What do you think of her?

Is that her middle name, Jane?

I completely loved her first 5 albums. And normally I would run out and snatch up anything she puts out. But with her last album I held out. Single after single, I just wasn't impressed. Seems her relationship with Puff is best left in the past.

she's terrible!!!!!

Her name is Mary J Blige and I love her. I loved her first 4 albums, but she lost me with her last 2.

Brilliance marred by the reunion with P.Diddy that resulted in Love & Life. MAJOR points deducted for duetting with 50 Cent. Though she's still my girl, I think my allegiance could shift if Fantasia releases a record with great songs.

I'm sorry folks... I think MJB is one of the worst and over rated singers around... She sings so off-key and misses so many notes, that I find her painful to listen to.

WhamBamGlamSlam said:

That seems to be the word on the street. I think whoever kept clamoring for the reunion with P. Diddy did not expect this. I thought that first single was terrible. Notice she hasn't followed it up that quickly. I really like her but again, one of those aritsts I've never bought a CD from. I think I should start with "My Life"? I'm shocked she hasn't released a greatest hits yet. She's had a lot of singles out, many of them hits.

VinnyM27 said:

That's what I'd recommend. That's (just barely) my fave of hers. I also really like "The Tour" cd. She sounds terriffic and it's a good way to get a sampling of material from multiple albums.

I'm with Gangsta, I loved all of her albums untill the last. She really missed a step there.

Xavier23 said:

WhamBamGlamSlam said:

I wouldn't go THAT far. But I must admit, after seeing Fantasia on Idol last week, I was impressed. She definately had the uber-powerful-emotive quality that made me love Mary. I actually mentioned that she reminded me of Mary to a few people who thought I was insane. I'm glad I'm not the only one hearing this.

Her singing can be painful sometimes. She needs training, I think, to fully harness her voice. Until then we'll continue to hear unnecessary melisma, missed notes, and scratchy wails.

VoicesCarry said:

She isn't like that on record. And she wasn't like that when I saw her live. I think something just doesn't translate well to TV for her.

I don't care what anybody else says - I like that Mary J.'s voice isn't perfect. She sings from her soul, and that comes through on every record she's made and every note she's ever recorded. She quickly went from becoming a potential studio-made, producer-driven act on her first album to taking full control on her second. It was a risky move, but she pulled it off. That second album, My Life is one of my faves of hers.

I think creatively, Mary and No More Drama were the high points of her career thus far. Her last album wasn't her best (there was too much club floor filler), but it was still a good album. In my opinion, she's not yet released a bad album. She's one of the few artists I've followed since the start of her career. She takes her career seriously and always strives to improve her form.

Xavier23 said:

You won't get no argument from Legs hear. Whew. Her singing gets on my nerves.

she's great ( or was)

-what's the 411?
-my life
-share my world

are all r&b classic albums

even "mary" has a few good songs

dunno what happened to her after "family affair". But i still have faith she'll do something good soon!!!!

Im not fond of her personality

BUT

She is talented as hell
She is sexy as hell

and that's all that matters

sdekm1 said:

Hotlegs said:

Interesting. You praise Axl Rose's vocals in one thread, and declare MJB to be one of the worst ever in another.

My Life is her masterpiece!!!

RipHer2Shreds said:

What ^ said!
That's called "character" in the voice. And, live, she's amazing.

Yes, it is Jane....thank you.

Yeah, her attitude is awful & her looks aren't too easy on the eyes, but thats okay...right? "Share My World" is my favorite Blige album followed by the "Mary" album. "No More Drama" & "Love & Life" were piles of nasty shit. I hope she gets it together with this new record. Here is some more info:



Mary J. Blige's Producers Spill The 411 On Her Next LP
04.07.2005 5:49 PM EDT

Cool & Dre, Dre & Vidal working on club songs, relationship numbers.
Santana, Jay-Z, Ja Rule and even Cassidy are all hailing the queen.

As Mary J. Blige continues to work on her new LP, she's keeping a high profile with guest appearances and a freestyle. She's on the remix of Cassidy's "I'm a Hustla" that came out last week, and a previously unreleased Mary and Ja Rule duet called "Streets Done Raised Me" has surfaced on radio and mixtapes.

"These streets done raised me, baby/ Oh, this world done changed me," she sings on the hook, while Ja laments his turmoil. Later Mary gets her own verse, singing, "I used to say a prayer for you daily/ But praying for you just ain't helping you lately/ Baby, baby, I shed my tears/ But I'm not gonna cry no more, you crazy?"

Mary has a song of her own that's just started getting spins as well. MJB took over the beat for the Game's "Hate It or Love It" and laced it with her own lyrics, recollecting her life and career. "Go 'head and envy me, I'm the soul hip-hop queen/ And I ain't going nowhere, but you already know me," she sings.

The only place it seems like Mary is going to is the studio. Her label hasn't released the title or due date for her next LP, but it's expected in stores this year. Blige just laid tracks with two high-profile production teams, Cool & Dre ("So Much More," "Hate It or Love It") and Dre & Vidal ("Caught Up," "Oh").

"We produced one and co-wrote another one with her," Cool said of the collaboration. "People always ask us who we want to work with, and I always say Mary. We finally got that chance and it was great. We was like, 'The queen wants to mess with Cool & Dre? Let's do it ASAP.' "

The pair flew out to Los Angeles and cut records with Mary in a studio that Marvin Gaye owned.

"You can feel Marvin in there, just chilling," Cool said. "It's like a regular studio, but it has a vibe. The vocal booth has all his old keyboards and amps. You can see all the sh-- he worked on. She was knocking out songs left and right. We did this record called 'People.' Her and Sean Garrett wrote the record. It's crazy. It's the 411 formula we gave her. It's about relationships with people. It's basically 'Don't be mad if the people let you down. Don't be mad if they don't come through, because they're just people at the end of the day.' It's got the crazy bridge. At the end, we had to tell her, 'Mary, you've got to throw in that la-di-da-di-da.' And that made that sh-- a classic."

Dre & Vidal also have what they think has the potential to not only be a timeless Mary joint, but the first single from her album. Their record is another song where Mary teams up with Jay-Z.

"It's an up-tempo club record with energy," Andre Harris said. "It's called 'Can't Hide From Love.' It's the jump-off record. Mary's coming back, letting the person know 'You can't hide from love. I'm chasing you. Don't hide from it.' It's hot, it's a burner."

Dre & Vidal say that while they got Mary to party, she also brought the drama, especially on one of the two ballads they crafted with her.

"She's giving you some pain, she's giving you a lot of conviction on the ballads," Vidal Davis explained. "One song she couldn't take it. The whole song, the whole session, she just cried the whole time. It was incredible how it came out. Mary still has the work ethic of a new artist. I've seen Mary cut two songs in one day. At this point in the game, normally artists who've been out for a while don't have that drive."

Dr. Dre, Kanye West, Swizz Beatz, Rodney Jerkins, the Neptunes, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and Raphael Saadiq are also said to have contributed to the 27 songs she's recorded. Mary is also on Will Smith's new album, Lost and Found, via "Tell Me Why," and she's going to pop up on Jaime Foxx's LP on a duet called "Love Changes" (see "Jamie Foxx Nabs 50 Cent, Kanye For Album Of 'Love Music'"). That song was originally performed by Kashif. Blige will also be a featured guest on Santana's next LP. She sings a song that was written by Rob Thomas and features Big Boi rapping.

— Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by Jennifer Vineyard

Source: MTV.com News

As long as she stays away from Ja Rule, I'll be happy. Does he have some dirt on her or something?

And no more Puffy. The rest of it sounds good, though. I really liked "No More Drama"...have no idea why some people don't.

MendesCity said:

The No More Drama album was just too hi-tech 4 me.
[Edited 4/9/05 12:28pm]

mancabdriver said:

Very well put!
Her 1st 2 albums I really liked. Share My World has 2 may 3 good songs. I'll admit I did like her Love & Life album...decent.

sdekm1 said:

And this is also true.
She kills me when she acts as if she's going through some major shit in her life and trys to put on her 'dramatic' performance. Refer to yourself in 3rd person, scream, sweat , sing off key, jump up and down,...yeah..your so deep. I can't think of a single performance by her that has ever been good.

Chico319 said:

Spoken like a true Madonna fanatic.

RipHer2Shreds said:

Why can't you respect other people's opinions?
First you attack Hotlegs, now Chico... geez

jayaredee said:

Get over it. I'm not "attacking" anyone.

RipHer2Shreds said:

You certainly were

jayaredee said:

No, I wasn't, and I certainly wasn't addressing you. Maybe I wasn't doing it in the way that you'd prefer, but I'm sure Chico can stick up for himself.