You know this year might have been the year that Mary J. Blige made “The Breakthrough” but I saw an old episode of her appearing on the Jamie Foxx show and she sounded HORRIBLE. At first I thought I was being harsh but the episode that she was in featured her singing as well as Ron Isley, Jamie and a gospel choir and she was consistently out sung by those around her.
It is funny to remember that for a while the best thing on Mary’s resume (and many still think it is still the best thing) was her cameo on Method Man’s “Your all that I need”. For ages she was just another R & B singer on the cusp. Supposedly talented but never letting her talent show through, then came 2005 and the transformation, new look, new body, new passion. Hard work definitely shines through and will always help you to improve no matter how good you already think you are.
I am sure getting clean of the drugs did not hurt either. Yay might be fun to say, but damn it messes up relationships and ruins careers. It is crazy to me that a drug that powerful is still thought of as an ok recreational drug by so many in the entertainment business. Mary J. in an interview spoke about yay leading her to cigarettes because after doing yay she needed something to calm her back down – but then of course the drugs and the boozing started to affect her singing.
By the way not saying that Mary had not had a successful career prior to ‘The Breakthrough’ in fact she had 6 platinum albums, but this one just sounds better and seeing the contrast between it and how she sounded on the Jamie Foxx show just struck me.
Critics bashed her after she performed in J.A. early in her career -- they said she was singin' so flat & off-key in general that they couldn't understand her popularity. ("Yay" is an unusual name -- seems like every day there's some new drug that people addicted to.)
ReplyDeleteYay is just another name for cocaine...yeh she was constantly off key back in the day
ReplyDeleteNever was a fan.Most times her live singing is poor
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