The sultry, soulful, funky beats and caramel-sweet voice of Mary J. Blige on her second album My Life (1994) were worth no less than three times platinum and the album is rightly considered a classic. The downside of the story is that at the time she struggled with drugs, alcohol, depression and domestic violence. Seventeen years later, Mary J. has completely recovered and is now on her tenth official
… album, called My Life II. It is indeed a sequel. During the intro, we hear her ask Sean 'Diddy' Combs, who was also involved in part one, to participate in this record. What follows is a productional reinterpretation of Wu-Tang's Triumph and an inspired verse by rapper Nas. This promising start can leave the listener somewhat disillusioned in the end. The urgency of the music diminishes and where Mary first touched your heart, it seems as if she just can't fine tune the listener. (GL)more
