Love & Life

Love & Life is Mary J. Blige's sixth studio album.

The album was first released on August 25, 2003 on Geffen Records in the United Kingdom. It was released in the United States the next day.

Album Background
Mary heavily collaborated with her one-time producer Sean Combs for this set.

Due to the history between them on "What's the 411?" and "My Life" (which are generally regarded as their best work) and Mary having just come off of a successful fifth album "No More Drama," the expectations were high for the reunion effort.

Mary & Sean reportedly struggled and clashed during the making of the album & once again, they parted ways upon the completion of it.

Commercial Performance
"Love & Life" became Mary's first album in six years to debut at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 285,298 copies in first week.

It became her second number-one album on the US Billboard 200 album chart.

The album also opened at the top spot on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart respectively, making this Mary's sixth album to top the latter chart. It became her fourth consecutive UK top ten album.

It also debuted in the top ten on the charts in countries such as Canada, Switzerland; with similar charting in France and Germany (where it charted in the top twenty).

The album was eventually certified Platinum by the RIAA for shipping one million copies, and more than two million copies worldwide by the RIAA.

Although the album was certified platinum, it became Mary's lowest-selling album to date.

Critical Reception
"Love & Life" received generally positive and mixed reviews from music critics. It holds a score of 72 out of 100 at Metacritic.

Allmusic gave it 4 stars and said the album "beamed with joy."

Rolling Stone gave it three stars, saying "You may not always love Blige's music, but you will feel her."

The Village Voice's Robert Christgau remarked that the album's highlight is the catchy production of a rejuvenated P. Diddy and that the album peaks in the middle, although he felt that Method Man's lyrics on "Love @ 1st Sight" are the best on an album that favors Mary's usual themes.

Fans largely panned the disc, citing a lack of consistency and noticeable ploys to recapture the early Mary J. Blige/Sean Combs glory.

Accolades
"Love & Life" was nominated for the Grammy Award for "Best Contemporary R&B Album" at the 46th Grammy Awards of 2004.

The song "Ooh!" was nominated for "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance."