Mary J. Blige doesn’t have to work as hard as she does.
The Bronx native has more than three decades of experience in entertainment, which include nine Grammy Awards, 14 studio albums, dozens of acting credits, a couple of Oscar nominations, her own wine, and a boot collection with Giuseppe. The most poignant of her contributions may be the generations of women who have found healing, love and empowerment through her work. At 53, she doesn’t have to do any more. But she chooses to.
Recently, she’s been getting a lot of questions about her near future retirement plans. But just because the r-word is on her mind, it doesn’t mean she’s easing her foot off the gas just yet. Especially when she has an album coming later this year and a recently released film she’s promoting.
Her latest film, Rob Peace, premiered in US cinemas on 16 August. Directed by and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, the film is based on the true story of Rob Peace (Jay Will), a young Black man from Newark who tries to reconcile his path to creating a new, better future for himself with his determination to not leave his community behind. At the centre of that work is helping his father (Ejiofor), who’s serving a life sentence, get his murder conviction overturned.
Blige said was “blown away” when she read the script. And the fact that it hit close to home in New Jersey resonated. She portrays Jackie, Rob’s mother who advises him to stay focused on creating a better life for himself. She drew inspiration from her mother, Cora Blige, for the role.
“She was that woman living in the inner cities and in the projects wanting her children to have more and more than anything in the world, and wanting us to succeed. And being just a single parent mom trying to do that, the deadbeat dad and my mom went through the whole thing.”
She said Rob’s story itself, though tragic, was a remarkable testament to defying the odds.
Blige is no stranger to overcoming obstacles herself. Since dropping her multi-platinum debut album What’s The 411 in 1992, she’s used her life’s trials and triumphs to tell her story through music. From bops like Just Fine and Family Affair to heart wrenching songs like No More Drama and Not Gon’ Cry, Blige is more than familiar with the Billboard charts. And she’s continuing her legacy as the queen of hip-hop soul with her forthcoming — and possibly her last — studio album.
Earlier this month, she dropped the first single from the album, Breathing. The song, which features rapper Fabolous, is an ode to putting self-love first.
“I can stop holding my breath now and exhale,” she said of the single. “It’s about the celebration of what true love really is. And what true love really is for me, is the love that I found for myself.”
She put in work to get here. Not just professionally, but personally. Recovery from addiction, abuse, heartbreak and depression are all a part of the authenticity of her story. Healing from that through music is what has made Blige a multigenerational talent. And though many may look at her music as a representation of their own struggles, that weight was hers to bear.
Her sophomore album, My Life, turns 30 this November. It’s a huge marker in her journey that Blige reflects on to this day. She called it “one of the most important albums” in her catalogue.
“I was in a state of mind where I didn’t wanna live. I was on drugs. I was going through hell. I was in abusive relationship after abusive relationship. I just completely hated myself,” she said.
“There was something that happened where I had to choose life during that time as much as I wanted to kill myself, and I didn’t wanna take 400 people with me because the Mary J. Blige fan base was die hard.”
Blige said understanding what she meant to others was a turning point that My Life represents. The album sold more than three million copies and won Album of the Year at the Billboard Music Awards in 1995.
“It wasn’t all great, it wasn’t all beautiful after that, but it was a struggle choosing life,” she said. “It was just as hard choosing life as it was choosing death. But choosing life, at least I knew I was gonna be here.”
The levity she moves with today is a notable difference. She credits therapy and sermons from TD Jakes for a big shift.
“I used to watch [his sermons] in the morning, and he said, ‘What you believe about you and say about yourself is more effective than what anyone else could say about you,’” she recalled. “That’s what started it for me. And my therapist, now, she’s saying the same thing, you have to believe the best of you. You have to believe the best of you.”
She’s taking that approach with her new album, too. It surprises her a bit as she discusses how she’s approached it in comparison to other projects.
“Each time [I’m recording an album] I’ll be like, ‘gosh, I really don’t know how to do this,’” she said of her process, explaining that her confidence in the music grows as she works on it more. But she has suspended doubt with her forthcoming album. “It’s great. The next single that’s coming after this is pretty damn incredible. I don’t even speak like that, but I have to. I’m speaking like that now.”
Love, self-acceptance and romance take center stage as themes for her next project.
“Just being able to finally be free and express I love someone and I love myself and the healthiness in that,” she said. “And it’s fun. I have a song called ‘Superpower’ where I’m like, I deserve all the flowers because of this superwoman that I am..”
In addition to Fabolous, the album has features from Jadakiss and a few others Blige is keeping tight to the chest for now.
Though retirement may be on the horizon for Blige, she’s not leaving the game anytime too soon. She has a few projects she’s still working on — and a new boot collection coming soon. And she’s rooting for the new class of R&B artists (Victoria Monét, Lucky Daye, Her, Muni Long and Coco Jones, to name a few). The biggest thing on her bucket list is getting her Oscar.
Even approaching her golden era, Blige shines, knowing her life is still hers to dictate. And she’s proud of every step she’s taken to get here.
“[I was] this little girl from the projects, not even thinking something like this could happen. It happened. Andre Harrell, the CEO of Uptown Records, coming to my house and hearing me sing. It happened,” she said with pride.
“What’s The 411 and Real Love and all those songs doing incredibly well. It happened. All this stuff happened. And so my entire career is the thing that stands out for me, every single thing that has happened.”
