''My Life'' is the second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American R&B recording artist

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 ...

, released on November 29, 1994, by Uptown Records and MCA Records. Many of the topics on ''My Life'' deal with clinical depression, Blige's battling with both drugs and alcohol, as well as being in an abusive relationship. Unlike her debut, '' What's the 411?'' (1992), Blige contributed lyrics to fourteen of the album's tracks, making it her most introspective and personal album at the time. Similar to her debut album, ''My Life'' features extensive production from

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 directo ...

for his newly founded label, Bad Boy Entertainment, which was at the time backed by

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...

. Considered to be her breakthrough album, ''My Life'' became Mary J. Blige's second album to reach the top ten on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, peaking at number seven, and debuting at number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, where it stayed for eight weeks. In 1996, the album was nominated for Best R&B Album at the

38th Grammy Awards The 38th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 28, 1996, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. The awards recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Alanis Morissette was the main recipient, being awarded four trophies, in ...

, while in December of the same year, the album was certified triple platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

, for shipments of three million copies in the United States. It also won the 1995 ''Billboard'' Music Award for Top R&B Album. In 1996, following the album's success,

MCA MCA may refer to: Astronomy * Mars-crossing asteroid, an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars Aviation * Minimum crossing altitude, a minimum obstacle crossing altitude for fixes on published airways * Medium Combat Aircraft, a 5th gene ...

issued a remix EP entitled ''My Life Remix Album'' which featured artists such as

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, along ...

and Lauryn Hill. A special commemorative edition of the album was released on November 20, 2020.

Background

Following the success of her debut album, ''What's the 411?'', and a remixed version in 1993, Blige went into the recording studio in the winter of 1993 to record her second album, ''My Life''. Producer Chucky Thompson was brought in and had originally been contracted to produce one song and an interlude for the project. He ended up being a last minute replacement as the producers Blige worked with previously on ''What's the 411?'' demanded more money when the album was certified triple platinum. Blige loved the one song Thompson produced for her, which made Combs change the direction of the album. Combs called recording engineer

Prince Charles Alexander Charles Alexander (born April 2, 1958), known professionally as Prince Charles Alexander, is an American record producer and audio engineer. He received a Grammy for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album in 2003. Background Alexander was born in B ...

out of the blue after Jodeci went to record '' Diary of a Mad Band''. Alexander was brought in at the end of the record, after working on albums by other artists on Bad Boy Entertainment, such as

Total Total may refer to: Mathematics * Total, the summation of a set of numbers * Total order, a partial order without incomparable pairs * Total relation, which may also mean ** connected relation (a binary relation in which any two elements are comp ...

The Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...

and

112 112 may refer to: *112 (number), the natural number following 111 and preceding 113 *112 (band), an American R&B quartet from Atlanta, Georgia **112 (album), ''112'' (album), album from the band of the same name *112 (emergency telephone number), t ...

. In the middle of recording ''My Life'', Combs suggested covering Rose Royce's 1977 hit " I'm Going Down", which he wanted Alexander to handle the session. However, the two butted heads over production credit issues, as Combs wanted to give credit to himself and Thompson, although neither were present for the song's recording session. Alexander fought hard to seek production credit from Combs and the two battled it out over the phone over the issue. Combs later explained it was due to receiving a flat royalty rate for producing the majority of the songs and Alexander's production credit would have interfered with the royalty rate. To circumvent this issue, Alexander insisted on having two more sessions with Bad Boy acts. One of the other songs he produced was another Rose Royce cover – "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" for Faith Evans' 1995 debut '' Faith''. Alexander was later called back in to do some mixing and recording. On the song "K. Murray Interlude", it originally featured The Notorious B.I.G.. He was taken off due to the song's lyrical content, which would have forced Uptown Records to release the album with a Parental Advisory sticker. Rapper Keith Murray was the replacement, while The Notorious B.I.G.'s verse would be released as the song "

Who Shot Ya "Who Shot Ya"Bad Boy Entertainment, advertisement, ''Vibe'', 2004 Aug;12(875 or often "Who Shot Ya?"Sound recording"The Notorious B.I.G.—Who Shot Ya? (official audio)" ''The Notorious B.I.G.'' "Official Artist Channel" @ YouTube, 20 Sep 2019. (Th ...

". The album was a breakthrough for Blige, who at this point was in a clinical depression, battling both drugs and alcohol as well as being in an abusive relationship with singer

K-Ci Hailey Cedric Renard Hailey (born September 2, 1969), known professionally as K-Ci (formerly Little Cedric as a member of Little Cedric and the Hailey Singers), is an American singer, songwriter and member of K-Ci & JoJo and Jodeci. Although Hailey i ...

. In this period, Blige would once again dominate the charts with her singles: the Top 40 hit " Be Happy", a cover version of "

I'm Goin' Down "I'm Goin' Down" is a rock song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen. It was released on August 27, 1985 by Columbia Records as the sixth single from his 1984 album ''Born in the U.S.A.'' The song was recorde ...

" and "You Bring Me Joy". The album uses primary soul samples from R&B musicians such as Curtis Mayfield, Roy Ayers,

Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), better known as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Take Me to the River", ...

, Teddy Pendergrass,

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

, Barry White, Rick James, and his protégés, the Mary Jane Girls.

Critical reception

'' NME'' wrote that the beats "reign supreme" and commended Blige for "telling her audience she grew up the same way they did, listened to the same things, was influenced by the same situations." '' Village Voice'' critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

gave it a three-star honorable mention, indicating "an enjoyable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well treasure". He cited "Mary Jane" and "I'm Going Down" as highlights while calling the album "an around-the-way girl's recipe for happiness". In a mixed review, Jonathan Bernstein of ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' found most of the songs too "ordinary" and felt that Blige's compositions "give her space to stretch out and emote, but for all the melody they possess they might as well be breathing exercises." Connie Johnson was more critical in the '' Los Angeles Times'', finding it "drab" and devoid of attitude from Blige, who "doesn't add her own hard-core signature to any significant degree". In 2002, ''My Life'' was ranked number 57 on '' Blender''s list of the 100 greatest American albums of all-time. The following year, '' Rolling Stone'' placed it at number 279 on their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, 281 on a 2012 revised list, and 126 on a 2020 list. In 2006, the record was included in '' Time''s 100 greatest albums of all-time list.

Accolades

Commercial performance

''My Life'' debuted at number nine on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, and eventually peaked at number seven. The album also debuted at number one on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and it spent a total of eight weeks at the top of that chart. The album would ultimately go on to spend 46 weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200 Albums Chart and 84 weeks on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The album also charted in Canada peaking at number 37 on the

Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocea ...

, and at number 59 on the UK Albums Chart. On December 13, 1995, ''My Life'' was certified triple platinum by the

(RIAA), for shipments of three million copies in the United States.

Track listing

Unless otherwise indicated, Information is taken from the Album's Liner Notes

Notes

* signifies a co-producer * An early cassette promo of this album included two additional tracks "B.I.G. Interlude" (performed by

Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...

) and "Everyday It Rains", however both of these tracks were removed from the final tracklist. "Everyday It Rains" later appeared on the soundtrack for the 1995 documentary film ''

The Show Show or The Show may refer to: Competition, event, or artistic production * Agricultural show, associated with agriculture and animal husbandry * Animal show, a judged event in the hobby of animal fancy ** Cat show ** Dog show ** Horse show ** Sp ...

'' and the 2019 Mary J. Blige compilation ''HERstory, Vol.1''. ;Sample credits *"Mary Jane (All Night Long)" contains an interpolation of " All Night Long" by Mary Jane Girls *"Mary Jane (All Night Long)" also contains a sample of " Close the Door" by Teddy Pendergrass *"You Bring Me Joy" contains a sample of " It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me" by Barry White *"I'm the Only Woman" contains a sample of " Give Me Your Love" by Curtis Mayfield *"K. Murray Interlude" contains a sample of "I'm Afraid the Masquerade Is Over" by David PorterAlvin Blanco, ''The Wu-Tang Clan and RZA: A Trip Through Hip Hop's 36 Chambers'', in Juleyka Lantigua Williams, editor, series ''Hip Hop in America'' (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2011)
p 52
*"K. Murray Interlude" music also used for "

Who Shot Ya? "Who Shot Ya"Bad Boy Entertainment, advertisement, ''Vibe'', 2004 Aug;12(875 or often "Who Shot Ya?"Sound recording"The Notorious B.I.G.—Who Shot Ya? (official audio)" ''The Notorious B.I.G.'' "Official Artist Channel" @ YouTube, 20 Sep 2019. (Th ...

" by

*"My Life" contains a sample of "

Everybody Loves the Sunshine ''Everybody Loves the Sunshine'' is a studio album by Roy Ayers released under the Roy Ayers Ubiquity umbrella. It was released through Polydor Records in 1976. It peaked at number 51 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. In 2016, ''Pitchfork'' placed ...

" by Roy Ayers *"Don't Go" contains a sample of "Goodbye Love" by Guy *"Don't Go" also contains re-sung vocal samples of " Stay With Me" by DeBarge and "Speak to My Heart" by New York Restoration Choir with Donnie McClurkin *"I Love You" contains a sample of "Ike's Mood I" by

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwri ...

*"No One Else" contains a sample of "Free At Last" by

* "No One Else" also contains a vocal sample of " La Di Da Di" by Doug E. Fresh & Slick Rick *"Be Happy" contains a sample of "You're So Good to Me" by Curtis Mayfield *"Be Happy" also contains a sample of " I Want You" by

Personnel

Unless otherwise indicated, Information is taken from the Album's liner notes *

– vocals (1-2, 4, 10–12, 15, lead on 3, 5, 7–9, 13–14, 16–17), background vocals (8-9, additional on 14, 16) *

Andre Harrell Andre O’Neal Harrell (September 26, 1960 – May 7, 2020) was an American music executive and multimedia producer. In 1986, recently a rapper, he formed Uptown Records, soon a leader in R&B, rap, and their fusion, "hip hop soul" and " new ...

– executive producer *

Big Bub Today is an American R&B vocal group formed in 1988. The group comprised Frederick Lee "Bubba" Drakeford, Larry "Chief" Singletary, Wesley "Wes" Adams, and Larry "Love" McCain, childhood friends from Englewood, New Jersey. History The group st ...

– additional background vocals (14) *Bassy Bob Brockmann – strings, additional keyboards (1), digital music programming (1, 3), recording engineer (3-5, 8–9, 11–12, 15), mixing (1, 3–4, 6, 8, 11–12) *Bruce Purse – trumpet (10) *

– flute, piccolo flute, tenor saxophone (10), recording engineer (5, 7, 10, 15, 17), mixing (7, 10, 17) *Chucky Thompson – keyboards (9, additional on 8), instruments (4, 11–13, all other on 9, additional on 2–3, 5, 7, 14–15, 17) *

Mr. Dalvin Dalvin Ertimus DeGrate (born July 23, 1971, in Hampton, Virginia) is an American R&B and soul musician, singer and rapper, best known for his days as Mr. Dalvin, one-quarter of the R&B group Jodeci. Career The rapper for the group, DeGrate r ...

– arranger, additional instruments (16) * Darryl Pearson – additional bass (16) *Debra Young – production coordination *Diane Monroe – violin (10) *Eileen Folson – cello (10) * Faith Evans – background vocals (8-9, additional on 14) *Frank Colon – percussion (10) *

Fred McFarlane Frederick Craig McFarlane (November 14, 1959 – September 3, 2016) was an American R&B songwriter, record producer and multi-instrumentalist. McFarlane's career as a songwriter and producer spanned more than 30 years. He wrote or co-wrote a nu ...

– additional keyboards (10) *Gloria Agostini – harp (10) *Herb Middleton – keyboards (8, additional on 9), all other instruments (8) *Herb Powers – mastering *JoDee Stringham – design * JoJo Hailey - background vocals (3, 8) *

– arranger, background vocals (8), writer, background vocals (16) *Keenya Mauldin – hair stylist *

Keith Murray Keith Omar Murray (born May 29, 1974) is an American rapper from New York. Murray grew up on Carleton Ave, in Central Islip, which is located on the South Shore of Long Island in Suffolk County. Murray was a known member of a local rap collec ...

- vocals (6) *Kevin "K-Dog" Johnson - drums (10) *Latonya J. Blige – background vocals (3, 5, 13, 17, additional on 7) * Lenny Underwood – piano (10) *Lesa Terry – violin (10) * Mark "Led" Ledford – trumpet (10) *Nasheim Myrick – recording engineer (1, 3–7, 9, 11–15, 17), music programming (3) * Paul Pesco - guitar (10) * Rashad Smith – additional music programming (7) * Regina Carter – violin (10) *Rich Travali – recording engineer (2, 9) *Rob Paustian – recording engineer (15-16), mixing (16) *Sam Fine – make-up *

Sante D'Orazio Sante D'Orazio is an American photographer. D'Orazio exhibited in the Kunsthaus Munich, Kunsthauswien Vienna, the L.A. County Museum, Kahmann Gallery (Amsterdam), Stellan Holm Gallery (New York), Cameraworks Gallery (Berlin) Hilario Galguera ...

– photography *

– executive producer *Sybil Pennix – stylist *Tim Dawg – associate executive producer * Tony Maserati – recording engineer (1, 5–7, 9, 11, 13–15), mixing (2, 5, 7, 9, 13–15, 17) *Victor Bailey – bass (10) *Vincent Henry – alto saxophone (10)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

''My Life''
at Discogs
''My Life'' accolades
at acclaimedmusic.net {{Authority control 1994 albums My Life (album) Albums produced by Sean Combs Uptown Records albums MCA Records albums