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Mary Blige Research Paper

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Mary J. Blige Mary J. Blige the “Queen of Hip-Hop Soul” has influenced many artists in this generation. Mary was born January 11, 1971. She had been through a rough childhood having to deal with violence, alcohol, and drugs. Her parents weren’t perfect, her mother was an alcoholic and her father had post-traumatic stress disorder. Mary had claimed that she recalls her mother going through awful abuse from Mary’s father. He had left his family when Mary was 4, but her father came back several times to abuse her mother. Mary and her mother had moved to Schlobohm Houses, a public housing project in Yonkers, hoping to escape from her father. Although trying to escape harm, the projects only offered more of it: Mary was consistently heard screaming …show more content…

Mary words about church was, “I love being there because I wouldn’t be hurt.” She felt wanted and special when she was at church. By the time Mary had turned 16, she dropped out of school, stopped going to church and became a drug and sex addict. Mary said she became her environment. She had no self-respect and hated herself. To make herself feel better she had sex and took drugs and alcohol. She saved herself through her voice. In 1992, Andre Harrell signed Blige to a record contract. Blige worked with a producer named “Puffy”, later that year Blige released her first debut album, “What’s the 411?” She won her first Grammy Award in 1996. Although Mary had accomplished a lot in her professional success, her personal life was still not under control. She claims that the people that were making money off of her had her “blind”. They supported her bad habits, they bought her cocaine and alcohol just so they could continue to get money. Blige had decided to turn her life around when she met the love of her life, a music executive by the name of Kendu Issacs. Mary said that everything changed in her life when she had met him. He was the first person to challenge what she did and she had realized she need to stop all the bad habits and turn it all around for

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