Reminisce: 25 Years of Mary J. Blige's What's The 411
Twenty-five years ago Mary J. Blige took the music world by storm with her debut album. What's The 411 forever changed the sound of R&B, the concept of hip-hop culture, and the face of soul music. Dubbed the Queen of Hip Hop Soul by Andre Harrell, Mary redefined what it meant to be a female soul singer while simultaneously paying homage to the myriad of the music that shaped her distinct sound. Combining Mary's soulful voice, hip hop samples and her tomboyish image, the album was groundbreaking for its time. It not only challenged the limits of R&B music, but also signaled the end of an era. Just as Uptown Records had birthed the new jack swing sound a few short years earlier, it was now aiding in the death of the sub-genre and birthing would would become known as hip hop soul. While she wasn't the first R&B artist to sing over a hip hop sample (she credits Caron Wheeler of Soul II Soul), she was the first to refine the sound and make it her signature.
What's The 411 spent 7 weeks at no. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, spawned 2 no. 1 hits, and has sold over 3.4 million copies in the U.S. The influence of this album is still heard today and with her debut, she forever solidified herself as one of soul music's most innovative artists. On this, the 25th anniversary of What's The 411's release, let's take a look back at this classic album... track by track.
On the album opener, "Leave A Message", a who's who of Hip Hop's main influencers are heard leaving personalized messages congratulating Mary on her solo debut over a Schoolly D sample from 1985. Uptown CEO Andre Harrell, Puff Daddy, Jamie Foster Brown of Sister2Sister Magazine, Christopher Williams, CL Smooth, Heavy D, Eric Sermon, and a host of others make appearances on the albums' 3 minute and 39 second intro.
Producer(s): Sean "Puffy" Combs; Tony Dofat
Sample(s): P.S.K. - What Does It Mean? by Schoolly D (1985)
Fun Fact: To date, Mary has sampled Schoolly D's P.S.K. twice more in her career. The 1st time in 1996 for Case's Touch Me, Teach Me with Foxy Brown and then again in 2011 for DJ Khaled's It Ain't Over Til It's Over with Fabulous and Jadakiss.
The next voice you hear is that of Mary's, singing a cappella. "Reminisce" (written by Intro's Kenny Greene) showcases Mary's soulful voice over a heavy hitting beat. This is one of the songs that would ultimately shape the essence of who Mary J. Blige is and the overall theme for a lot of her music: longing for a love lost.
Mary performs Reminisce live on In Living Color, 1992.
Producer(s): Sean "Puffy" Combs; Dave "Jam" Hall
Sample(s): Stop, Look, Listen by MC Late (1989)
Fun Fact: When putting together Reminisce, Dave Hall wanted to create a dark and moody record. He found the MC Late sample to give the song that hard, heavy hitting hip hop beat he knew Puffy would love. Hall then took the record to Kenny Greene and together, they wrote the hook for Reminisce. After writing a catchy hook, they constructed the rest of the song in minutes.
"Real Love" is the song that I feel most exemplifies the essence of hip hop soul. You have what would traditionally be considered a hard hip hop beat being looped and sang over soulfully. One of the things I feel made Mary the forerunner then, and reigning Queen of Hip Hop Soul now, is her ability to emote vocally while riding hip hop beats like a rapper would. I attribute this to Mary actually being apart of hip hop culture in the 70s & 80s, as opposed to someone who has only a surface knowledge of hip hop and is given lyrics to sing over a hardcore beat.
Real Love. Mary's 1st Soul Train appearance, 1992.
Producer(s): Mark C. Rooney; Mark Morales
Sample(s): Top Billin' by Audio 2 (1987)
Fun Fact: Two years before the album release (1990), Real Love was the 1st song that Mary recorded for her solo debut. In 1992, shortly before her release date, producer Mark Rooney wanted to take out the Audio 2 sample and play the drums himself. His reasoning: He didn't want to give publishing to Audio 2. Thankfully Puffy disagreed, telling him that the sample was vital and what made the song hip hop soul.
The 1st single from the album was "You Remind Me". Released as part of the soundtrack to the 1991 Halle Berry/Tommy Davidson/Joseph C. Phillips film Strictly Business, You Remind Me soared up the charts and became a no. 1 hit for Mary. Here, again, is another ode to a love lost. The success of this song propelled ticket sales for Strictly Business.
Mary performs Real Love live at the Apollo Theatre, 1992.
Producer(s): Dave "Jam" Hall
Sample(s): You Remind Me by Patrice Rushen (1982); Pickin' Boogers by Biz Markie (1987)
Fun Fact: It was the instant success of You Remind Me that made Uptown CEO Andre Harrell take Mary seriously and begin work on her solo album. The song hit no. 1 on Billboard’s Hot R&B chart 3 days before What's The 411 was released on July 25, 1992.
The only interlude on the album, "Intro Talk", featured another new-comer to the music scene... Leaders of the New School member Busta Rhymes.
Producer(s): Sean "Puffy" Combs; Tony Dofat
Sample(s): Hydra by Grover Washington Jr (1975)
The next song on the album would be Mary's only remake. A cover of Rufus & Chaka Khan's "Sweet Thing" from 1975. Here is where she perfectly merges the old-school with (what was, at the time) the new-school. Sweet Thing proved that Mary could not only be hip hop's songstress, but that she also had the chops to take on soulful classics like this Chaka Khan standard and do them justice.
Mary performs Sweet Thing live on MTV's Uptown Unplugged, 1993.
Producer(s): Mark C. Rooney; Mark Morales
Sample(s): I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little Bit More Baby by Barry White (1973)
Fun Fact: Fans of both versions of "Sweet Thing" have long debated whose version of the song reigns supreme: Chaka's or Mary's. Mary's version was never supposed to be on her album. Early Summer of 1992, Mary was scheduled to appear at the Impact Convention in Atlantic City, NJ and was in need of a classic R&B ballad to perform. Mark Rooney suggested Sweet Thing and went into the studio to record just the instrumental. Mary came by to record BG vocals so the track could be performed at Impact the next day. She asked at the very last minute to put a scratch lead vocal on the track... once Andre Harrell heard it he wanted it on the album, but with one catch: that demo vocal stayed because he loved how raw it was. So Mary's version of Sweet Thing is her original one take demo version. Not mixed or re-recorded. For that reason alone, her version remains my favorite.
"Love No Limit" is perhaps my favorite song on the album. Another Kenny Greene composition, the jazz influence combined with Mary's quasi-baritone vocal make this song the stand-out of the album. It was definitely the song that solidified my love for all things MJB. Mary admits that she recorded Love No Limit with Anita Baker in mind, and it becomes apparent at the tail end of the song. In recent years, she's started interpolating elements of Anita Baker's "Been So Long" into Love No Limit during live performances.
Producer(s): Dave "Jam" Hall
Fun Fact: Love No Limit almost didn't happen. It was the last original song written for the album and the producers was unsure how it would be received, as it sounded nothing like the rest of the album. When the song was taken to Puffy, he thought it was OK, but wasn't overly excited about it... hence his personal spin on the remix released the following year.
In the early 90s, every great album needed a soulful duet. "I Don't Want To Do Anything" paired Mary with Uptown label-mate, and Jodeci front man, K-Ci Hailey. Fueled by passion and their real-life tumultuous relationship, Mary and K-Ci delivered what is now considered one of the classic male/female R&B duets. This wouldn't be the last time that Mary's love life served as a catalyst for her career.
Producer(s): Devante Swing
Fun Fact: While blessed with an amazing voice, K-Ci is trash. Take that however you want. :)
"Slow Down" showcases something most weren't expecting from Mary: a sexy, seductive side. The image Uptown was developing for her showed no indication that she'd be the type of balladeer to sing about sex. In the song, she's serenading her lover, reassuring that he can take his time because "the lovin' ain't goin' no where." This is one of 2 songs on the album I'd consider to have more of a new jack swing sound.
Producer(s): Mark C. Rooney; Mark Morales; Prince Markie Dee
Fun Fact: Mary was 20 yrs old and still living with her mother in the projects while recording What's The 411. The writers would take the songs to her apartment, she'd learn them, and go into the studio to record. While most of her songs were done in one take, it never took her more than two takes. This was the idea of the producers, as they wanted to convey the raw essence of who she was on the album.
One of my favorite things about Mary's voice are the imperfections in it. Those imperfections are what make her the perfect soul vocalist and place her in the same field as greats like Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, and Etta James. Mary's raw vocal takes center stage on "My Love" for an exhilarating 4 minutes and 13 seconds.
An accapella version of My Love.
Producer(s): Dave "Jam" Hall
Fun Fact: 22 years after the release of What's The 411, Mary sampled My Love on 2014's dance influenced My Loving.
Here, Mary samples My Love. This song was featured on her 2014 album, The London Sessions.
"Changes I've Been Going Through" is another one of What's The 411's gems. With vocals audibly influenced by Soul II Soul's Caron Wheeler, Mary once again makes a desperate plea for a love lost. This song is a textbook example of hip hop soul... and what set Mary apart from any of her predecessors.
Producer(s): Mark C. Rooney; Mark Morales; Sean "Puffy" Combs
Sample(s): Make the Music With Your Mouth, Biz by Biz Markie ft. T.J. Swan (1986); Keep On Movin' by Soul II Soul ft. Caron Wheeler (1989)
Fun Fact: Aside from crediting legends like Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, and Chaka Khan as influences, Mary's always credited latter artists like Anita Baker, Milira, Caron Wheeler, and Stephanie Mills as well. These were the people dominating R&B as she was recording her album. LA Reid was a co-writer on this song.
For the album's title track, Uptown recruited former Master Of Ceremonies and Brand Nubian member Grand Puba. He'd recently left Brand Nubian and was crafting his solo album when he appeared on "What's the 411" with Mary. Just a few short months later Mary would return the favor and be featured as the vocalist on his single, Check It Out.
Mary and Grand Puba perform What's The 411 on Yo! MTV Raps in 1992.
Producer(s): Sean "Puffy" Combs; Tony Dofat
Sample(s): Pride and Vanity by the Ohio Players (1972); Very Special by Debra Laws (1981)
Fun Fact: While it was Mary's idea to cover Debra Laws' Very Special into the song, Grand Puba actually wrote her rhymes. This was the first of MANY times that Mary would rap on record. In 1995, Grand Puba sampled this song on his sophomore album with a song titled Very Special. Then again, in 2005, Missy Elliott sampled the song again on My Struggles ft. none other than Mary J. Blige and Grand Puba themselves.
As stated earlier, the influence of What's The 411 is still heard in the music produced today. You'd be hard pressed to find any artist, past or present, who hasn't adopted the sound of singing over hip hop beats. It also made the art of sampling one of the staple elements in contemporary R&B music. And it's not exclusive to just R&B... many rockers have also taken to including elements of hip hop in their music.
When charged with the task of overseeing Mary's first solo effort, Puffy gathered two teams of producers and pitted them against each other. Genius on his part, as he knew this would encourage the producers to bring their A-game and lace Mary with the absolute best material. He then carefully crafted her image, while allowing her to remain true to herself. Just as Mary is the Queen of Hip Hop Soul, Puffy is the King of the sub-genre. While What's The 411 wasn't the pioneer experiment for hip hop soul, it was the album that successfully fused the two genres and created a lane for artists like Mary, who were less traditional in their approach.
Give this album a spin today and be sure to listen for not only the samples used and Mary's raw delivery, but also the dying influence of new jack swing.
