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Mary J. Blige
Back in 1992, Mary J. Blige burst onto the scene with her debut release, What's the 411? She brought a new sound driven by youthful emotion and personal experience. The album was an immediate success, as was her follow-up release My Life. But many of her fans did not know that this was one of the most unsettling periods in her life. She has referred to it as her period of "little identity." By the time she released Share My World and Mary, things were changing. Mary was completing a period of transformation and began to discover what truly matters -- her self.
No More Drama is her new personal creed and the title of her fifth studio album release. Staying true to form, her latest release offers a plethora of amazing producers including tracks by Dr. Dre, The Neptunes, Missy Elliott, Swizz Beats, Rockwilder, Chucky Thompson and ASCAP Board member Jimmy Jam and his partner Terry Lewis. Mary has provided her audience with not only the inspiration to hit the dance floor, but also the chance to absorb her words of confidence and motivation as in the songs "Keep It Moving" and "Dance For Me."
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Playback: What was your goal with your latest project, No More Drama? Do you feel you've met it?
Mary J. Blige: The goal with this project was to express myself from a positive place where I was never able to express myself before. It's a place of knowing that I take full responsibility for all of my actions. I'm not pointing the finger or preaching to anyone and telling anyone to put a drink down or stop partying. I'm talking to Mary, saying Mary, at the end of the day, these are the choices you made. You made those other choices before and you saw the bed that you had to lay in. And as long as I'm keeping it moving, it's like the song says -- if you're not with me, you're against me. If you're not with my decision for trying to make a positive confession for my life, then beat it.
Tell me about the inspiration behind some of the songs on the album.
"PMS" is, well, I don't even have to explain to the women and the men about that one; "Destiny" is about exactly that. Every child wonders what its destiny is. Many people think that destiny is death but death is an enemy of God, so destiny is what you want. You can have life or death and destiny is life for me; "Where I've Been" is about where I lived. You know what I'm saying, how I lived and how I would never forget it. "Flying Away" is about the love that I know that I've drawn to me because of what I am right now. And how I want to keep him. I want to keep him up. I don't want to tear him down when he doesn't have a job or you know what I'm saying; "Never been" -- never been loved, never been kissed, never been in love like this. Never thought that I even had love in me like this to even give it to other people, let alone a relationship.
It's an amazing thing once you've realized it's there, right?
Yeah and it's in you though. It starts in you and you know what "Testimony" is about.
"Testimony" seems so relevant to what we're all going through right now with everything that's going on.
I think "Testimony" and "No More Drama" pretty much sums it up. When it's your choice, we have a choice of whether we win or lose. And I choose to win. Like I said in No More Drama, I'm not kidding.
You wrote most of the material on this album. What are some of the benefits of writing your own material?
Well, a major benefit is that you definitely see a bigger royalty check at the end of the day. It is nice when other people hear what you do and want you to write songs for them, because if the right star gets a hold of you -- that's another check.
How long have you been writing?
I've been writing ever since the My Life album. I was writing before I was in the music business but just poems and stuff.
Do you have a creative process you go through when you write?
No, I just write what I'm feeling, what I'm seeing and what I'm dealing with. Writing at home is cool. The studio is cool too, with the actual music playing, so you can draw from it. I don't really need the music. I'll write without it, but once I get the music, I'm able to piece everything together and choose what atmosphere fits with what I'm saying.
Photo by Phil Knott
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Do you recognize a difference in your creative process at this point in your life then in your earlier days?
Yeah. My creative process right now is, like, anywhere and at any time I can write a song. Before it was not a confident thing. So, I couldn't write anywhere at any time. I had to have a place where I could concentrate and -- well now, it's like I'm confident in what I do and I'm confident in what I'm doing for people through my music and through my lyrics.
There is a spoken word track on this release. Are we going to see more of that in the future?
Yeah. I mean, if need be, you'll definitely see more of that.
On your past albums, you always had an amazing remake of an R&B classic. That is missing on No More Drama. Was that done on purpose?
It was. We had so many good songs. And it's like you know what, it is time for Mary J. Blige to let people see her. I didn't want to do anything that would take the attention off of Mary J. Blige. Like a remake of a song by Aretha Franklin or Chaka Khan or anybody that I love is always excellent for a Mary J. Blige album. But I didn't want to take the attention off of me this time. I wanted to keep it on me and what was going on with me. Because my fans have been so consistent in just staying with me, I wanted to give them all of me.
How do you choose the producers that you've worked with?
I've selected them either by them submitting music to me or by me always wanting to work with them. I've always wanted to work with Dr. Dre. I worked with him before on his album. And the Neptunes always had something for me. Every time I would see them, Pharrell would say he had a song or something for me.
Looking at all of your albums is almost like looking at a who's who of producers. Many of the names are producers you worked with early in their careers before they became mainstream names. Do you believe you have any "next big thing" producers on No More Drama?
Yeah, I think that Kenny Flav and Kiyamma Griffin and Ron Lawrence are three people that the industry needs to look out for. I was one of the first to come out with Kenny Flav and Kiyamma worked on the Mary album. This is my first time working with him Ron Lawrence. But yeah, those are the ones.
You often collaborate on your albums, including this one. How do you choose with whom you collaborate? Do you have a personal relationship with them first?
Well you really don't have to be friends or fake like you are friends. But what you do have to have is respect for the artists and what they do. Chemistry can come across as respect and respect carries a long, long, long way. It looks like love, because that's exactly what it is. As far as people like Aretha Franklin that I've worked with - that was a respect thing for years. My mother loves her and I loved what she did and I respected her the minute I met her. The same thing with Elton John. I like a lot of his music. A lot of people into R&B don't know what Elton John has done for music. And a lot of people in (R&B) music don't know what George Michael has done for music. But I do know and I remember and I let them know that I respect their music. We have a chemistry once that's solidified. I met with Lenny Kravitz through Roberta Cavalli, after one of the Elton John concerts. Lenny is a real person. He stands up for what he believes. He's not fake. I respect that. That's why there was chemistry when he played on the songs. And I respect everything about Eve. She is a positive role model and a positive sister in rap. When she wrote her verse, I was very impressed. I mean I knew she could write but I have even more respect for her after what she said on "Where I've Been".
On No More Drama it seems like your greatest messages on the album are self-love, happiness and positivity. How do you maintain that in your life?
It's not easy, but the bottom line is: I'm created from a higher power that's bigger than people you know what I mean? I can't do anything other than try to do the best that I can so that when this is all over for me, I go to a place that the Creator created for me just for being obedient. And it's not easy. It's not easy because for me the choice that I made is to want to be a better person because it hurts too much to be a terrible person. So this is all for me and for God.
In giving back, you have been recognized for your charitable work with AIDS education and anti-drug campaigns to name a few. Can you speak about the importance of the charity work that you do?
Well the charity work is like this: You can give money and the money will be spent. You can give shoes and clothes and stuff like that. You can give a person a house, but if you give them the information and the knowledge on how to go about working and sustaining their money or how to keep their houses, you have helped them far more than you can imagine. Because it's easy to give money, but the charity is giving the knowledge. You know what I'm saying, that's free. It's been given to me freely, so I give it freely through my music and all my albums and stuff like that. People are like why do you let people get so personal in your life? Why not? I mean, they see it when they see me and buy the records. Why would I put a bunch of stuff on there that later doesn't match up with who I am? Then I'm a fraud. So the knowledge is free and that's the charity.
You have mentioned how it was a conscious effort to eliminate negativity around you. Can you touch on how negativity can come in all different forms?
Yeah, it comes in all different forms, and it comes through you. We are so afraid to look at the man in the mirror and say gosh, I'm wrong. I'm not a nice person. I'm really disrespectful to other people and to myself. You know if you're doing things that are disrespectful to yourself and not self-worthy. When that is the case, you really can't do anything for anybody else. So what I say to the generation coming up is -- confess something positive so something positive can come back. Don't do things because you always think you're gonna get something back, but do things for positive results. Know that for so long we have been told that we don't have any control over our destiny, but we do. We have control of our destiny. We were created in the image of a God who is the head spirit of our spirits. And we need to know that we have so much power that flows through us that we can choose. We've been given a free will to live as we please. So choose what you want. You know people choose bad, people choose negative, some people choose good, some people choose positive. I chose being positive because I've been on the negative side for too long. So make your choice. That's the bottom line, you have a choice.
The future for Mary J. Blige includes touring, acting and the debut of her own label, MJB Records. Her label's roster includes artists and producers featured on No More Drama, as well as some new acts. She boasts that the talent on her label is amazing.
To many, Mary J. Blige is not only the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, but also a guiding light. Through all of her struggles, she was determined to find and maintain her own musical voice. By doing so, she has become one of the most successful R&B/hip hop writer/performers in the country, and has paved the way for many others who have followed her path. |
