Amazon Studios is set to release ‘Mary J. Blige’s My Life‘ documentary on Friday, June 25th.
Mary J. Blige‘s second studio album, My Life, means so much to so many people, so it was only right to celebrate its 25th anniversary with this documentary.
The documentary is Executive Produced by the Queen MJB herself alongside Sean “Diddy” Combs, with the music for the film produced by the legendary Quincy Jones.
RELATED: Amazon Studios Releases ‘Mary J. Blige’s My Life’ Documentary Trailer
Amazon gives us a solid hour and a half of Mary’s life through the lens of the iconic My Life album.
Die-hard Mary J. Blige fans probably already know most of the info about Mary’s life provided in the documentary.
However, it’s still nice to have all aspects in one place coupled with video footage of “Baby Mary”, as she refers to her younger self.
Below are my top takeaways from the film:
“That whole album was a cry for help.” – Mary J. Blige
- Roy Ayers’; “Everybody Loves The Sunshine”, which Mary samples on the title track; “My Life” is the first piece of music Mary can remember. She said the song made her feel like she could have something.
- Mary gets her singing AND dancing skills from her mother! I wish there was footage of her mom dancing.
- Mary said My Life is her darkest, most important album.
“Mary was fighting for her heart while making this album.” -Diddy
- I don’t think Mary gets the credit she deserves for her pen game. Every one of her peers featured in the documentary made it a point to highlight her writing on this album.
- I realized that Mary’s music transcends lyrics while watching the film. I have never been able to verbalize the connection I had to the songs on My Life at such a young age, but I FELT every emotion she conveyed.
- Everybody involved in the creation of the album was in extreme emotional pain, and we felt every bit of it.
MJB, Diddy, Chucky Thompson, and Big Bub knew they were creating something special with the My Life album, but I don’t think they knew how important the album would become to the culture.
Mary J. went through a very dark time in order to transition into her following album, Share My World.
It seems MJB acknowledging this dark time allowed her to begin climbing out of the darkness of her reality to explore the possibility of happiness.
Thank you, Mary, for being the soundtrack of many of our lives, and permitting us to heal through your voice and pain.
Thank you for allowing My Life to be our lives.
Be sure to watch Amazon’s “Mary J. Blige’s My Life” documentary on June 25 and revisit the My Life album.
Let me know your favorite parts of the film and favorite tracks from the album in the comments below.
