 
|
|
|
Mary J. Blige: Countdown to Love & Live
Intimate video interviews with Mary behind the scenes
|
|
|
|
Mary Gets Giddy On 'Ooh!,' States The Facts While Eve Attacks On 'Not Today'
|
|
|
|
|
|
Browse Bands by Name
|
|
Or enter a band name below to search:
|
 Bands Main
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The more things change for Mary J. Blige, the more they stay the same. Since her last LP, No More Drama, dropped, she's been giving out the vapors to a whole new fanbase around the globe. People like Bette Midler, Sting, Annie Lennox and Stella McCartney have been spotted at MJB's concerts, and even Michael Jackson's wedding-aisle-walking homie, Liza Minnelli, paid homage to the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul with a rendition of "Family Affair" at some of her own concerts.
But rather than run with the whole pop-crossover scenario, Mary is returning to her roots on her latest LP, Love & Life, due August 26. She's working with P. Diddy, who produced her first two classic LPs, What's the 411? and My Life.
MTV News' John Norris caught up with Mary recently to talk about why some of her early work makes her sick, why P. Diddy cracks her up and how her soon-to-be husband helped change her life around.
John Norris: As successful as No More Drama was at broadening your fanbase, in May you told MTV News that you wanted to touch the audience that supported your first two LPs. Do you see Love & Life as a return to the streets?
Mary J. Blige: Honest to God, I believe that I never left. I mean, Mary J. Blige has evolved as a person and I am from the streets, but I am Mary. The streets respect me because I kept it real with me. You gotta be real with yourself, and the streets recognize game. The streets knew for years that Mary has not been about game — she's trying to get herself and her life together. She's not trying to please [people] with ignorance, she's trying to pull [them] out [of despair].
Norris: Because of this musical reunion with Puffy, when Love & Life comes out, a lot of people are going to be reminiscing about the days of What's the 411? and My Life. As much as people remember those records so fondly, when you think about that period, they're not the greatest memories of yourself personally.
Blige: Definitely not. I mean, it makes my stomach hurt when I hear the My Life album. Although it's one of my favorite albums, it's just so dark. I mean, there's a real bad suicide spirit on there.
Norris: Conscious suicide or subconscious?
Blige: It was straight out, "Bam! I'm ready to go." It was out there like, "I can't take this anymore. I don't know what to do." I subliminally ... started taking a lot of drugs and staying up for days and days hoping, I guess subliminally, that something bad will happen so that someone will come and pay attention to me, and come and say, "Are you OK? Why are you doing this?"
Norris: Was anyone there for you?
Blige: The only person at that time that would say something like that is Puff. He would know and I don't know how he knew. And he'll be walking in a circle around me and I'd just be like, "Ahhhhh! Could you get off my back? This is what I want to be right now." He used to just be looking at my friends like, "You can't hang with them no more." He cared.
Norris: Regardless of your personal problems, professionally you and Puffy were able to create two LPs that set trends and laid the blueprint for some of the music that's flooding the airwaves today. What is it like working together on Love & Life as opposed to 411 and My Life?
Blige: You know, it was exactly the same. I don't really like to say things unless I know they're true, and I know Puff is my partner in this music business. It's like What's the 411? again except during the process of it, there are different things we learned. Both of us are hyper and both of us learned how to tone it down. Both of us learned about the whole psychology thing.
Norris: Diddy did most of the production on the album, but you were able to get a few outsiders in, most notably Dr. Dre, who produced the record you call your biggest ever, "Family Affair." Can you contrast working with Puff versus Dre?
Blige: I really know Puff, I don't really know Dre. I think Dre is one of the nicest producers I've ever worked with. He has so much class and he's very ego-less and that makes it easy to work with Dre. He's just got a lot of good energy. Puff, you just gotta love him for being him 'cause he makes me laugh. If you don't know him, he's gonna have you all uptight.
Norris: As important as Dre and Diddy have been to your career, your fiancé, Kendu, has been indispensable in helping you get your personal life in order. What is he like?
Blige: Well, I mean, it was the physical relationship with this human being that gave me a reason to live. I mean, this person saw me and he understood that I didn't understand how important I was. He said things like, "Do you know how important you are? Why are you drinking so much?" [He] was an angel sent to spot different things that were wrong and as much as I didn't want to listen to him, I gave him a shot. It turns out that everything that was being pointed out were things that I already knew were wrong but was in denial about. The different thing [now] is [that] I love me ... it's gonna take a lifetime to get where I need to go, [but] I'll always be able to love Mary.
|
|
|
|
Photo: Geffen
|
|
|
|
|
