From The Vault takes it all the way to the East Coast today. New York’s very own Mary J. Blige, Method Man and Diddy’s 90s flavored ‘Love @ 1st Sight’ is this week’s pick.

Released in 2003, ‘Sight’ was the very first offering from Mary’s sixth effort ‘Love & Life.’

The project saw the singer reunite with the man responsible for her highly acclaimed two first albums, Diddy – or was it P. Diddy in 2003?

Written by the duo and produced by Mario Winans and Stevie J, the track featured a verse from Rap legend Method Man and was built around a sample of A Tribe Called Quest’s ‘Hot Sex’ released in 1992.

Unfortunately, nostalgia wasn’t enough to turn this gem into the surefire hit was on paper. Still it peaked at #22 on the US Hot 100, #10 on the Hot Hip-Hop/R&B tally, and reached the 18th position of the UK Singles Chart.

Chris Robinson was tapped to craft the music video for the track, which shows Mary taking over the streets of a studio-stationed Brooklyn with her dynamite dancers. Both Diddy and Meth appear… as well as a then-premium iPod as the result of paid-for product placement by Apple.

17 years later, it’s still puzzling as to why this song wasn’t as big as ‘Family Affair’ – released 2 years prior – after all it packed the same punch, played host to great melodies and a fire-filled video to match. Sometimes, it’s just not in the cards, it seems…

Still, the song and album’s trajectory only made Ms. Blige’s subsequent project, ‘The Breakthrough’, even more victorious.

Chart topper or not, ‘Love @ 1st Sight’ was yet another home-run by the Queen of Hip-Hop/Soul, and alongside some of her biggest hits, we still have it on replay in 2020.

Your thoughts?