Overview
My Life is the second album by American R&B recording artist Mary J. Blige, released on November 29, 1994, by Uptown Records and MCA Records. Many of the topics on My Life deal with clinical depression, Blige's battling with both drugs and alcohol, as well as being in an abusive relationship. Unlike her debut, What's the 411? (1992), Blige contributed lyrics to fourteen of the album's tracks, making it her most introspective and personal album at the time. Similar to her debut album, My Life features extensive production from Sean "Puffy" Combs for his newly founded label, Bad Boy Entertainment, which was at the time backed by Arista Records.
Considered to be her breakthrough album, My Life became Mary J. Blige's second album to reach the top ten on the Billboard 200 chart, peaking at number seven, and debuting at number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, where it stayed for eight weeks. In 1996, the album was nominated for Best R&B Album at the 38th Grammy Awards, while in December of the same year, the album was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, for shipments of three million copies in the United States. It also won the 1995 Billboard Music Award for Top R&B Album. In 1996, following the album's success, MCA issued a remix EP entitled My Life Remix Album which featured artists such as LL Cool J and Lauryn Hill.
A special commemorative edition of the album was released on November 20, 2020.
Background
Following the success of her debut album, What's the 411?, and a remixed version in 1993, Blige went into the recording studio in the winter of 1993 to record her second album, My Life. Producer Chucky Thompson was brought in and had originally been contracted to produce one song and an interlude for the project. He ended up being a last minute replacement as the producers Blige worked with previously on What's the 411? demanded more money when the album was certified triple platinum. Blige loved the one song Thompson produced for her, which made Combs change the direction of the album.
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