Mary J. Blige: My Life (2LP) [HIP-O]

Why you'll love it

This 25th anniversary edition is remastered and spread across two LPs. My Life debuted at No. 1 on the R&B albums chart, stayed there eight weeks, went triple platinum and earned a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Album.

This edition

• 2LP set
• 25th anniversary edition
• Remastered

About the album

Mary J. Blige's first album made her a star; her second made her the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul. On My Life she wrote lyrics for fourteen tracks and poured her own life into them, and the result is the most personal record she had made, warm and open-hearted even at its heaviest.

Sean "Puffy" Combs steered the production again, but it was Chucky Thompson, brought in for a single song and an interlude, who ended up shaping its sound. The grooves lean on 70s soul: "Be Happy" glides over Curtis Mayfield, "Mary Jane (All Night Long)" and "You Bring Me Joy" ride warm samples, and her cover of Rose Royce's "I'm Goin' Down" is pure heartbreak. "I Love You" and "Mary's Joint" keep the mood smoky and late-night, and Keith Murray drops in on "K. Murray (Interlude)."

It won the Billboard Music Award for Top R&B Album in 1995, and in 2025 the Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry. That makes it a matter of official national record, which is more than can be said for most of our filing.

Also at Kops: more Mary J. Blige on vinyl · browse Hip Hop / R&B

Tracklist

Listen

On Uptown / MCA / UMe, a reissue of the 1994 album.