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Mary
J. Blige
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Music
Mary J. Blige
With Janet Jackson through town in January and Destiny's Child due back
in the spring, Tokyo now gets the chance to compare and contrast their
styles with that of another queen of R&B, Mary J. Blige.
Blige swings through Japan as part of an ongoing tour to support her
2001 multi-platinum album, No More Drama, just re-released with two new
tracks and remixes. The album has marked another high point for one of
R&B's most outspoken figures.
Can you imagine Janet Jackson, for instance, writing a song about premenstrual
syndrome? Blige did exactly that on the number "PMS" (featuring
the guitar work of Lenny Kravitz), which includes lines like, "My
lower back is aching and my clothes don't fit..."
The album, which earned Blige two Grammy nominations, was also about
a turning point in the artist's life, as the title implied. "I'm
just celebrating my joy right now, my life. I'm celebrating the fact that
I'm no longer what I was mentally and spiritually," she told Sonicnet.
"My album is called No More Drama, and that song is just saying,
'Enough already. I'm shaking it all off and I'm not going to let anyone
control me emotionally anymore.'"
In the ten years since her discovery and signing to Uptown records by
Sean "Puffy" Combs, Blige has emerged from the shadows of boyfriends
and producers to take center stage. And according to her website, she
is also reveling in her just-launched tour. "Going on tour and performing
live is just as important to me as going into the studio and making an
album," she said. "Giving my fans a live Mary show is not only
for them, but for me. Having them there to cheer me on is what doing a
tour is all about."
Mary J. Blige plays Tokyo International Forum March 13-14. See listings
for details.
Photo: H.I.P.
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