Mary

Mary is Mary J. Blige's fourth studio album.

The album was released on August 17, 1999 on MCA Records.

Album Background
The album showcases a creative move by Mary from urban contemporary to adult contemporary which eschews her previous work's overt hip-hop elements and raunchy persona for classicist soul music and more mature songwriting.

She worked with various artists on the album including Aretha Franklin, Lauryn Hill, Jadakiss, Eric Clapton, Elton John, K-Ci and George Michael.

The songs "I'm in Love", "As" and "Let No Man Put Asunder" are cover versions of The Gap Band's, Stevie Wonder's and First Choice's classic songs.

Tracklisting
European & Australian Album Editions
 * 1) All That I Can Say (5:30) (feat. Lauryn Hill) (written by Lauryn Hill)
 * 2) Sexy (feat. Jadakiss) (4:47) (written by Mary J. Blige, Aaron Phillips, Kiyamma Griffin & Jadakiss)
 * 3) Deep Inside (5:26) (feat. Elton John) (written by Mary J. Blige, Tara Geter, Kevin Deane, Elton John & Bernie Taupin)
 * 4) Beautiful Ones (5:59) (written by Cecil Ward, Rich Harrison, Burt Bacharach & Hal David)
 * 5) I'm In Love (4:50) (written by Ronnie Wilson & Lonnie Wilson)
 * 6) Time (5:06) (written by Mary J. Blige, Chucky Thompson & Stevie Wonder)
 * 7) Memories (4:38) (written by Carsten Schack, Kenneth Karlin, Channette Higgens, Channoah Higgens & Mary J. Blige)
 * 8) Don't Waste Your Time (feat. Aretha Franklin) (4:12) (written by Gen Rubin & Denise Rich)
 * 9) Not Lookin' (feat. K-Ci Hailey) (5:27) (written by Mary J. Blige, Jean Norris, Dean Hostler & Ike Lee)
 * 10) Your Child (5:36) (written by Gerald Isaac)
 * 11) No Happy Holidays (5:16) (written by Mary J. Blige, Kiyamma Griffin & Tara Geter)
 * 12) The Love I Never Had (6:48) (written by James Harris III, Terry Lewis, James "Big Jim" Wright & Mary J. Blige)
 * 13) Give Me You (feat. Eric Clapton) (5:03) (written by Diane Warren)
 * 14) Let No Man Put Asunder (4:23) (written by Bruce Gray & Bruce Hawes)
 * 1) As (4:42) (written by Stevie Wonder; produced by Babyface)

Commercial Performance
"Mary" debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart with first-week sales of 239,000 copies in the United States.

It also entered at number one on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, becoming Mary's fourth album to top the chart.

The album spent 57 weeks on the Billboard 200 and 69 weeks on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.

In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number five on the UK Albums Chart.

On October 18, 2000, the album was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, for shipments of two million copies in the United States.

It has also been certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry, for shipments of 60,000 copies in the United Kingdom and certified gold by the Canadian Recording Industry Association, for shipments of 40,000 copies in Canada.

As of 2009, "Mary" has sold 2,100,000 copies in the United States.

Critical Reception
Q gave the album four out of five stars and stated:

"Blige can turn from sassy to agonized to vulnerable in the space of a single phrase [...] The Queen Of Hip Hop Soul remains classy and invincible."

Craig Seymour of Spin praised its classicist influences and called Mary "emotionally gripping and stylistically diverse", writing that "[Blige's] assured blues moans, gospel shouts, and jazzy inflections graph the history of African-American music."

Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot noted "a more organic feel" in its production, which he viewed as less "uninspired" than on Mary's previous albums.

Entertainment Weekly's Anthony DeCurtis complimented Mary's vocal embellishments and the album's "lush and spare" arrangements, stating:

"Musically, Mary is essentially a long, soulful, ballad-tempo vamp over which Blige alternately — and sometimes simultaneously — tells tales of faithless love, preaches the gospel of female strength, and determinedly clings to hope."

The Source complimented Mary's "pure emotion" and stated "she dares to break the hip-hop soul template she helped create, and do something different. Something our loop-weary souls need."

Steve Jones USA Today commended Mary for "making you feel rather than merely hear what she's singing about," adding that she "continues to separate herself from her peers, conveying a wide range of emotions without becoming whiny, petty or overwrought."

Despite viewing its strength as "more in how Blige sings the songs than the songs themselves," Los Angeles Times writer Soren Baker commented that "the lively, supple instrumentation only adds to the force of her already dominating delivery" and noted "a more soul-stirring, straightforward R&B attitude than the hip-hop/R&B hybrid of her earlier collections."

Rolling Stone writer Touré gave the album four out of five stars and commented that "Blige seems to have moved away from the Terry McMillan once-again-he's-breaking-my-heart mantra to, perhaps, an Oprah love-your-spirit ethos."

Christopher John Farley of Time wrote that "Mary is somewhat inconsistent in song quality, but Blige's soul-singed vocals save the weaker material."

Ann Powers of The New York Times viewed that the album exemplifies a "new conscience" of feminine themes in contemporary R&B at the time, adding that "if Mary gestures toward an older, non-hip-hop audience, it also makes the claim for Ms. Blige's canonization within the rhythm-and-blues hall of fame."

In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau gave the album an A- rating, indicating "the kind of garden-variety good record that is the great luxury of musical micromarketing and overproduction."

He commented that "Rather than hating playas, she's bored with them [...] all that she can say is that she's ready to love someone serious and walk away from anyone who isn't."

In a retrospective review for "The Rolling Stone Album Guide," music writer Tom Moon of Rolling Stone gave the album three-and-a-half out of five stars and viewed it as an improvements over Mary's previous album, commenting that it "more fully realizes Blige's vision for Share My World."

Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave it four out of five stars and complimented its "sheer classiness", writing that "There's still grit in the music, but it's been glossed over with a polished production."

Erlewine described it as "a rewarding, engaging way to mature" and wrote that "Blige's voice is richer and her skills have deepened, and her new songs, while not as streetwise, are worthy of her talents."

Personnel
Vocals Instruments Producers Mixing Engineers
 * Mary J. Blige - Executive Producer, Main Performer, Vocal Arrangement, Vocals
 * Kirk Burrowes - Executive Producer
 * LaTonya Blige-DaCosta - Associate Executive Producer
 * Hank Shocklee - Associate Executive Producer
 * Ivy Skoff - Project Coordinator
 * Aretha Franklin - Vocals
 * Cedric "K-Ci" Hailey - Vocals
 * George Michael
 * Jadakiss - Rap
 * DMX - Rap
 * Nas - Rap
 * Funkmaster Flex - Rap
 * Dustin Adams - Vocals (Background)
 * Terri Robinson - Vocals (Background)
 * Audrey Wheeler - Vocals (Background)
 * Cindy Mizelle - Vocals (Background)
 * Sharon Bryant - Vocals (Background)
 * Paulette McWilliams - Vocals (Background)
 * Lauryn Hill - Vocals (Background)
 * Elizabeth Withers - Vocals (Background)
 * Tara Geter Tillman - Vocals (Background)
 * Karlin - Vocals (Background)
 * Chuck Berghofer - Bass
 * Nathan East - Bass
 * Eric Lorde - Bass
 * Paul Johnson - Bass
 * Tom Barney - Bass
 * Chuck Domonico - Bass
 * Larry Corbett - Cello
 * Dane Little - Cello
 * David Low - Cello, Viola
 * Big Mike Clemons - Drums
 * Michael Clemons - Drums
 * Chris 'Daddy' Dave - Drums
 * Che Pope - Drum Programming
 * Babyface - Drum Programming, Keyboards, Guitar (Acoustic)
 * Moise Laporte - Keyboards
 * Gary Grant - Flugelhorn, Trumpet
 * Dave Trigg - Flugelhorn, Trumpet
 * Jeff Mironov - Guitar
 * Paul Pesco - Guitar
 * Eli Lishinsky - Guitar
 * Eric Clapton - Guitar
 * Mike Scott - Guitar
 * Soong Lee - Guitar
 * Randy Waldman - Horn Arrangements, String Arrangements
 * Paul Riser - Horn Arrangements, String Arrangements
 * Loris Holland - Keyboards
 * Rex Rideout - Keyboards
 * Jimmy Jam - Multi Instruments
 * Terry Lewis - Multi Instruments
 * Rich Harrison - Multi Instruments
 * Kiyamma Griffin - Multi Instruments
 * Karlin - Multi Instruments
 * Chucky Thompson - Multi Instruments
 * Kevin Deane - Multi Instruments
 * Soulshock - Multi Instruments
 * Elton John - Piano
 * Manuel Seal, Jr. - Piano (Electric), Piano, Keyboards
 * Gen Rubin - Organ, Wurlitzer
 * Reverend Dave Boruff - Saxophone
 * Slyde Hyde - Trombone
 * Bruce Otto - Trombone
 * Evan Wilson - Viola
 * Simon Oswell - Viola
 * Brian Dembow - Viola
 * Alan Grunfeld - Violin
 * Bob Sanov - Violin
 * Bruce Dukov - Violin
 * Berj Garabedian - Violin
 * Endre Granat - Violin
 * Kathleen Lenski - Violin
 * Joel Derouin - Violin
 * Anatoly Rosinsky - Violin
 * Darius Campo - Violin
 * Ron Folsom - Violin
 * Roger Wilkie - Violin
 * Armen Garabedian - Violin
 * Mary J. Blige
 * Babyface
 * Kevin Deane
 * Soulshock
 * Chucky Thompson
 * Malik Pendleton
 * Floyd Howard
 * Manuel Seal, Jr.
 * Lauryn Hill
 * Jimmy Jam
 * Terry Lewis
 * Kiyamma Griffin
 * Rich Harrison
 * Big Mike Clemons
 * Karlin
 * Ike Lee III
 * Moise Laporte
 * Gerald Isaac
 * Angela Piva
 * Jon Gass
 * Commissioner Gordon
 * Edwin "Eddie Ed" Ramos
 * Yuri Zwadluk
 * Manny Marroquin
 * Warren Riker
 * Ben Garrison
 * Larry Alexander
 * Prince Charles Alexander
 * Malik Pendleton
 * Jamie Siegel
 * Steve Hodge
 * Soulshock
 * E'lyk - Mixing Assistant
 * Michael "Wolf" Reaves
 * David Kennedy
 * Al Schmidt
 * Steve Eigner
 * Jim Carusoee
 * Tony Prendatt
 * Yuri Zwadluk
 * Angela Piva
 * Jason Goldstein
 * Manny Marroquin
 * Charles "Prince Charles" Alexander
 * Eli Lishinsky
 * Ken Lewis
 * Steve Hodge
 * George Karras
 * Carl Robinson
 * Paul Boutin
 * Jamie Siegel - Assistant Engineer
 * Mike Tocci - Assistant Engineer
 * Andy Salas - Assistant Engineer
 * Steve Mazur - Assistant Engineer
 * Dave Dar - Assistant Engineer
 * Geoff Allen - Assistant Engineer
 * Michael McCoy - Assistant Engineer
 * Alex DeJonge - Assistant Engineer
 * Alex Sok - Assistant Engineer
 * Xavier Smith - Assistant Engineer

Accolades
Spin ranked "Mary" number 15 in its year-end list of best albums. Mary won and was nominated for many awards for this album.

She was nominated for 2 MTV Europe Music Awards for "Best Video and Best Song" (for the song "As" with George Michael).
 * In 2000, she was nominated for a Brit Award for "Best International Female Solo Artist."
 * She received three Grammy Awards nominations for "Best R&B Vocal Performance - Female" (for "All That I Can Say"), "Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group" (for "Don't Waste Your Time" with Aretha Franklin) and Best R&B Album for "Mary."
 * In 2001, she was nominated for a Soul Train Music Award for "Best Female R&B/Soul Single" for "Your Child."
 * She won a Soul Train Music Award for "Best R&B/Soul Album, Female" for "Mary" and was also nominated for "Best R&B/Soul or Rap Album."
 * She also won 2 Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards for "Solo R&B/Soul Album of the Year" for "Mary" and "R&B/Soul or Rap Song of the Year" for "All That I Can Say." She was also nominated for Best Solo R&B/Soul Single for "All That I Can Say".
 * She also won the first ever BET award for "Best Female Artist" in 2001 for "Deep Inside."