It’s been four years since Mary J. Blige released her last (and thirteenth) studio LP Strength of a Woman, a 14-track offering that saw additional features from Kanye West, Quavo, DJ Khaled, Missy Elliott, Prince Charlez, and Kaytranada. The project was a commercial success for the Queen of Hip Hop Soul, peaking within the top three of the Billboard 200 thanks to 78,000 first-week album equivalent units sold. Since then, fans have received a few loose cuts from the Yonkers-bred songstress, including a remix of the Strength of a Woman standout “Love Yourself” with A$AP Rocky, “Only Love,” “Thriving,” and “Know.”
Last month, it was revealed that Blige, who was previously signed to Republic, has formed a new partnership with 300 Entertainment, the current homes to acts like Young Thug, Migos, and Megan Thee Stallion. Presumably building off of that renewed energy, today (Dec. 3) sees her making a big return with not one, but two new songs — “Amazing,” a hip hop-esque number that reunites her with Khaled and sees additional production from Tarik Azzouz and STREETRUNNER, and the groovy ballad “Good Morning Gorgeous,” a D’Mile-backed effort that sees her delivering emotionally-charged subject matter that’s reminiscent of Blige’s No More Drama days:
“It’s so hard just holding on, and even picking up my phone, it’s hard enough to be, hard enough to sleep, hard enough to be alone, I’m just tryna to move along, some times I do and then I don’t, you tell me what I’m doing wrong, tell myself that it ain’t healthy, second guessing, it don’t help me, I’m so tired of feeling empty, dry my eyes, it’s time to fight, it seems like I’m always against me, seems like this is never ending, and I refuse to let it end me, mentally, spiritually, physically, I need my peace…”
Check out both “Amazing” and a matching visual for “Good Morning Gorgeous.” Hopefully, this means a new body of work lies somewhere on the horizon.