"Why" is a song performed by American 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 ...

, from her tenth studio album, '' My Life II... The Journey Continues (Act 1)'' (2011). It was written by Blige along with Dave Young,

Eric Hudson Eric Hudson (born October 15, 1986) is an American and Grammy award-winning music producer. His parents are Curtis and Phyllis Bivins-Hudson. Curtis is a songwriter and producer, and most notably the co-writer of Madonna's song " Holiday", co-wr ...

, and William Roberts II, with Hudson producing the song and

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. Prior to releasing his debut single, "Hustlin'", in 2006, Ross was the subject of a bidding war, receiving offers from Sean Combs, D ...

having featured vocals. A

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

ful R&B song that makes use 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 h ...

influences and a beat-heavy,

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

–led production, the song initially impacted on US radios on April 10, 2012 as the album's third single.

Music video

The song's accompanying

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 promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was directed by

Colin Tilley Colin Tilley (born June 27, 1988) is an American filmmaker, music video director, and television commercial director. Tilley is the CEO and owner of Boy in the Castle Productions. He has directed more than 300 music videos. Tilley directed, pro ...

and debuted on May 9, 2012. In the video, Blige finds herself up late worrying about a troubled relationship. It begins a dimly lit bedroom where she sings next to her sleeping lover. Moving on, she hits an extravagant lounge. There, Rick Ross is surrounded by women with a drink in one hand and an expensive cigar in the other. Blige joins Rick Ross for a final performance at the lounge. The two, both dressed in white, complement each other as they perform under an chandelier. The video ends with a final toast and falling

confetti Confetti are small pieces or streamers of paper, mylar, or metallic material which are usually thrown at celebrations, especially parades and weddings. The origins are from the Latin ''confectum'', with ''confetti'' the plural of Italian ''con ...

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''My Life II... The Journey Continues (Act 1)''. *

Songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

– Mary J. Blige, Dave Young,

, William Roberts II *

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

– Eric Hudson *

Recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

– Serge "Sergical" Tsai * Mastering – Dave Kutch

Charts

References

{{Rick Ross 2012 singles Mary J. Blige songs Rick Ross songs 2011 songs Songs written by Eric Hudson Geffen Records singles Music videos directed by Colin Tilley Songs written by Rick Ross Songs written by Mary J. Blige