the queen of hip hop soul?

how have i got this far without doing a post on mary?

mary j.blige isn't labelled the queen of hiphop soul lightly. when she arrived in 1992, the only artist that had even come close to what she did when she debuted were en vogue. they too mixed hiphop beats and soul vocals, but they did so without being street. en vogue merely used the beats - mary was the beats. she was hiphop, she just didn't choose to rap.

growing up in yonkers, she was surrounded by pioneering hiphop such as run dmc and grandmaster flash. but the sentiments of these artists didn't match the experiences of a teenage girl. mary sought solace in soul artists like anita baker who sang about realtionships and wanting someone you can't have. it was the synergy of these two cultures that would later give mary her edge.

when i first saw 'real love' on mtv in 1992, everything made sense. i liked hiphop and i liked soul but they didn't individually feel that relevant to me. i was too young to fully appreciate smooth soul productions and too far removed from the realities of hiphop lyrics. mary sang about things i could relate to as a 16 year old and added a touch of danger. it was a genre of music i had been waiting for, only i didn't know it.

many fans have stated that mary produces her best work only when she's suffering. true, her first two albums are my favourite but at the time i knew nothing about her personal demons. in fact her last studio album, 'the breakthrough' echoed those days, but she is now blissfully happy with producer kendu. i'm sure no one would really wish trainwreck kci hailey on her again...

ten lesser known mary tracks - download here

you remind me

even though this was her first single, fans who joined the mary train later in the 90s won't be so familiar. this remix captures the essence of 1992 and a summer day like nothing else.

reminisce

another hit from 'what's the 411', remixed to feature pete rock and cl smooth and grab portions of 'they reminisce over you'. see what they did there?

changes i've been going through

'what's the 411' album track that really drilled the message home - this was not soul music in the traditional sense.

you don't have to worry

411-era track from the 'who's the man?' soundtrack. this is the soundtrack version, not the remix version that was more widely available.

love no limit

so ubiquitous you would have thought it was a single. bad boy remix that still gets played out today.

be with you

duet with lauryn hill originally intended for the 'my life' album. lauryn sounds young. at the time she had just released her first fugees album with pras and wyclef.

if i don't love you this way

cover of jackson five classic from the 'my life' era. included on some international releases.

everyday it rains

from the 1995 'the show' soundtrack. sounds like it could have been from either of the the sessions for the first two albums.

get to know you better

'share my world' album track. should have been released.one of my favourites.

he think i don't know

from the 'no more drama' repackage.