Baker’s music was the polar opposite of what she would sing throughout her career. Harrell was head of Uptown Records at the time and was one of the pioneers in bringing hip-hip soul to popular culture in the early 1990s. The second and final moment that touched me was when Mary J spoke about how she sung Anita Baker’s Caught In the Rapture song for the late record executive Andre Harrell. The title track is my absolute favorite song on the album and the fact she could sing about her life in such dark terms over an ebullient music like Everybody Loves The Sunshine speaks to how good art can bring contrasting elements together perfectly. Mary J understood in her connection to the Roy Ayers song and it makes sense that years later she would use a sample from the song to write her best and most personal song on the album.

And it can provide an outlet to express who you really are inside. It can create a protective space that will help you deal with life’s difficulties. It can take you place that you have never been before. I immediately connected with the same feeling from my childhood and said out loud to the tv….that’s what art can do. Ayers’ song took her away from the pain she was experiencing and gave a much-needed place to escape. The first moment was when she talked hearing Roy Ayers’ soul-jazz classic, Everybody Loves The Sunshine, for the first time and how that song became a balm during childhood. I wished the documentary showed a lot more of those moments. However, there were a couple of moments in the documentary that touched me on an artistic level. wanted to show appreciation for them sticking with her through the perilous journey to musical stardom. The movie is definitely a love letter to her fans and snippets of the 25th Anniversary Concert at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and a section of it showing her family and fans gave it a feel that Mary J. Blige’s rawness and sincerity on the album was a breath of fresh air to the genre and added a much-needed edge.

Henson, Nas, and Method Man speaking in glowing terms of the album’s impact and connection to so many in the hip-hop and R&B worlds.

My Life documentary has many celebrities like Alicia Keys, Taraji P. Finally, I sat down to watch it last night and the documentary chronicled her journey from growing up in Yonkers, NY to getting signed to a recording contract at 19, being molded and shaped by Sean “Puffy” Combs into becoming the queen of hip-hop soul, and her turbulent emotional state while recording the album. When I found a few months ago that she had released a documentary about the making of the album and where she was as an artist got me excited. Blige’s pain and vulnerability soars throughout the entire album and how sings over strong hip-hop beats makes it a landmark album that has stood the test of time. Blige’s My Life is one of my top ten favorite albums and one of the most important R&B albums to be recorded in the last thirty years.

Mary j blige my life in the sunshine