"Not Gon' Cry" is a song by American R&B singer

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actress, and entrepreneur. Often referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Qu ...

, from the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

to the film ''

Waiting to Exhale ''Waiting to Exhale'' is a 1995 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Forest Whitaker (in his feature film directorial debut) and starring Whitney Houston and Angela Bassett. The film was adapted from the 1992 novel of the same nam ...

''; the song is also featured on Blige's third album, ''

Share My World ''Share My World'' is the third studio album by American R&B singer Mary J. Blige, released by MCA on April 22, 1997. The album became Blige's first to open at number one on the US ''Billboard'' 200 album chart. Moreover, it is her first albu ...

'' (1997). It was written and produced by

Babyface Babyface or Baby Face can refer to: Nicknames * Lester Joseph Gillis a.k.a. Baby Face Nelson, an infamous 1930s bank robber * Roosevelt "Baby Face" Willette (1933–1971), an American hard bop and soul-jazz musician * "Baby Face", Jimmy McLarnin ...

and became a major hit for Blige in the United States, where it peaked at numbers one and two on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot R&B Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 po ...

and

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

charts, respectively. The single sold 1,000,000 copies domestically and was

certified platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

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 ...

. Blige received her third

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nomination for

Best Female R&B Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (previously called Best Rhythm and Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female) was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Award ...

(her first nomination in that category) at the

39th Grammy Awards The 39th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 26, 1997, at Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtow ...

in 1997 for the song. Coincidentally, other songs on that were later released as singles from the soundtrack ("

Exhale Exhalation (or expiration) is the flow of the breath out of an organism. In animals, it is the movement of air from the lungs out of the airways, to the external environment during breathing. This happens due to elastic properties of the lungs ...

" by

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

and "

Sittin' Up in My Room "Sittin' Up in My Room" is a song by American recording artist Brandy. It was written and produced by Babyface and recorded by Norwood for the soundtrack of the 1995 film ''Waiting to Exhale'', starring Whitney Houston and Angela Bassett. The so ...

" by

Brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured ...

) also received nominations in the same category. Blige performed the song at the 39th Grammy Awards telecast.

Background

The lyrics of the song are inspired by a storyline in the movie ''Waiting to Exhale'' revolving around one of the films main characters, Bernadine (portrayed by actress

Angela Bassett Angela Evelyn Bassett (born August 16, 1958) is an American actress. Known for her work in film and television since the 1980s, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Angela Bassett, various accolades, including a Primetime ...

), who gets abandoned by her philandering husband. The music video, which incorporates clips from ''Waiting to Exhale'', was directed by Wayne Maser and Elizabeth Bailey.

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the musi ...

from ''

'' named 'Not Gon' Cry' "one of the strongest numbers" of the ''

'' soundtrack and felt it "is finally given a crack at chart success." He explained, "Blige's worldly delivery breathes palpable depth and empathy into

's composition tracing the bitter split of a relationship. She convincingly builds from white-knuckled anger to cathartic resolution in the space of four minutes, riding a slowly grinding R&B groove etched with quiet

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

colors. Judging from the sparks ignited here, the pairing of Blige and Babyface is one that needs to happen again and again." Jonathan Bernstein from ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' described the song as "snarling". 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 We ...

'' gave it three out of five, describing it as a "slow, steel-tipped

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

" and "good, if not memorable." Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' wrote, "Blige has a raw edge in her voice that makes her contribution 'Not Gon' Cry' essentially a blues song, despite the smooth R&B production." ''

People Magazine ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC (company), IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''Peopl ...

'' named it ''Waiting to Exhale''s "jilted woman’s manifesto".

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1990s ballads 1995 songs 1996 singles Contemporary R&B ballads Mary J. Blige songs Song recordings produced by Babyface (musician) Songs about infidelity Songs written by Babyface (musician) Songs written for films Songs about heartache Arista Records singles