El hip hop es un género musical que incluye golpes rítmicos que acompañan a una voz principal que rapea. Este es un género musical muy popular y uno de los principales componentes de lo que es considerado como la cultura hip hop. Muchos espectáculos instrumentales en los que se presentan DJs sin apoyo vocal, también son abarcados bajo el género de la música hip hop. Esto se ha vuelto más popular dado que las técnicas de mezclado y sampleo (o muestreo) han madurado en los últimos años.
Nació en Nueva York y pasó parte de su infancia en Savannah, para en su juventud volver a Yonkers en su ciudad natal. Cuando vivía en White Plains (Nueva York) se grabó en un karaoke cantando el tema de Anita Baker "Caught Up in the Rapture". La grabación resultante fue enviada a Andre Harrel, gerente de Uptown Records, por el padrastro de Mary. Harrel se quedó impresionado por su voz y la contrató para que hiciera los coros a Father MC.
En 1991, Sean "Puffy" Combs; cantante y productor; comenzó a trabajar con ella su álbum debut. Mary J. Blige y su inconfundible estilo vocal crearon un disco que bailaba entre el R&B y el rap; "What's the 411?". El álbum tuvo cierta repercusión dentro del panorama musical, a excepción de los singles "Real love", "Sweet love" y "Reminisce". En 1994 y de nuevo con la ayuda en la producción de Sean "Puffy" Combs editó "My life". Este era un álbum mucho más personal y en el que fluían sus raíces urban, contenía temas como "You bring me joy" o "Be happy". Su disco "Share my world" en 1997 marcó el inicio de su etapa creativa junto a Jimmy Jam y Terry Lewis. El álbum fue un verdadero hit y debutó como número uno en la lista Billboard. Sus singles fueron:"I Can Love You" presentando a la rapera Lil' Kim. , "Get to Know You Better", "Love Is All We Need" y "Keep Your Head".
Look what I did, I made history
They don't know what to do with me
Ain't lookin' back, keepin' it movin'
I know exactly how to do this
Keep smilin', make 'em wild out
Stay loud, don't dumb it down
Hold my crown up to the sky
Hold your crown up to the sky
Hey, time for us to go and get the money, y'all
Floodgates open, gonna take it all
I am a diamond 'cause of pressure
The bigger the trial, bigger the blessin'
No we're not just survivin', yeah we're thrivin' over here
All those sad songs don't break me, just gave me a record deal
Ooh, ooh
We're not just survivin', yeah we're thrivin' over here
You see, I'm on a mission
Ain't no baggage weighin' me down
Had to get out my feelings
'Cause I'm tired of people seein' me drown
Smile, make 'em wild out
Stay loud, don't dumb it down
Hold my crown up to the sky
Hold your crown up to the sky
Hey, time for us to go and get the money, y'all
Floodgates open, gonna take it all
I am a diamond 'cause of pressure
The bigger the trial, bigger the blessin'
No we're not just survivin', yeah we're thrivin' over here
All those sad songs don't break me, just gave me a record deal
Ooh, ooh
We're not just survivin', yeah we're thrivin' over here
We're here for a good time, not a long time
And no bad vibe is gon' spoil mine
No such thing as the right time or wrong time
We don't do small time, we do royal time
I picture myself here as a small guy
Switched up gears from Nasty Nas and Nasir like
Cassius Clay to Ali, the greatest of all time
Financial page, my name in New York Times
Incredible milestones forever
It's set-in-stone, MJB the letters
Everybody that try to violate, we beat 'em for God's sake
Never mind that I'm reachin' my prime the second time, that's great
In record time, stop the hate
And love your life, fix your crown up straight
I dodged bullets and jail time and kept drivin'
Stood tall through it all, keep thrivin'
No we're not just survivin', yeah we're thrivin' over here
(Yeah, we're thrivin' over here)
All those sad songs don't break me, just gave me a record deal
(All those sad songs, they didn't break me, no)
Ooh, ooh
We're not just survivin', yeah we're thrivin' over here
So whatever you want, go get it, go get it
I swear, whatever, it's yours, go get it, go get it
Joy and peace, hope for sure, go get it, go get it
I swear, whatever, it's yours (It's yours), go get it
No we're not just survivin', yeah we're thrivin' over here
(Yeah, we're thrivin' over here)
All those sad songs don't break me, just gave me a record deal
(All those sad songs, they didn't break me, no)
Ooh, ooh
We're not just survivin', yeah we're thrivin' over here