Share My World Turns 25 By Sheldon Taylor
On Apr 22, 1997, Mary J. Blige released Share My World , her follow-up to melancholy masterpiece My Life . Five years earlier, Blige’s debut What The 411 moved R&B away from energetic New Jack Swing to next-level hip hop/soul. During the era of Whitney and Mariah’s refined elocution and vocal theatrics, MJB offered up another alternative. Cut from the same cloth as seminal New Jack crooner Aaron Hall, Blige was modern R&B’s answer to classic singers from Black music’s yesteryear. Pouring out her heart like a modern-day Aretha Franklin, her emotional delivery revealed a pierced heart of glass resonating with fans caught up in the rapture of her raw talent. At last , the hip-hop generation had their own Etta James and Anita Baker. Her crown of thorns were fit for a queen. After back-to-back multi-platinum success with 411 and My Life (six million copies sold in all), her coronation was complete. Being Mary Jane wasn't a bed of roses for the young ghetto