Blige, premiered in New York City, chronicling the nine-time Grammy winning artist’s landmark 1994 album “My Life” and the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul’s journey from the Slow Bomb projects of Yonkers to the heights of hip-hop music.
“My Life” gave Blige the opportunity to address the culture as she saw it and for listeners to see themselves reflected in a young Black woman struggling deeply with herself, fundamentally broadened the genre’s purview.
I was singing for my life,’” Blige told Variety at the premiere, held at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
That pain was immortalized in tracks like “Be Happy” and “My Life,” layering a sincere R&B sound over unrepentant, heavy hip-hop tracks.
“Mary reps for us, and she still reps for us,” Latasha Gillespie, head of global diversity, equity and inclusion for Amazon Studios, told Variety at the premiere.
“We have come through so much together,” she said Wednesday, speaking as much about her music as the listeners it has saved.