There is definitely something about Mary, I mean Mary J. Blige. She’s sings from the heart and wears her feelings on her sleeve and because of all that raw honesty she has developed an unparalleled fan base, that is almost cult-like, especially in New York. At her sold out performance at Radio City Music Hall last night, the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul didn’t even have to sing a few songs at all because it seemed like the entire audience knew all the words by heart. This is the closest thing I’ve seen to a call and response exchange in a secular venue. That’s why Mary’s shows are not for the casual fan, if you don’t know Mary and her music you’ll probably feel out of place. And plan on standing, as we did, for at least 80% of the show.But there is something different about Mary these days too. She’s grown into a singer who doesn’t need to muddy the waters with lots of backup dancers. And her backup band included both a strings and horn section in addition to the traditional guitar, bass, keyboard and percussions. And her staging has gotten both sophisticated (superb use of video elements) and more dramatic (with smoke and pyrotechnics) to correspond with her confident and content place in life. She proves without a doubt that there is no reason to miss the Old Mary because you can see that she’s still there, only better.
In fact, the singer has been inspired to reach back to help other sisters. She has partnered with Steve Stoute to create FFAWN (www.ffawn.org) with is the Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now. Yes, she wants everyone to reach their full potential and will be funding scholarships, grants and programs that foster self-esteem, career development and personal growth.
But it is in performance that you can really see that she is in a great place. That’s why Mary can aptly weave in and out of her repertoire from all stages of her career and have fun while doing it. She included joints from What’s the 411?, My Life, Share My World, as well as more recent work from The Breakthrough and Growing Pains. But since she can’t sing every single song you’re still left wanting more. (But you may be hoarse because you’ve been singing all night too.)
Because her music strikes a chord, Mary has a way of bring a disparate group of sisters (and brothers) together for one common interest. And for those 90 minutes, you forget about what you do and what you have or don’t have and can enjoy being a black woman. (Although now all kinds of folks are passionate about her too). I guess even the celebrities feel the same way too because Keyshia Cole, LL Cool and even Jeff Redd (who is responsible for getting her to Uptown Records) were there too. But nobody was sweating who was in the audience, all eyes were on the stage because Mary J Blige was, without a doubt, the woman of the hour.
Here, check out some vintage Mary:
And something more current:
