Proud Mary J

Interview, July, 1995 by Veronica Webb

At age twenty-four, Mary J. Blige presently holds the title Queen of Hip-hop Soul. This medal flint came to Blige directly from the hip-hop community because, responding to rap, she developed a style of soul singing flowing right on top of the beats on her 1993 debut album, What's the 411? (Uptown). Since the release of her second Uptown album, My Life, last fall, she has been referred to as the "Aretha Franklin of Generation X." As usual, flattery and fame have their price, and Bilge is in the doubly precarious position of being expected to live up to all of this.

I went to meet Blige at a private airplane hangar in Santa Monica, while she was shooting a $300,000 video for the track "You Bring Me Joy," which will be the third video from My Life. Three and a half hours after my arrival, during the dinner break, I was allowed my first encounter with Blige. I had been warned that she is not at all political. That she is moody. That she can be attacking. When the director calls for a dinner break, I hear her cousin and traveling companion Marco rename it a "chronic break." True to her word, Blige and her sister LaTonya, along with Marco end a few beauty attendants, sit in Blige's Jeep, listening to the rapper Method Man on the car radio, passin' reefer, and drinkin' forty-ounce bottles of beer. Someone summons me to the car to introduce me to Blige. When it becomes clear to Bilge that I intend to interview her that day, she is openly infuriated that she had not been briefed that I'd be doing more than just hanging out the first time we met. She's through. Windows start rolling up, the doors on Blige's Cherokee slam shut, and I awkwardly retreat to my car. I'm parked in the space next to hers. She's given me the pop star treatment: They bring you up, and they let you down.

"Keep it real" is the pledge of allegiance at Camp Blige. It isn't long before the "chronic" is in full effect and the parking lot becomes a block party. Taureen Bennett, Blige's soft-spoken six-foot-three bodyguard, stands next to the passenger side of her Jeep Cherokee and rocks the vehicle and its occupants to the beat, it looks like a ride at an urban amusement park. When Taureen works up a sweat from rocking the Jeep, he sits down in front of Blige's dressing trailer next to her Jeep and sips a wine cooler, Hours go by, and the party continues. Marco and LaTonya bring back Styrofoam containers of fried chicken and greens. Under the streetlights in the parking lot, Blige teaches her sister end Taureen the steps she dances in the video. It's a ghetto extravaganza.

Blige needs a pack of Newports. Sensing my total frustration, she asks me to take her to the store. The two of us go together in my car, followed by Taureen in his car. My frustration and resentment immediately turn into gratitude. I always want a story!

Sizing me up at the liquor store, Blige tells me "You need a drink, girl." Politely, I decline in favor of Gatorade. "No! Let's get a bottle of Malibu." It's not an offer - it's an order. I need to know what Malibu is. "You ain't never had no 'bu, girl? Well, you here now. "Blige picks up the Malibu and goes over to the cooler and pulls out two cans of pineapple coconut juice, asking the cashier if they're "all natural, no MSG?" Then she asks for a pack of cigarettes.

Taureen shadows my car back to the set. Blige invites me into her trailer on the condition that I "troop" with her through that bottle of Malibu and a few beers. She shows me many different sides of herself: pop star, spiritual leader, project princess, bitch, and good girlfriend. The overwhelming thing about Mary J. Blige is that she does exactly whet she wants to do, regardless, or maybe because of, her point of view - that she is constantly under siege in a world that's hostile to who she is. And because of that I won't forget her. She is someone who will be famous whether her story turns out to be a tragedy or a success.

VERONICA WEBB: So, is this everything that you ever wanted?

MARY J. BLIGE: This is some bullshit. I'm happy, though. But I'd be happy either way. I got to be.

VW: It sounds like that's your goal - to be happy.

MJB: Oh definitely. To be content. To find my fight mind - peace - and do it while I'm here.

VW: But there's a lot of stuff that took you away from that, right?

MJB: Like what?

VW: Well, we all have stuff that takes it away from us.

MJB: Well, you know what takes it away from us? We take us away from us, when we feed into negative bullshit and shit that's going on that we are not supposed to even have anything to do with.

VW: But sometimes it's not even negative bullshit. When I started modeling, I was nineteen years old, and suddenly it was like planes, money, and hotels.

MJB: That's positive when it's showered on you the right way, but it's negative when you can't handle it, when you don't know what to do with it. It's good, it comes, you spend it, but don't act like an asshole. Just stay you, remain the same - humble and kind, a nice person. Do your thing. You demand respect and you'll get it. First of all, you give respect.