|
|
|
|
| |
Mary J. Blige - Growing Pains
| Allmusic | | Eight albums into her career and comfortably settled into married life -- and, for the most part, herself -- Mary J. Blige continues to prove her versatility and strength, building off 2005's The Breakthrough, but not copying from it. Her increased self-confidence, some of which comes from confessing her all-too-human flaws, makes Growing Pains a mature, polished, and utterly professional set of well-crafted songs....full text |
| | Ew | | They call her the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, but Mary J. Blige has evolved into something else: the Oprah of Song. From early on — see her scorching plea for ''Real Love'' back in '92 — she's laid bare her struggles with substance abuse, bad relationships, and, as the diva herself would say, ''learning to love Mary.'' Along the way, she's become a couture-clad preacher of the get-it-girl gospel. Her latest, Growing Pains, positions the singer once again as a woman both searching and instructing: Whereas the average R&B groove asks you to shake what your mama gave you, Blige wants you not only to shake it but to feed it, love it — and maybe put a fierce wig on it....full text |
| | Rollingstone | | There's no denying the commercial legs or fan appeal of Mary J. Blige's late-2005 The Breakthrough. In the wake of 2003's Diddy dud Love & Life and the teeth of an industrywide slump, its triple-platinum domestic sales — not to mention the sixteen-month stay of "Be Without You" on the R&B chart — are very nearly miraculous. So it's a little glossy, a little soft, a little emotional. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, especially a happily married girl who wants to share the emotional wealth....full text |
|
Mary J. Blige lyrics |
|