Mary J Blige - My Life II… The Journey Continues (Act 1)

Another one of those dancefloor joints from any pop diva out there, and I roll my eyes up to heavens ‘NOT AGAIN’. But when Mary J Blige pulls out one dance pop number after another on My Life II… The Journey Continues (Act 1) it’s like the sun coming out after a day of bullet proof grey skies hovering above. I never thought I’d be dancing my heart out to any of MJB’s records, with a mindless smile from ear to ear on my face. You have to see hell with your own eyes to appreciate heaven. My Life circa 1994 was a masterpiece of self annihilation. My Life II circa 2011 is a celebration of acceptance with which comes peace – something regular folks take for granted; a spiritual commodity survivors like MJB value the most.

Good art may dwell in dark places but it’s best to leave passive aggressive, learned helplessness, S&M guilty pleasures on the shrink’s sofa, and move on to the Next Level like MJB does in My Life II… The Journey Continues (Act 1).

That common misconception that happiness is not a convenient subject for good art, that happiness is not a convenient state to make good art in, is a myth concocted by bitches who never had to fight for their right to be happy. They think happiness is cheesy; misery – noble. They preach that happiness is the realm of fluffy brainless muzak, while misery is the obligatory ingredient for serious art. Both– a load of bull shit.

Those who moan for the ‘old’ Mary J Blige, in all her pain, can go fuck themselves, cuz obviously no one else will – yes, they are that vile. People who buoy in their misery don’t want to let go of it – they don’t know what to do without it. It takes courage to be free and it takes courage to be happy, and Mary planted the seed in My Life 1994 with Be Happy, a song that put a magic spell on her life, kept her alive even when she didn’t want to be, back then.

You’d think those who haven’t gone through sexual abuse as innocent children or been shot at would want to get a prayer mat, get on their knees and thank the Creator for giving them a blessed life; instead they call MJB’s My Life II victorious lyrics ‘dull and predictable’, even ‘excusable’. These reviewers, spitting out copyright doublespeak like ‘compete outside of an established comfort zone’, should keep their mouths shut – they don’t know what the fuck they are talking about.

Who exactly does Mary J Blige have to compete against? What comfort zone has she established for herself, speaking out about her hellish past? No therapist would advise her, or anyone else, to go on and talk about that shit interview in, interview out; yet she does it, with brutal honesty, – to show all of the world that if she’s still standing, they can survive too, no matter what atrocity happened to them – it’s in their hands to take command of their happiness and be free.

While critics are looking for obligatory ‘innovation’, pushing the ‘boundaries’, following the ‘trends’, MJB exudes effortless elegance that comes from humility, wisdom that stems from beating her head against the wall for far too long, excellence that is the product of a great gift but also excruciating work, external and internal. Today she knows where she came from (‘I am so glad the worst is over’ (The Living Proof)), she knows where she is going and she has no time to waste (‘when I say now, I mean right now’ (Midnight Drive)) – that love of the present moment, the ‘now now’ is contagious, testimony to how truly content she is with her life.

Severing abuser-victim ties comes with a price but the payoff is love and life; for a regular woman dressing up is customary Friday night innuendo, for MJB putting high heels and a hot dress on is a sign of ultimate letting go (You Want This). Ah, fuck it – she needs a medal for being alive, and she needs no permission for making an album that makes you nod your hip hop heads with her, track in, track out, updating that 1994 My Life sound that changed R&B forever.

Now to the songs. Midnight Drive, featuring her cool alter ego Brook Lynn, quotes Mary Jane (All Night Long) from My Life 1994, but is a standout track on its own – fierce, intense, unapologetic. Feel Inside (feat. Nas), Next Level (feat. Busta Rhymes), and the remake of Chaka Khan’s Ain’t Nobody will all have you take it to the dancefloor, unless you are a dead, dead zombie. The collaboration with P. Diddy Someone to Love Me (Naked) is strong – Diddy knows a thing or two about working with Mary, and thank the Lord above for bringing the two together again. You Want This, Why (feat. Rick Ross) and One Life are all feisty and full of life, like the new Mary. No wonder Get It Right (feat. The talented Taraji P.Henson) starts with an alarm ringing: ‘You can search the galaxy’ Mary sings ‘But you’ll never find another me!’, and she is damn right.

The ballads are testimony to the power Mary j Blige as a singer, priestess and music therapist possesses in the age of screaming divas who perform totally unnecessary masturbations on their vocal cords right on stage, in front of everyone. No Condition is pure church in the African wilderness; it calls to that primeval song of the heartbeat. Love A Woman, featuring a beautiful Beyonce, especially the breathtaking bridge, somehow made me recall the best of Michael Jackson. Mr. Wrong, Need Someone and The Living Proof are all different aspects of that tormented soul, and each adds a stroke to the portrait of Mary Jane, who knows what team she plays for now cuz she’s played for the opposite one far too long.

Empty Prayers stood out for me, a song where Mary addresses those cold blooded motherfuckers who took her to hell, from which she barely climbed out, on all four, slowly got up to her feet and started learning to walk, talk, breathe again. When that process takes place in adulthood, you can’t help but feel grateful and understand that happiness is in the safety of a soulmate’s embrace (Next Level). For all of you who dwelled in that darkness and came back on top, an evening with no one waking you up with their disturbing phone call, no one banging at your door, no one calling you ‘monster’, no one calling you ‘ugly’, no threats, no screams – is an evening in heaven. Period.

The music industry keeps producing tracks like machinery parts on a conveyer belt; a true artist evolves. On the cover of My Life 1994 Mary J Blige was hiding her face in the shadow of a hat. On the cover of My life II she is full-on fierceness with her beautiful scar, the telltale sign of her battles, in full sight, and she’s looking far ahead because ‘the best if yet to come’ (The Living Proof). Instead of a Mary going down, sinking lower and lower, we have Brook Lynn, her delightful alter ego,  an unstoppable freight train accelerating to supersonic speeds to make up for the time she wasted crying into her pillow (One Life), and if she tramples a couple haters under her steely wheels, she won’t be sorry.

My Life II… The Journey Continues (Act 1) is one of the best albums of Mary J Blige. As always, Mary’s voice has brought tears to my eyes. But this time around, they are tears of joy.