We should celebrate the icon that is Mary J. Blige more

“I deserve flowers, for this superwoman that I am,” sings Mary J. Blige in “Superpower”, one of the twelve songs contained in his new album “Gratitude”. Colleagues, critics and professionals do not celebrate her enough, despite the fact that she is perhaps the most important female artist of black music of the last twenty-five years, with over 80 million copies sold worldwide between albums and singles and a notable impact on new generation artists such as – just to name a few – Victoria Monét, Her and Coco Jones? No problem. Mary learned to do it herself. At 53 she understood that she didn’t need to be praised in the end: her story speaks for her. That of one

survivedof a fighter, a lioness who defended her place in the world recording scene with claws and fangs. When last month, on the eve of the release of “Gratitude”, she finally entered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the voice of “Family Affair” gave a passionate – and exciting – speech on stage : “All this time I’ve been building my career to be a rock star. And now I’m the queen of hip hop”, he reiterated. “Gratitude”, which will be released this Friday, November 15, is a photograph that gives us a Mary J. Blige simply in a state of grace.

At 53, the star left the Bronx to conquer 9 Grammy Awards and records in the rankings has finally made peace with itself and its ghosts. And looking back, he feels a sense of gratitude: “The record is called ‘Gratitude’ because that’s the state I’m in today. Look at my life right now. I am in a constant state of gratitude. I feel good. I have a job and opportunities. I have people around me who love me, extraordinary fans to whom I am grateful for all these years of unconditional affection”. The album is the fifteenth of Mary J. Blige’s career and comes two years after the previous one “Good morning gorgeous”, with which in 2023 she was nominated for the Grammy Awards as “Album of the Year” and “Best R&B Album”. In that album the diva she told of her new life as a single after the stormy end, after fourteen years, of her marriage to the producer Martin Kendu Isaacs, between her newfound freedom and the world of parties, loneliness and the desire to fall in love again. Today, twenty-four months later, the star she talks about her newfound love: that for herself.

“Gratitude” comes out close to thirtieth anniversary of “My life”the album that in 1994 projected her towards the scepter of queen of stars and stripes hip hop, thanks to songs such as “Be happy”, “I’m goin’ down” and “Mary Jane (All night long)”. “I was in a state of mind I didn’t want to live in. I was under the influence of drugs. I was going through hell. I collected abusive relationships. I hated myself. Something happened and I chose life, I who had also wanted to commit suicide“, said the singer-songwriter, who already in recent months, even before the affair involving Puff Daddy, her godfather, broke out, had made it clear that she had long since severed ties with the American producer, rapper and entrepreneur who ended up at the center of a real media storm in the USA.

Those three minutes of performance in Los Angeles duringSuperbowl Halftime Showthe final of the American football championship, one of the most followed and commented events in the USA, in 2022 showed the whole world a Mary J. Blige still in splendid shape, close to the release of “Good morning gorgeous”. Today the artistic and personal awareness of Mary J. Blige, who for the dozen songs contained in “Gratitude” worked with producers such as Darkchild, DJ Cassidy, D’Mile and Kaytranada, is maximum: “It’s about the celebration of what true love truly is. And what true love truly is, for me, is the love I have found for myself”.