''Mary'' is the fourth

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 singer

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 August 17, 1999, on

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

. The album debuted at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, selling 239,000 copies in its first week. It spent 57 weeks on the

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

and produced five charting singles. Upon its release, ''Mary'' received critical acclaim from

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

s. It has been certified

double 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 ...

for sales of two million units in the United States.

Background

According to critic

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

, the album showcases a creative move by Blige from

urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

, eschewing her previous work's overt hip hop elements and raunchy persona for classicist

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...

and more mature songwriting. Highlighted by sleek and polished production reminiscent of 1970s soul, ''Mary'' came as a surprise to many of her fans and critics. Similar to Blige's previous release ''

Share My World ''Share My World'' is the third studio album by American R&B singer Mary J. Blige, released by MCA on Earth Day, 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 ...

'', the singer served as executive producer. Blige worked with various artists on the album including

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. She is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as being one of the most influential musicians of her generation. ...

Jadakiss Jason Terrance Phillips (born May 27, 1975), better known by his stage name Jadakiss, is an American rapper from Yonkers, New York. He began his career in the 1990s as a member of the rap trio The Lox, managed by Ruff Ryders and signed with Bad ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

K-Ci 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 ...

, and

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...

. "I'm in Love", " As" and "Let No Man Put Asunder" are

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of songs originally performed by The

Gap Band The Gap Band was an American R&B and funk band that rose to fame during the 1970s and 1980s. The band consisted of three brothers: Charlie, Ronnie, and Robert Wilson, along with other members; it was named after streets (Greenwood, Archer, a ...

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

, and First Choice respectively.

Release and promotion

The album was released in the United States on August 17, 1999, and in the United Kingdom on October 1, 1999. "All That I Can Say," "Deep Inside," "Your Child," and "Give Me You" were the album's commercial singles in the United States. "As"—Blige's collaboration with

—was released as the lead single everywhere else worldwide. Three singles from the album charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100: "All That I Can Say" at number 44, "Deep Inside" at number 51, and "Give Me You" at number 68. All four United States singles charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks: "All That I Can Say" at number six, "Deep Inside" at number nine, "Your Child" at number 23, and "Give Me You" at number 21.

Reception

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number two on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, with first-week sales of 239,000 copies in the United States. It also entered at number one on ''

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 advertise ...

''s

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, becoming Blige's fourth album to top the chart. ''Mary'' spent 57 weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200 and 69 weeks on the ''Billboard'' Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Billboard.com ''Billboard''. Retrieved on 2011-04-18. Billboard.com ''Billboard''. Retrieved on 2011-04-18. In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number five on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

.Archive Chart

The Official UK Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...

. Retrieved on 2011-04-18. On October 18, 2000, the album was certified

by the

, for shipments of two million copies in the United States. It has also been certified silver by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...

, for shipments of 60,000 copies in the United Kingdom, and certified gold by the

Canadian Recording Industry Association Music Canada (formerly Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA)) is a non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It a ...

, for shipments of 40,000 copies in Canada. As of 2009, ''Mary'' has sold 2,100,000 copies in the United States.

Critical response

''Mary'' was met with universal acclaim from critics. '' Q'' wrote, "Blige can turn from sassy to agonized to vulnerable in the space of a single

phrase In syntax and grammar, a phrase is a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adjective phrase "very happy". Phrases can consi ...

..The Queen Of Hip Hop Soul remains classy and invincible". Craig Seymour 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 ...

'' praised its classicist influences and called ''Mary'' "emotionally gripping and stylistically diverse", writing that " lige'sassured blues moans, gospel shouts, and jazzy inflections graph the history of

African-American music African-American music is an umbrella term covering a diverse range of music and musical genres largely developed by African Americans and their culture. Their origins are in musical forms that first came to be due to the condition of slave ...

". ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' writer

Greg Kot Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the ''Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busines ...

noted "a more organic feel" in its production, which he viewed as less "uninspired" than on Blige's previous albums. ''

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

''s

Anthony DeCurtis Anthony DeCurtis (born June 25, 1951) is an American author and music critic, who has written for ''Rolling Stone,'' the ''New York Times'', ''Relix'' and many other publications. Career DeCurtis is a contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'', w ...

complimented Blige's vocal embellishments and the album's "lush and spare" arrangements, stating "Musically, ''Mary'' is essentially a long, soulful, ballad-tempo

vamp The VaMP driverless car was one of the first truly autonomous cars Dynamic Vision for Perc ...

over which Blige alternately — and sometimes simultaneously — tells tales of faithless love, preaches the gospel of female strength, and determinedly clings to hope". ''

The Source ''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...

'' complimented Blige's "pure emotion" and stated "she dares to break the

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 ...

template she helped create, and do something different. Something our

loop Loop or LOOP may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Loop (mobile), a Bulgarian virtual network operator and co-founder of Loop Live * Loop, clothing, a company founded by Carlos Vasquez in the 1990s and worn by Digable Planets * Loop Mobile, an ...

-weary souls need". Steve Jones of ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' commended Blige for "making you feel rather than merely hear what she's singing about", adding that she "continues to separate herself from her peers, conveying a wide range of emotions without becoming whiny, petty or overwrought". Despite viewing its strength as "more in how Blige sings the songs than the songs themselves", ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' writer

Soren Baker Soren Baker is an American journalist who has spent his career covering hip-hop. Best known for his six years as one of the main editors of The Source, Baker has had more than 3,500 articles published in such publications as The New York Times, ...

commented that "the lively, supple instrumentation only adds to the force of her already dominating delivery" and noted "a more soul-stirring, straightforward R&B attitude than the hip-hop/R&B hybrid of her earlier collections". ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' writer

Touré Touré is the French transcription of a West African surname (English transcriptions are '' Turay'' and '' Touray''). The name is probably derived from ''tùùré'', the word for 'elephant' in Soninké, the language of the Ghana Empire. The clan e ...

said "Blige seems to have moved away from the

Terry McMillan Terry McMillan (born October 18, 1951) is an American novelist. Her work centers around the experiences of Black women in the United States. Early life McMillan was born in Port Huron, Michigan. She received a B.A. in journalism in 1977 from ...

once-again-he's-breaking-my-heart mantra to, perhaps, an

Oprah Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', b ...

love-your-spirit ethos".

Christopher John Farley Christopher John Farley (born July 28, 1966) is a Jamaican-born American journalist, columnist, and author. Early life Farley was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and grew up in New York. He is a graduate of Brockport High School and Harvard Unive ...

of ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' wrote that "''Mary'' is somewhat inconsistent in song quality, but Blige's soul-singed vocals save the weaker material".

Ann Powers Ann K. Powers (born February 4, 1964) is an American writer and pop music critic. She is a music critic for NPR and a contributor at the ''Los Angeles Times'', where she was previously chief pop critic. She has also served as pop critic at ''The ...

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 ...

'' viewed that the album exemplifies a "new conscience" of feminine themes in contemporary R&B at the time, adding that "if ''Mary'' gestures toward an older, non-hip-hop audience, it also makes the claim for Ms. Blige's canonization within the rhythm-and-blues hall of fame". In his consumer guide for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'', 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 ...

wrote, "Rather than hating playas, she's bored with them ..all that she can say is that she's ready to love someone serious and walk away from anyone who isn't". In a retrospective review for ''

The Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'', Tom Moon deemed ''Mary'' an improvement over Blige's previous album, commenting that it "more fully realizes Blige's vision for ''

''".

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

editor

praised its "sheer classiness", writing that "There's still grit in the music, but it's been glossed over with a polished production". Erlewine described it as "a rewarding, engaging way to mature" and wrote that "Blige's voice is richer and her skills have deepened, and her new songs, while not as streetwise, are worthy of her talents".

Accolades

''Spin'' ranked the album number 15 in its year-end list of best albums. Blige won and was nominated for many awards for this album. *She was nominated for 2

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

Europe Music Awards for Best Video and Best Song ("As" with George Michael). *In 2000 Blige was nominated for a Brit Award for Best International Female Solo Artist. *3

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

Awards nominations for Best R&B Vocal Performance - Female ("All That I Can Say"), Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group ("Don't Waste Your Time" with Aretha Franklin), and Best R&B Album (Mary). *In 2001 Blige was nominated for a Soul Train Music Award for Best Female R&B/Soul Single for "Your Child". *Blige won a

Soul Train ''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. It aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. Across its 35-year history the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists. The series w ...

Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Album, Female (Mary) and was also nominated for Best R&B/Soul or Rap Album. *Blige also won 2 Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards for Solo R&B/Soul Album of the Year for ''Mary'' and R&B/Soul or Rap Song of the Year for "All That I Can Say". She was also nominated for Best Solo R&B/Soul Single for "All That I Can Say". *Blige also won the first ever BET award for Best Female Artist in 2001 for Deep Inside.

Track listing

Information based on the Album's Liner NotesBlige, Mary J. “Mary”. MCA Records. 1999. ;Notes * The international editions contains "As" as an extra track, with several tracks were edited so that this song could fit onto the CD * The Japanese edition contains another bonus track, titled "Almost Gone". ;Sample credits * "Sexy" contains an interpolation of "I Can't Help It" as performed by

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

and written by

* "Deep Inside" contains a sample of "

Bennie and the Jets "Bennie and the Jets" (also titled "Benny & the Jets") is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. The song first appeared on the ''Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'' album in 1973. "Bennie and ...

" as performed by

. * "I’m In Love" is a cover version of and contains samples from

The Gap Band The Gap Band was an American R&B and funk band that rose to fame during the 1970s and 1980s. The band consisted of three brothers: Charlie, Ronnie, and Robert Wilson, along with other members; it was named after streets (Greenwood, Archer, an ...

song of the same name. * "Beautiful Ones" contains a sample of "

The April Fools ''The April Fools'' is a 1969 American romantic comedy film directed by Stuart Rosenberg and starring Jack Lemmon and Catherine Deneuve. Plot Wall Street broker Howard Brubaker is married to Phyllis, who does not love him. Catherine is the stunn ...

" as performed by

Earl Klugh Earl Klugh ( ; born September 16, 1953) is an American acoustic guitarist and composer. He has won one Grammy award and thirteen nominations. Klugh was awarded the “1977” Best Recording Award For Performance and Sound” for his album “Fi ...

. * "Time" contains an interpolation of "

Pastime Paradise "Pastime Paradise" is a song by American musician Stevie Wonder, from the 1976 album ''Songs in the Key of Life''. The song was one of the first to use a synthesizer (the Yamaha GX-1) to sound like a full string section. Built initially from s ...

" as performed by Stevie Wonder * "Let No Man Put Asunder" is a cover version of the First Choice song of the same name; Musical arrangement is based on the

Frankie Knuckles Francis Warren Nicholls, Jr. (January 18, 1955 – March 31, 2014), better known as Frankie Knuckles, was an American DJ, record producer and remixer. He played an important role in developing and popularizing house music in Chicago during the 1 ...

and

Shep Pettibone Robert "Shep" Pettibone (born 10 July 1959) is an American record producer, remixer, songwriter and club DJ, one of the most prolific of the 1980s. Career Shep Pettibone surfaced after his work with Arthur Baker on Afrika Bambaataa & the Jazz ...

remixes of the First Choice recording.Blige, Mary J. “Let No Man Put Asunder” (Song Review by Ed Hogan). Allmusic. https://www.allmusic.com/song/let-no-man-put-asunder-mt0003033904

Personnel

Unless otherwise indicated, Track numbers of musical, production and other appearances are based on Liner Notes of the album's North American Edition *

- Executive Producer, Lead Vocals (All Tracks), Background Vocals (3, 8, 10, 12–13) *Kirk Burrowes - Executive Producer *LaTonya Blige-DaCosta - Associate Executive Producer *Hank Shocklee - Associate Executive Producer *Ivy Skoff - Project Coordinator

Musicians

;Vocals *

- Vocals (Sung by) (8) *

Cedric "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 ...

- Vocals (9) *

- Vocals (6 on International Edition) *

- Rap (vocals) (2) * DMX - Rap (1 on US Limited Edition) *

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

- Rap (1 on US Limited Edition) *Funkmaster Flex - Rap *Dustin Adams - Background Vocals (3) *Anthem (Channette & Channoah Higgins) - Background Vocals (7) * Sharon Bryant - Background Vocals (5, 14) *

- Background Vocals (1) *Paulette McWilliams - Background Vocals (5, 13–14) *Cindy Mizelle - Background Vocals (14) * Terri Robinson - Background Vocals (3) *Cecil Ward - Background Vocals (4) *Audrey Wheeler - Background Vocals (14) * Elizabeth Withers - Background Vocals (5) ;Instruments *Tom Barney - Bass (played by) (1) *Chuck Berghofer - Bass (12) *Nate-Love Clemons - Synthesizer Bass, Additional Synthesizers (13) *Chuck Domenico - Bass (12) *

Nathan East Nathan Harrell East (born December 8, 1955) is an American jazz, R&B, and rock bass player and vocalist. With more than 2,000 recordings, East is one of the most recorded bass players in the history of music. East holds a Bachelor of Arts degr ...

- Bass (8) *Paul Johnson - Bass (12) *Eric Lorde - Bass (10) *Larry Corbett - Cello (12) *Dane Little - Cello (12) *David Low - Cello (12) *

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 ...

- Drum Machine, Acoustic Guitar, Additional Keyboards (8) *Michael Clemons - Drums (13) * Paulinho Da Costa - Percussion (12) * Chris 'Daddy' Dave - Live Drums (12) *Che Pope - Drum Machine (1) *Ike Lee III - Keyboards (9) *Bryant Crockett - Keyboards (14) *Loris Holland - Keyboards (1) *

- Piano (3) *Dion Kipling - Additional Keyboards (10) *Moise Laporte - Keyboards (14) *Malik Pendleton - Synthesizer (14) *Rex Rideout - Keyboards (6) *Gen Rubin - Organ (played by), Wurlitzer (8) * Manuel Seal Jr. - Electric Piano, Acoustic Piano, Keyboards (13) *Gary Grant - Flugelhorn, Trumpet (12) *Dave Trigg - Flugelhorn, Trumpet (12) *Mark Bowers - Electric Guitar (14) *

- Lead Guitar (13) *Soong Lee - Guitar (9) *Eli Lishinsky - Guitar (6) *Jeff Mironov - Guitar (1) *

Paul Pesco Paul Pesco (born May 13, 1959) is an American session guitarist, singer-songwriter, film score composer and record producer. Biography Pesco was born in Canandaigua, New York, to a Sicilian father (an opera singer and voice instructor) and Ko ...

- Additional Guitars (13) *Mike Scott - Guitar (12) *Kevin Deane - Additional Instruments (3) *Kiyamma Griffin - Multiple Instruments (2, 11) *

Rich Harrison Richard Christopher Harrison (born 1979) is an American record producer and songwriter from Washington, D.C., specializing in R&B and hip hop music. The winner of a Grammy Award, Harrison is well known for producing songs such as " Get Right ...

- Multiple Instruments (4) *

Jimmy Jam Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma * ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...

- Additional Instruments (12) * Terry Lewis - Additional Instruments (12) * Karlin - Multiple Instruments (7) *

Soulshock Carsten Schack (born 1968 in Gug, Denmark) and better known by his stage name Soulshock is a Danish record producer and songwriter. Beginnings Carsten Schack was born in the Aalborg suburb of Gug, the son of economics professor Bent Schack and p ...

- Multiple Instruments (7) *

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 ...

- Additional Instruments (5-6) *Reverend Dave Boruff - Saxophone (12) * Slyde Hyde - Trombone (12) *Bruce Otto - Trombone (12) *Brian Dembow - Viola (12) *Simon Oswell - Viola (12) *Evan Wilson - Viola (12) *Bruce Dukov - Concertmaster (12) *Darius Campo - Violin (12) *Joel Derouin - Violin (12) *Ron Folsom - Violin (12) *Armen Garabedian - Violin (12) *Berj Garabedian - Violin (12) *

Endre Granat Endre Granat (born August 3, 1937) is an American violinist. He is regarded as the most recorded violinist and concertmaster working in the studios today. Early life and education Granat studied at the Franz Liszt Academy, Jacobs School of Mus ...

- Violin (12) *Alan Grunfield - Violin (12) *Kathleen Lenski - Violin (12) *Anatoly Rosinsky - Violin (12) *Bob Sanov - Violin (12) *Eddie Stein - Violin (12) *Roger Wilkie - Violin (12)

Production

;Producers *Mary J. Blige - 5 *Babyface - 8, “As” *Bryant Crockett - 14 *Kevin Deane - 3 *Kiyamma Griffin - 2, 11 *Rich Harrison - 4 *Lauryn Hill - 1 *Dean Holster - 9 *Floyd Howard - 2 *Gerald Isaac - 10 *Jimmy Jam - 12 *Terry Lewis - 12 *Karlin - 7 *Soulshock - 7 *Moise Laporte - 14 *Ike Lee III - 9 *Nate Love-Clemons - 13 *Malik Pendleton - 14 *Manuel Seal Jr. - 13 *Chucky Thompson - 4, 6 ;Mixing *Larry Alexander (11) *Ben Arrindell (13) *Commissioner Gordon (1) *E’lyk - Mixing assistant (8) *Ben Garrison (6) *Jon Gass (8) *Steve Hodge (12) *

Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is an American mixing engineer.Daley, Dan (May 2005).Manny Marroquin. ''Sound on Sound''. Retrieved February 10, 2007 He has received ten Grammy awards for his professional audio work. Life and career M ...

(7) *Malik Pendleton (14) *Angela Piva (2-5, 9) *Edwin “Eddie Ed” Ramos (10) *Warren Riker (14) *Tim Roggeman - Mixing assistant (1) *Jamie Siegel - Mixing assistant (1) *Soulshock (7) *Yuri Zwadiuk (6) ;Recording Engineers *Larry Alexander - Pro-Tools (9) *

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 ...

(3) *Geoff Allen - Assistant Engineer (13) *Chuck Bailey - Assistant Engineer (4) *

Paul Boutin Paul Boutin (born December 11, 1961 in Lewiston, Maine) is an American magazine writer and editor who writes about technology in a pop-culture context. Boutin, who began writing for ''Wired'' in 1997, wrote for ''The New York Times'' from 2003 ...

(8) *Jim “Bonsai” Caruso - Percussion (12) *Commissioner Gordon (1) *Dave Dar - Assistant Engineer (2, 9) *Mario De Arce - Pro-Tools (1) *Alex Dejonge - Assistant Engineer (4) *Steve Eigner (13) *Niall Flynn - Additional Engineer (“As”) *Jason Goldstein (5-6) *Steve Hodge (12) *George Karras (11) *David Kennedy (4) *Ken Lewis (14) *Eli Lishinsky (6) *

(7) *Steve Mazur - Assistant Engineer (8) *Michael McCoy - Assistant Engineer (9) *Appolon Noel (14) *Angela Piva (2, 9) *Tony Prendatt (1) *Carl Robinson (13) *Andy Salas - Assistant Engineer (4-5) *

Al Schmitt Albert Harry Schmitt (April 17, 1930 – April 26, 2021) was an American recording engineer and record producer. He won twenty Grammy Awards for his work with Henry Mancini, Steely Dan, George Benson, Toto, Natalie Cole, Quincy Jones, and other ...

- Strings & Horns (12) *Jamie Siegel - Assistant Engineer (1) *Xavier Smith - Assistant Engineer (12) *Alex Sok - Assistant Engineer (9) *Michael Tocci - Assistant Engineer (3) ;Programming *Kobie Brown - Additional Music Programming (1) *Bryant Crockett - Keyboard Instrument Programming (14) *Niall Flynn - Additional Music Programming (“As”) *Gerald Isaac - Music Programming (10) *Moise Laporte - Keyboard Instrument Programming (14) ;Arrangers *Lauryn Hill - 1 *Gerald Isaac - 10 *Jimmy Jam - Vocals on 12 *Terry Lewis - Vocals on 12 *Karlin - 7 *Soulshock - 7 *Ike Lee III - 9 *George Michael - “As” *

Paul Riser Paul Riser (born September 11, 1943) is an American trombonist and Motown musical arranger who was responsible for co-writing and arranging dozens of top ten hit records. His legacy as one of the " Funk Brothers" is similar to that of most of ...

- Strings on 13 *

Randy Waldman Randy Waldman (born September 8, 1955, Chicago, Illinois, United States) is an American pianist, arranger, composer, and conductor. In 2019, Waldman's arrangement of the " Spider-Man Theme" on his ''Superheroes'' album garnered the Grammy Award f ...

- Strings & Horns on 12 *Cecil Ward - Vocals on 4 *Jim Wright - Rhythm on 12

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

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Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

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Mary
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Acclaimed Music Acclaimed Music is a website created by Henrik Franzon, a statistician from Stockholm, Sweden in September 2001. Franzon has statistically aggregated hundreds of published lists that rank songs and albums into aggregated rankings by year, deca ...

{{Authority control 1999 albums Albums produced by Babyface (musician) Albums produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis Albums produced by Rich Harrison MCA Records albums Interscope Geffen A&M Records albums Mary J. Blige albums

Background

Release and promotion

Reception

Commercial performance

Critical response

Accolades

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians

Production

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

See also

References

External links