In 1992, Mary J. Blige dropped her debut album, What’s The 411? It became an instant classic as the first R&B joint to be laced with a hardcore Hip Hop influence. Two years later, she returned with My Life, an album that many consider to be even better than her first. That was in 1994. Since then, Mary has battled substance abuse, endured a falling out with her mentor, Sean “Puffy” Combs and saw a dramatic fall-off in the quality of her subsequent work.
With great fanfare, Mary and Puff have hooked up again for Blige’s latest, Love & Life. Diddy was the primary producer behind many of her early hits and, to his credit, Puff manages to oversee a mostly solid collection of beats. Unfortunately, Sean Combs raises the bar a little too high on the opening track in which he promises that Mary will “take it back to the gutter”.
None of the grit and grime that made Mary’s first two albums such a break from the norm of standard R&B is present here. That’s not to say that she still doesn’t have those electric vocals, though. Cuts like When We and Friends give her a chance to show off her naturally deep and soulful range that frauds like Ashanti only wish they had.
It’s just that on far too many tracks, Mary ain’t bringin’ anything new to the table. All My Love and It’s A Wrap are just two examples that cross the line from heartfelt to hokum. Ooh features a terrific drums/horns backdrop, but all Mary can use it for is to tell us, once again, that her man is her everything. I mean, is this the “Queen of Hip Hop Soul” or a Brandy album?
Rap fans will surely be disappointed, too. While Eve comes correct with a nice little verse for Not Today and Jay-Z slips in the never-gets-old Donkey Kong reference into the title track, it’s the two highest profile appearances that come up short. Method Man proves you can’t go home again on Love at First Sight, as he and Mary display none of the chemistry that made You’re All I Need one of the greatest rap/R&B duets of all time. Even worse, but much less surprising, 50 Cent just mails it in on Let Me Be The 1, which is rumored to be the next single.
There are a few tracks where that old Mary style appears to want to come through. Willing & Waiting has a ’70s texture that provides a strong foundation for the creaky lyrics. Special Part of Me is probably the only time Mary purrs with the steaminess and sensuality that made her into one of Hip Hop’s preeminent sex symbols. Finally, the album does close on a high note (no pun intended) as the sparse strings and substantial vocals of Ultimate Relationship prove that Mary’s still got it…occasionally.
