The 30-year-old Mary J Blige amassed through her debut What's The 411? in 1992 already the title Queen of Hip Hop Soul. That she managed to consolidate that reputation is proven by the rave reviews of the three subsequent CDs and the long list of Grammys and related Awards. What is striking about No More Drama is that Mary does not use the slick R&B sound and ditto vocals, but performs pure
… soul, sometimes smooth and slick, sometimes raw and emotional but always undeniably authentic. That puts her in the list of contemporary soul divas Erikah Badu, Kelis and India.arie, who distinguish themselves by developing their own style in which gasp samples are even inappropriate. No More Drama is therefore a soul album that, like the title, has shaken off the drama and shows r & b in its purest form, without frills. Just listen to the semi-acoustic PMS, which sounds like an Aretha Franklin Motown classic from the 21st century. No More Drama has been re-released with two nice bonus tracks. A remix of the title track by P. Diddy and the new song Rainy Dayz with rapper Ja Rule. (BP)more
