"Reminisce" 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 ...

from her debut album, ''

What's the 411? ''What's the 411?'' is the debut album by American R&B singer Mary J. Blige. It was released on July 28, 1992, by Uptown Records and MCA Records. After signing a record contract with Uptown, Blige began working on the album with producer Sean " ...

'' (1992). It was co-written by

Kenny Greene Kenny Greene (January 17, 1969 – October 1, 2001) was an American singer-songwriter who was also a member of the R&B group Intro. Career As a member of the R&B group Intro, Greene wrote and produced many of the group's tracks and was le ...

and Dave "Jam" Hall, who also produced it. Described as a new jack swing song inspired by 1970s

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 ...

, it contains a sample of "Stop, Look, Listen" (1989) by American rapper

MC Lyte Lana Michele Moorer (born October 11, 1970), better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rap music, rapper, Disc jockey, DJ, actress and entrepreneur. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, Lyte first gained fame in the late 19 ...

. The single peaked at number fifty-seven on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number six on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 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 ...

chart. A more uptempo and hip hop-inspired remix of the song, featuring duo

Pete Rock & CL Smooth Pete Rock & CL Smooth were a hip hop duo from Mount Vernon, New York. They made their debut with their 1991 EP, '' All Souled Out'' and followed that with their 1992 LP '' Mecca and the Soul Brother''. Career 1991–1994: The Golden Age As a p ...

, later appeared on Blige's 1993 remix album of the same name.

Critical reception

Daryl McIntosh from Albumism said that the song "followed what seemed to be Combs' formula" for the Yonkers, "by revolving around another '80s hip-hop sample, this time from Audio Two's close associate and femcee rhyme titan

's "Stop, Look, and Listen". The Daily Vault's Mark Millan described it as "a slick,

Whitney Whitney may refer to: Film and television * ''Whitney'' (2015 film), a Whitney Houston biopic starring Yaya DaCosta * ''Whitney'' (2018 film), a documentary about Whitney Houston * ''Whitney'' (TV series), an American sitcom that premiered i ...

-esque R&B track that gives Blige a chance to prove she can sing just as well as rap." James Masterton commented in his weekly UK chart commentary, "All of a sudden

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 atte ...

is making a comeback, helped in part perhaps by a new show on Radio 1 on Wednesday nights devoted to the music. Reminisce thus becomes another in a long line of New Jack Swing tracks to chart in this region although none have gone on to major success." ''

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 W ...

s ''RM'' Dance Update wrote that the song is "superb". ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'' noted that it "hinted at the loss and melancholy behind much of hip hop's aggression".

Music video

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 ...

was produced to promote the single, directed by American film and music video director

Marcus Raboy Marcus Raboy (born November 30, 1965) is an American film director, film and music video director. Since the early 1990s, Raboy has amassed a large number music video credits directing music videos for Mary J. Blige, Dixie Chicks, Rihanna, Lut ...

. It opens with Mary J. Blige struggling to sleep in a bed during a storm. She later performs in the doorway of a large room with gray walls. Throughout the video, a man sometimes appears. "Reminisce" was published on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

in June 2009. The video has amassed more than 6,3 million views as of September 2021.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the ''What's the 411?'' liner notes. *

Sean "Puffy" Combs Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent direct ...

– executive producer, co-producer * Charlie Davis – executive producer * Dave "Jam" Hall – producer * Kurt Woodley – executive producer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

Notes

* {{Mary J. Blige singles 1992 singles Mary J. Blige songs Music videos directed by Marcus Raboy Songs written by Dave Hall (record producer) Songs written by Kenny Greene 1992 songs Song recordings produced by Dave Hall (record producer) MCA Records singles