Overview
Following the success of her debut album, What's the 411?, and a remixed version in 1993, Blige went into the recording studio in the fall of 1993 to record her second album, My Life. The album was a breakthrough for Blige, who at this point was in a clinical depression, battling both drugs and alcohol, as well as being in an abusive relationship with K-Ci Hailey, which was reported in several tabloids. In this period, Blige would once again dominate the charts with her singles: the Top 40 hit "Be Happy", a cover version of Rose Royce's 1977 hit "I'm Goin' Down", and "Mary Jane (All Night Long)", an elucidation of the Mary Jane Girls' "All Night Long", Rick James's "Mary Jane", and Teddy Pendergrass's hit "Close the Door". The album uses primary soul samples from R&B musicians such as Curtis Mayfield, Roy Ayers, Al Green, Teddy Pendergrass, Marvin Gaye, Barry White, Rick James, and his protégés, the Mary Jane Girls.
Other memorable songs include a cover version of Carole King's hit single "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", "You Bring Me Joy" (which samples "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me" by Barry White) and "My Life," alongside an official remix version of the song "Be With You", which features Lauryn Hill rapping on the introduction and closing verses. (In 1998, Lauryn Hill would duet with Blige on the hip hop soul ballad "I Used to Love Him" on Hill's album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.)
Read more about this topic: My Life (Mary J. Blige Album)