Rocka.Candy correspondent Necia catches up with style icon Mary J. Blige to find out about love, life, and what exactly makes The Breakthrough such a breakthrough.
Rocka.Candy : What makes The Breakthrough stand out from your other albums?
MJB: It is MJB vocally, like you never heard before, it is Mary J. Blige. Umm, lyrically you know the way you know her.
R.C: Oh my God, All of your albums have been bananas, and I know this one is beautiful.
MJB: Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, this one is crazy, and I’m telling you right now, and I’m not just trying to sell it, I’m just telling you from what I know.
R.C: With that out of the way, let’s do some fun questions. If there was a movie made about your life, who would play you?
MJB: Right now, I can’t really say there’s anyone because there’s a lot that comes with Mary J. Blige, and it’s just not singing, and the hair, and all that kind of stuff, there is a lot, so I can’t really say right now.
I can’t say that, because I don’t know, I can’t really see people that closely to see their heart, because in spite of everything that I was dealing with, people were able to see my heart.
R.C: There’s a whole other side.
MJB : Exactly!
R.C: Your body is amazing, your’re in better shape now than when your career started, what’s your secret?
MJB: My secret is I train (laughter), I do the works, you know, if I’m not on the east coast training with my trainer Greg, I’m on the west coast training with Donna Peterson, and you can ask them, I do the work, like I don’t play around with it, and I kind of learned to love it, because its not just for show anymore, its like a way of life.
R.C: So it’s like your daily ritual.
MJB: Exactly, you want to keep it, and then the diet, was hard in the beginning, but if you can push for like that first 2-3 months of just dieting, you can shed it before you know.
R.C: What’s your most personal annoying habit?
MJB: My most annoying personal habit (thinking aloud)… Hmmm, I guess, not always thinking positive and immediately running saying, “What if.”
R.C: Right, we have to stop doing that as women.
MJB: Exactly! I hate that about myself.
R.C: What’s the most romantic thing a man has ever done for you?
MJB: Oh romantic, hmmm, my husband is pretty romantic; he’s done the roses, the rose petals in the tub for me, and the flowers on the bed.
R.C: Well, do you remember one thing that sticks out in your head?
MJB: Oh for my anniversary, we were in Paris, and he went and bought us the love bracelets, that they have in Cartier. He bought us matching love bracelets. He’s always doing stuff like that.
R.C: Whoa, I like that. What’s you’re least favorite song to perform?
MJB: Not because I hate it, but because I performed it 50 million times, and I love this song, but Ok, it’s “Real Love.”
R.C: Where would you be in life, if you weren’t singing?
MJB: I don’t know. Probably still in the hood, or trying to figure out how I’m going to get a job tomorrow, I don’t know.
R.C: Well, Mary, I think that’s about it.
MJB: Oh your so welcome, that was painless. I love all of you for that.
Tags: Interviews, Mary J. Blige, Necia
WHAT NOW?