Few have had more staying power in the R&B world than Mary J. Blige. Her hybrid of soul-baring R&B and party-starting hip hop have managed to last throughout the years and beyond the trends. So why has her latest effort,”Stronger With Each Tear,” barely made a peep in an area that she’s pretty much dominated since 1992?
Maybe misery does indeed love company. Fans have related to her music because clearly she knows of what she sings. For years, observers have watched Blige as she struggled to gain personal happiness outside of music. Her bouts with domestic violence and substance abuse are almost as well known as some of her greatest hits. In more recent years, she’s kicked her bad habits and found solace in her marriage. You’d think fans would be happy for her. Of course some are, but there are also many who simply can’t relate to “happy” Mary. They wish that "sad" Mary would just come back and give a voice to their pains and woes, even if it comes at a detriment to her personal life.
Another problem could be that Mary isn't mixing in enough street with her sweet. Up until her debut, most R&B singers didn’t really kick it with rappers. The worlds were decidedly separated. Then In comes Mary, putting the Notorious B.I.G. on the remix to her first single, “Real Love.” She was the quintessential round the way girl. She pushed aside ball gowns for jerseys and sung about the sometimes harsh reality of love and its aftermath. Even in later years when the rapper/singer combination was more common, it seemed authentic when Mary did it. And she collaborated with all the best including Biggie, Jay-Z, Method Man and Nas to create songs that are still considered to be classics. Her most recent attempts at recapturing this magic just sound forced, like her collaboration with Drake on “The One.” Maybe it was the auto-tune.
As Mary ages, her music has begun to lean more and more adult contemporary. This isn't a horrible thing, after all she's collaborated with the likes of U2 and Elton John. But it's important that Mary remember her strengths. Most of the singles from her past three albums have been mid-tempo or upbeat R&B/pop hybrids. Songs like the “Just Fine” remix featuring Lil Wayne and a sample from Chubb Rock’s “Treat Em Right,” is where she shines. Experimenting and effortlessly toying with the past and the present, polished and unpolished. It feels like she brought some of that old thing back on that track.
Hopefully Stronger With Each Tear's so-so performance doesn’t signal a permanent decline in Blige's career. Right now, with Keyshia Cole on hiatus, there are few singers prepared to fill the gap that she would leave, except for maybe Jazmine Sullivan, who's still cutting her teeth. Here’s hoping Miss Mary call redial 411 and find her way back to the forefront as the Queen of Hip Hop/Soul.
