Voice. Retrieved on 2010-03-13.
  3. ^ Hopkins, Tracy. Review: My Life. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2010-03-13.
  4. ^ Columnist. Review: My Life. NME: 34. January 7, 1995.
  5. ^ Hoard, Christian. Review: My Life. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2010-03-13.
  6. ^ Bernstein, Jonathan. Review: My Life. Spin. Retrieved on 2010-03-13.
  7. ^ Columnist. Review: My Life. Washington Post: G12. November 27, 1994.
  8. ^ United States Certifications My Life. riaa.com. Retrieved on 2010-03-13.
  9. ^ Columnist. My Life Accolades. acclaimedmusic.net. Retrieved on 2010-03-13.
  10. ^ Columnist. The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2010-03-13.
  11. ^ Columnist. Time's All-TIME 100 Albums. Time. Retrieved on 2010-03-13.
  12. ^ [1]
  13. ^ [2]
  14. ^ [3]
  15. ^ [4]
  16. ^ "What's the 411? (1992)". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
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