"Whole Damn Year" 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 ...

. It was written by Blige,

Emeli Sandé Adele Emily Sandé, ( ; born 10 March 1987), known professionally as Emeli Sandé, is a Scottish singer and songwriter. Born in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, and raised in Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, by an English mother and a Zambian fathe ...

and Knox Brown for her twelfth studio album '' The London Sessions'' (2014), featuring production from the latter. "Whole Damn Year" is a R&B song, with a

neo soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contempo ...

influence. The song was released as the album's third single on December 1, 2014.

Background

"Whole Damn Year" was written by Blige along with producer Knox Brown and musician

. Commenting on its creation, Sandé stated: “I wrote this song and I love this song, but I didn’t think that it was a song for me for some reason ..And as soon as Mary heard it and connected to it, it really felt like the song had found its natural and true home.”

Chart performance

On September 22, 2014, Blige debuted the song "Whole Damn Year" on

Power 105 WWPR-FM (105.1 FM) is an urban contemporary music radio station licensed to New York City. WWPR-FM is owned by iHeartMedia and broadcasts from studios in the former AT&T Building in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan; its transmitter is lo ...

's ''The Breakfast Club''. The song debuted on the US

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (previously known as Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay) is a chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the top R&B and hip hop songs in the United States, based on audience impressions from a panel of radio stations monitored ...

chart at number 27 and US

Adult R&B Songs The Adult R&B Songs chart (formerly called Adult R&B Airplay) is an airplay chart that is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on urban adult contemporary radio stations, whose playl ...

chart as greatest gainer of the week at number 15. The song was eventually released on October 21, 2014 as a digital download.

Music video

The music video for "Whole Damn Year" was directed by Mike Ho and Alexandre Moors and released on December 2, 2014. Shot in black and white, it dramatizes the violence in Blige's words, including scenes of domestic abuse and bullying. In the end, the couples seem to hug and make up.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''The London Sessions''. *Mary J. Blige – vocals, writer *Knox Brown – producer, writer *Matt Champlin – engineer *Maddox Chhim – mixing assistance *Trehy Harris – recording *

Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins Rodney Roy Jerkins (born July 29, 1977), also known by his stage name Darkchild, is an American record producer, rapper, and songwriter. He has collaborated with a broad range of popular artists. Jerkins has won multiple Grammy Awards. Among hi ...

– mixing, vocal producer *

Jaycen Joshua Jaycen Joshua is a mix engineer and music producer who owns the revered Canton House Studios in Studio City, California. Joshua started his mix career in 2005 when he became partners with his mentor Dave Pensado and formed The Penua Project. Joshu ...

– mixing *Ryan Kaul – mixing assistance *Alex Robinson – recording *

– writer

Charts

References

{{Mary J. Blige singles 2014 singles 2014 songs Mary J. Blige songs Capitol Records singles Contemporary R&B ballads Songs written by Emeli Sandé Songs written by Mary J. Blige 2010s ballads