Singles
"Thick of It" 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. "Love Yourself (Mary J. Blige song), Love Yourself" was released as the third single on March 30, 2017. The music video for the official remix of "Love Yourself" featuring Harlem rapper ASAP Rocky premiered via ''Complex (magazine), Complex'' on May 26, 2017. It was directed by Taj and was shot in Los Angeles and New York City. "Set Me Free (Mary J. Blige song), 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, 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'' gave the album a positive review, stating that, "the album moves like a forest fire: ruthless, wide-ranging, and blunt." Matt Bauer of ''Exclaim!'' 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 (website), Pitchfork'' considered the album a relief from Blige's previous album, ''The London Sessions (Mary J. Blige 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'' gave a mixed review of the album, criticizing the song "Glow Up", calling it too similar to other artists such as Rihanna, and Beyoncé. Despite these complaints, she praised the anthems included on the album. In another mixed review, Andy Gill of ''The Independent'' 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, ''Billboard'' 200 on the issue dated ending May 20, 2017, with 78,000 album-equivalent units, (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 (Mary J. Blige album), 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 chart and number one on the Top R&B Albums 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 arrangementsCharts
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