The Mary J Blige record about “self-love”
Often referred to as the “Queen of Hip-Hop Soul”, Mary J Blige has undoubtedly had a long and highly prolific career. Raised in the Schlobohm housing scheme of Yonkers, the singer has unveiled that she saw drugs and domestic violence at a young age and was affected by it.
However, she came out on the other side, a household name in R&B. Blige developed her vocal skills while singing in church when she lived in Georgia. Blige has written many exceptional songs. From ‘Be Without You’ to ‘Just Fine,’ it’s fair to say that the vocalist has a knack for songwriting.
In fact, Blige is so skilled at her penmanship that she has won nine Grammy awards, twelve Billboard awards, and even a Billboard Icon award. The vocalist has explored a range of topics in her music. From subjects such as joy and happiness to heartbreak and anger.
However, one song she wrote was about self-love, healing and learning to have self-confidence. In 2005, Mary J Blige released her chart-topping album The Breakthrough, which featured songs such as ‘Be Without You’ and ‘MJB da MVP’. However, it was the project’s fourth single that drew a lot of attention.
Entitled ‘Take Me As I Am’, the track was produced by the iconic R&B producer Infinity and was written by Blige and refined with help from the likes of Jordan Suecof and Thabiso Nkhereanye.
The downtempo track, which samples the 1979 Lonnie Liston Smith song ‘Garden Of Peace’ hears Blige sing heartfelt lyrics such as, “You know I’ve been holdin’ on / Try to make me weak, but I still stay strong” and “She’s been lost and found / Now she answers to G-O-D / And she’s confident.” It’s that combination of profundity and attitude that typify her style.
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey on her show about the track and album, Blige explained, “The Breakthrough is the self-love. If we believe in negative things about yourself… That’s what’s going to happen. If we believe in positive things about yourself, that’s just going to happen. I believe that I’m smart. I’m beautiful. I’m strong. I’m loved.”
You can listen to ‘Take Me As I Am’ in the video below.