"Rainy Dayz" is a song 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 ...

featuring additional vocals from rapper

Ja Rule Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule (), is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in New York City, he debuted in 1999 with ''Venni Vetti Vecci'' and its lead single "Holla Holla". Durin ...

. Taken from Blige's re-release of her fifth studio album, ''

No More Drama ''No More Drama'' is the fifth studio album by American singer Mary J. Blige, released on August 28, 2001, by MCA Records. Following the critical and commercial success of her fourth studio album, ''Mary'' (1999), ''No More Drama'' was similarly w ...

'', the track was released to coincide with the release of the album's reissue, serving as its final single. The

Irv Gotti Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr. (born June 26, 1970), professionally known as Irv Gotti, is an American DJ, music producer, record executive, and the CEO and co-founder of Murder Inc. Records. He is best known for producing multiple number-one rec ...

-produced duet became another hit for both, peaking at number 12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 17 in the United Kingdom.

Background

Ja Rule wrote "Rainy Dayz" in response to the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

in his home city of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. He told ''Complex'', "I went in my basement in my studio and put that record together because that’s how I was feeling about the situation. I felt like the nation—us as a country, us as people—we were going through a rainy day. It will pass but today this is what it is. Speaking to ''

TRL TRL or trl may refer to: Arts * Temporary Residence Limited, a record label * ''Total Request Live'', a former MTV show * TRL Awards (''Total Request Live''), an Italian music award Libraries * Tampines Regional Library, a regional library in Ta ...

'', he said, "It’s basically about how we feel going through life. But nthese times, especially right now

ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...

what’s going on, it kind of fits. On the record, I’m basically saying that it’s these rainy days that we spend a lifetime trying to wash away. Just waiting for the sun to come and shine again. But until then, come smile for me. So that’s the kind of vibe that

he song He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

is on. The track was originally written for

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

for their fourth studio album '' 3D'', but the group turned the track down. Group member

Tionne Watkins Tionne Tenese Watkins (born April 26, 1970), better known by her stage name T-Boz, is an American singer and actress. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, Watkins rose to fame in the early 1990s as a member of the girl-group TLC. She has won four Grammy Aw ...

commented on this, saying "It wasn't that I didn't like the song, it was more so that I felt like I've already been there, done that, and I was just on another page at the time". References to TLC being the group in mind when the track was written can be heard in the lyrics "We’re always livin’ so crazy and sexy and cool" (in reference to their album ''

CrazySexyCool ''CrazySexyCool'' is the second studio album by American girl group TLC, released on November 15, 1994, by LaFace and Arista Records. Following the group's record deal, they released their debut album '' Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip'' in 1992 t ...

'') and "Baby didn’t we tell you before about chasin’ those waterfalls" (in reference to their 1995 single "

Waterfalls A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

"). The track also has a reference to the Marvin Gaye song " What's Going On."

Track listings

CD 1 # "Rainy Dayz" (featuring

) (album version) # "Rainy Dayz" (featuring Ja Rule) (Thunderpuss radio edit) # "Rainy Dayz" (featuring Ja Rule) (Thunderpuss club mix) # "Rainy Dayz" (featuring Ja Rule) (Thunderdub) CD 2 # "Rainy Dayz" (featuring Ja Rule) (Thunderpuss Remix) # "Let No Man Put Asunder" (Maurice Joshua Remix) # "Sexy" (featuring

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 ...

)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2002 songs Ja Rule songs Male–female vocal duets Mary J. Blige songs Songs written by Irv Gotti Songs written by Ja Rule