"Mary Jane (All Night Long)" is a song by American singer-songwriter

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

. It was written by Blige,

Chucky Thompson Carl Edward "Chucky" Thompson Jr. (July 12, 1968 – August 9, 2021) was an American hip hop and R&B record producer. Biography Thompson was born in Washington, D.C., in 1968. He was a member of Bad Boy Entertainment's " Hitmen" team of in-ho ...

and

Sean "Puffy" Combs Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent direct ...

for her second studio album, ''

My Life My Life may refer to: Autobiographies * ''Mein Leben'' (Wagner) (''My Life''), by Richard Wagner, 1870 * ''My Life'' (Clinton autobiography), by Bill Clinton, 2004 * ''My Life'' (Meir autobiography), by Golda Meir, 1973 * ''My Life'' (Mosley a ...

'' (1994), while production was helmed by Combs and Thompson. The song is built around a sample of “ All Night Long” (1983) by American girl group

Mary Jane Girls The Mary Jane Girls were an American girl group formed in 1983, best known for their songs " In My House", " All Night Long", "Candy Man", and their cover version of " Walk Like a Man". They were protégées of musician Rick James and disbanded ...

and "Close the Door" (1978) by American singer

Teddy Pendergrass Theodore DeReese Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter. He was born in Kingstree, South Carolina. Pendergrass spent most of his life in the Philadelphia area, and initially rose to musi ...

. Due to the inclusion of the sample,

Rick James James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in ...

is also credited as songwriter. Released as the album's third single, "Mary Jane (All Night Long)" peaked at number 37 on the US

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (previously known as Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay) is a chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the top R&B and hip hop songs in the United States, based on audience impressions from a panel of radio stations monitored ...

chart and became a top twenty single on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, where it reached number 17. The official remix for "Mary Jane (All Night Long)" features rapper LL Cool J. The remix version was later included on Blige's compilation ''HERStory, Vol. 1'' (2019) and ''My Life — 25th Anniversary Edition'' (2020). A music video for the song was never made.

Critical reception

Larry Flick from '' Billboard'' complimented the song as "another pearl" from the queen of

hip-hop soul Hip hop soul is a subgenre of contemporary R&B music, most popular during the early and mid 1990s, which fuses R&B or soul singing with hip hop musical production. The subgenre had evolved from a previous R&B subgenre, new jack swing, which ha ...

's "current masterpiece", ''

''. He remarked that "this sexy homage to the Mary Janes Girls' evergreen " All Night Long" demands immediate turntable attention. ..If there is a realistic candidate to be the

Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, actress and businesswoman. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys K ...

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...

for our generation, Blige is it. No voice is as brutally honest or evocative." Chuck Campbell from '' Knoxville News Sentinel'' noted the "controlled vocals and less-is-more music" of "Mary Jane (All Night Long)". A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' gave the song five out of five, calling it an "sassy reworking", writing, "With Sean 'Puffy' Combs and Bottom Dollar on remix duty, this is one classy track." James Hamilton from the '' RM'' Dance Update deemed it an "excellent slower but similar remake". Jonathan Bernstein from '' Spin'' noted that Blige "kickstarts" the record with the "thumping lilt" of the Mary Jane Girls song, "presented as her own composition."

Track listings

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the ''My Life'' liner notes. *Mary J. Blige – vocals *Rich Travali - recording engineer *

Tony Maserati Tony Maserati is an American record producer and audio engineer specializing in mixing. He was involved in the development of the New York R&B and hip-hop scene in the 1990s, working with Mary J. Blige, Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy, and Queen ...

- audio mixing *

– additional instruments

Charts

References

1995 singles Mary J. Blige songs Songs written by Rick James Songs written by Sean Combs Songs written by Leon Huff Songs written by Kenny Gamble 1994 songs Uptown Records singles Songs written by Chucky Thompson Songs written by Mary J. Blige {{1990s-R&B-song-stub