Mary J. Blige may be an industry veteran with accolades for days, but it doesn’t mean she’s not willing to work for her wins.
The Queen of Hip-Hop/Soul is treading the promo trail in support of new album ‘Strength Of A Woman’ and stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon for a spirited performance.
MJB belted out ‘Love Yourself,’ which was produced by Kanye West (who also features on the studio version).
Given all she’s going through publicly (see: divorce), the selection was especially apt.
The showing comes on the same day the project’s sales forecast was revealed.
Per Hits Daily Double, ‘Strength’ is on course to open strong on the Billboard 200. Its sales-plus-streaming prediction is 67,000-72,000, while the pure sales estimate sits at 63-68k.
Beyond being within the right ballpark for a top 5 placing, it’s on course to best the US opening of her last LP ‘The London Sessions.’ A point notable given that industry sales have dipped even more in the time since that project was released (2015).
Can Mary climb higher? She has more promo on the way – including a VH1 doc that airs tonight – so it’s plausible.
Stay tuned.