What’s Good Y'all You know when we talk about the longevity of certain peoples careers within the industry, too often I do feel like Mary J. Blige is left out of that conversation. I’m not saying we do not give MJB her flowers, however, I truly didn’t realize how many generations she has touched let alone how many albums she has released; atleast, not until I listened to her latest release, ‘Gratitude’. Since 1992 Mary J. Blige has been giving us hits. It’s funny because when I think of Mary J. Blige, I instantly think of my childhood, those weekends when my mom would throw on the latest MJB album to clean or cook. There has always been something about Mary, not only did she seem like your regular around the way girl, but it always seemed like she knew exactly what you were going through and how you felt. From ‘Real Love’ to ‘Not Gon’ Cry’, ‘No More Drama’ and ‘Be Without You’, for every era of Mary, there is a song that just captivates.
That’s why this album was a little disappointing for me. I will admit, I only listened to it one time, very unlike me, so I don’t want this moment to determine whether or not you should listen to the album. This is MJB’s 15th studio album, her last release being in 2022 with ‘Good Morning Gorgeous’. You know, this is a random fact that I have about MJB that's not really a fact lol MJB will always kick out an album every few years however, she will make one really amazing album you love and then the next album not so much lol And it's been that way since the release of her Mary album in 1999. While I really love that album, it's not necessarily one of her most popular albums and that's how I feel about Gratitude. I loved Good Morning Gorgeous, Gratitude, not so much. Now I didn’t love the album but I did like two songs, ‘You Ain’t The Only One’ is a great bop, it gives me old school vibes along with great, relatable, uplifting lyrics. And ‘I Got Plans’ feat. A$AP Ferg. Upon first hearing ‘I Got Plans’ I had to do a double take because I was like ‘I know this ain’t Mary’ lol it's a vibe. What I will say I love about this album is Mary honing in on her title of Queen of Hip-Hop and R&B because this album has a great list of Hip-Hop features from Fabolous to Fat Joe and Jadakiss are also featured.
I am definitely going to run this album back a few times and then I’ll keep ya’ll posted if t grew on me lol in the meantime please check it out for yourself, links below:
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