''Strength of a Woman'' is the thirteenth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

by American R&B 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 Awar ...

. It was released on April 28, 2017, by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

. The album serves as the follow-up to her twelfth studio album '' The London Sessions'' (2014). ''Strength of a Woman'' is predominantly a R&B and

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 ...

album. Blige worked with producers and songwriters such as

DJ Camper Darhyl “DJ” Camper (born May 25, 1990), also known by his stage name Hey DJ, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. Career Camper was born May 25, 1990 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. At the age of six, he began playing the piano ...

, Brandon "B.A.M." Hodge,

Hit-Boy Chauncey Alexander Hollis Jr. (born May 21, 1987), better known by his stage name Hit-Boy, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. In May 2011, he had signed a two-year deal with Kanye West's GOOD Music production branch. ...

Jazmine Sullivan Jazmine Marie Sullivan (born April 9, 1987) is an American R&B and soul singer. Born and raised in Philadelphia, her debut album, '' Fearless'' was released in 2008. The record topped ''Billboards Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and was certifi ...

Lamb Lamb or The Lamb may refer to: * A young sheep * Lamb and mutton, the meat of sheep Arts and media Film, television, and theatre * ''The Lamb'' (1915 film), a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in his screen debut * ''The Lamb'' (1918 ...

Bigg D Derrick Baker, professionally known as Bigg D, is an American producer from Miami, Florida.Pajot, S (2010)Bigg D: The Next Music Mogul, ''Miami New Times'', November 25, 2010, retrieved June 5, 2011. Biography Born in Miami, Baker grew up in Ca ...

, Neff-U,

Kaytranada Louis Kevin Celestin (born August 25, 1992), known professionally as Kaytranada (stylized as KAYTRANADA, shortened as KAYTRA), is a Haitian-Canadian record producer and DJ. Celestin rose to prominence after releasing a series of mixtapes, remixes, ...

, and

BadBadNotGood BadBadNotGood (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian instrumental band and production team from Toronto, Canada. The group was founded in 2010 by bassist Chester Hansen, keyboardist Matthew Tavares, and drummer Alexander Sowinski. In 2016, they ...

on the album. It also features guest appearances by

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ear ...

Quavo Quavious Keyate Marshall (born April 2, 1991), known professionally as Quavo (), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. He is best known as the co-founder and former frontman of hip hop group Migos. Quavo is the uncle of late fellow Migos m ...

DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ, record executive, record producer and rapper. Khaled first gained recognition as a radio host in the 1990s on the radio station 99 Jamz, a ...

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette Elliott (born July 1, 1971), better known as Missy Elliott or Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She embarked on her music career with R&B girl group Sista in the earl ...

, Prince Charlez, Kaytranada, and BadBadNotGood. The album debuted at number three on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, selling 78,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. It attained international charting and produced five official singles: "

Thick of It "Thick of It" is a song by American singer Mary J. Blige. It was written by Blige, Darhyl Camper, Darhyl "DJ" Camper Jr., and Jazmine Sullivan for her thirteenth studio album ''Strength of a Woman (album), Strength of a Woman'' (2017), while prod ...

", " U + Me (Love Lesson)", "

Love Yourself "Love Yourself" is a song recorded by Canadian singer Justin Bieber for his fourth studio album '' Purpose'' (2015). The song was released as a promotional single on November 9, 2015, and as the album's third official single on December 7, 2015. ...

" featuring

, " Set Me Free", and "Glow Up" featuring

, and

, with the former two singles peaking atop the US

Adult R&B Songs The Adult R&B Songs chart (formerly called Adult R&B Airplay) is an airplay chart that is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on urban adult contemporary radio stations, whose playl ...

chart. Upon its release, ''Strength of a Woman'' received generally positive reviews from music critics. Blige embarked on the Strength of a Woman Tour in support of the album from April 2, 2017 to September 9, 2017.

Singles

" was released as the lead single on October 7, 2016. The song topped the US Adult R&B Songs chart for a record-breaking 16 consecutive weeks. Its music video, directed by Dennis Leupold, premiered on November 7, 2016 on her YouTube account. " U + Me (Love Lesson)" was released on February 17, 2017 and also topped the US Adult R&B Songs Chart. "

" was released as the third single on March 30, 2017. The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for the official remix of "Love Yourself" featuring

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harle ...

rapper

ASAP Rocky Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper, music producer and record executive. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a membe ...

premiered via ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' on May 26, 2017. It was directed by Taj and was shot in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. " Set Me Free" was released as the fourth official single on July 19, 2017.

Critical reception

''Strength of a Woman'' received generally positive reviews from music critics. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc D ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 74, based on seven reviews. Jon Caramanica of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' gave the album a positive review, stating that, "the album moves like a forest fire: ruthless, wide-ranging, and blunt." Matt Bauer of ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'' praised the lyrics, and called it Blige's best work in over a decade, but criticizing songs such as "Glow Up", and "Smile". In a positive review, Julianne Shepherd of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' considered the album a relief from Blige's previous album, '' The London Sessions'', along with Blige sticking to what makes her unique. In a positive review, Andy Kellman of AllMusic gave the album 3.5 stars, calling some of the songs clichéd, however, praising the anthems on the album. Kate Hutchinson of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the G ...

'' gave a mixed review of the album, criticizing the song "Glow Up", calling it too similar to other artists such as Rihanna, and

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

. Despite these complaints, she praised the anthems included on the album. In another mixed review, Andy Gill of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

'' found the album using a generic R&B theme, however, stating that some songs included on the album are able to do it well, such as "Set Me Free".

Commercial performance

''Strength of a Woman'' debuted at number three on the US ''Billboard'' 200 on the issue dated ending May 20, 2017, with 78,000

album-equivalent units The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, is a measurement unit in music industry to define the consumption of music that equals the purchase of one album copy. This consumption includes streaming and song downloads in addition to traditio ...

, (including 72,000 standard copies) in its first week. It became Blige's highest-charting album since 2009's '' Stronger with Each Tear'', her tenth top five entry, and thirteenth top ten album on the chart. The album marked a significant spike of sales for the singer, whose previous release '' The London Sessions'' (2014) had opened at number nine, with first week sales of 55,000 copies. The album also debuted at number two on the US

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...

chart and number one on the

Top R&B Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated Jan ...

charts, respectively.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits for ''Strength of a Woman'' adapted from AllMusic. *Miguel Atwood-Ferguson – conductor, harp arrangement, soloist, string arrangements *Derrick Baker – composition *Derrick "Bigg D" Baker – guitar *Vincent Berry – composition *Alison Bjorkedal – harp *Mary J. Blige – composition, executive production, vocals *David D. Brown – composition, production, backing vocals *Gerry Brown – string engineering *Marshall Bryant – engineering *Caroline Buckman – viola *Richard Butler – composition *Daniel Caesar – backing vocals *Darhyl "DJ" Camper Jr. – composition, drums, fender rhodes, organ, piano, production *Paul Cartwright – violin *Louis Celestin – composition *Louis Kevin Celestin – drums, percussion, synthesizer bass *Maddox Chhim – assistance *Thomas Cullison – assistance *Eric Dawkins – composition *Ayanna Depas – assistance *DJ Khaled – vocals *Aaron Draper – percussion *Missy Elliott – composition, vocals *Davion Farris – composition, engineering *Theron Feemster – composition, production *Eddie "A&R Eddie" Fourcell – A&R *Vanessa Freebairn-Smith – cello *Michael Frenke – engineering *Yesseh Furaha-Ali – alto sax *John Goodison – composition *Eric Gorfain – violin *Cameron Graham – engineering *Chester Hansen – composition, synthesizer *Jaymz Hardy-Martin III – engineering, mixing, vocal mixing *Charles Hinshaw – composition *Dave Hoddell – composition *Spike Hoddell – composition *Brandon Hodge – composition *Brandon "B.A.M." Hodge – composition, production *Chauncey Hollis – composition *Jean-Marie Horvat – mixing *Elizabeth Isik – A&R *Peter Jacobson – cello *Hotae Alexander Jang – string engineering *Jaycen Joshua – mixing *Cortni Elisa Jordan – composition *Leah Katz – viola *Kaytranada – vocals *David Kim – assistance, mixing assistance *Steven "Q-Beatz" Kubie – programming *Marisa Kuney – violin *Dave Kutch – mastering *Cainon Lamb – composition *Songa Lee – violin *Dennis Leupold – photography *Timothy Loo – cello *Quavious Marshall – composition *Lucia Micarelli – violin *David Nakaji – assistance *Dwayne Nesmith – composition *Jon Nettlesbey – assistance *Tremaine Neverson – composition *Prince Charlez – vocals *Quavo – vocals *Dexter Randall – assistance *Frank Rein – trombone *Wendell Kelly - trombone *Priscilla Renea – composition *Teddy Riley – production *Elese Teyonie Russell – composition *Stuart Schenk – mixing *Ashton Simmonds – composition *Mary Kathleen Sloan – violin *Alexander Sowinski – clapping, composition, piano *Dexter Story – contractor *Jazmine Sullivan – composition, backing vocals *Jenny Takamatsu – violin *Matthew Tavares – composition, engineering *Gavin Taylor – art direction, design *Thomas Lea – viola *Sergio "Sergical" Tsai – engineering *William Tyler – composition *Ina Veli – violin *Phil Wainman – composition *Kanye West – composition, vocals *Eric Whatley – bass *Chris Woods – violin *Kevin Woods – flugelhorn, trumpet *Benjamin Wright – composition, horn arrangements, string arrangements

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strength of a Woman (album) 2017 albums Capitol Records albums Mary J. Blige albums Albums produced by Hit-Boy Albums produced by Kaytranada Albums produced by BadBadNotGood