As reported here, R&B majesty Mary J. Blige can be seen afront the February issue of ‘VIBE’ magazine. There, the ‘Be Without You’ beauty dished on a number of topics including her 20 year tenure in the industry and recent ventures into acting.
However, it was her weigh in on the current state of the genre that brought her to prominence that has been splashed across headlines across the net. Never one to bite her tongue, Blige offers interesting insight into her thoughts on the reviving genre, its key players, and the never-ending Chris Brown/Rihanna saga.
See what the ‘All That I Can Say‘ singer had to say below:
Vibe: Let’s talk about current R&B. How do you feel when you turn on the radio?
Mary: Maybe in 2012, in the middle, I was like, “What is going on? What is this?” Things got worse before they got better. I think things are going in the right direction. I am so proud of what Rihanna is doing.
Vibe: Wait, really?
Mary: Yes. She is speaking to her generation, and she’s living her life in front of them. I don’t even think she’s purposely doing it. She’s such a beautiful girl, and I don’t think she knows she’s that beautiful. She’s just living her life, and leading her generation, and she has great, great songs. Her career is amazing; and her team, obviously, is amazing.
They give her a hard time because she’s living her life. As long as she’s having fun and isn’t three minutes away from wanting to shoot herself, good! I want her to be happy. That’s impressive to me. And I love her songs. Adele also gives me hope. God bless Amy Winehouse. She was just the perfect thing.
Vibe: What about male artists?
Mary: Drake is amazing. He is an amazing writer: great songs, great melodies. And Kendrick Lamar has a classic album right now. Classic. It’s like The Chronic. I’m not saying it is The Chronic. But you know how that album felt like a movie, with a beginning, middle and an end? His album has that same thing. I also love Bruno Mars. They need to take him seriously. He. Is. A. Problem. And Miguel is amazing. His voice; his writing. All of his songs are beautiful. He is pure inspiration.
Your thoughts?
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Mary girl I love you but he asked about the state of R&B not Pop….Rihanna ain’t a fraction of R&B.
#RihannaReign
Well damn…
The headline for her article should have read “Desperate”.
B**** if you wanted to work with Rihanna , all you had to do was ask. You didn’t have lie -_-
RIHANNA is on everyones radar!!! Everybody in the industry thinks highly of Queen Rih
Oh Mary. Who told you to say these things? You don’t even sound convinced.
Oh I thought Rihanna was generic and will never be taken seriously…lol. And so it has began, that reign. There was a time when Madonna was not respected, today her name alone sends riveting shock waves in the music industry.
Rihanna is the not the Black Madonna, she is RIHANNA.
I actually like rihanna and really enjoyed unapologetic but she is NOT r&b. She is pop with r&b infused in some of her music. You can’t put rihanna in the same class of brandy, melanie fiona, marsha ambrious, jill scott, alicia keys etc. There are trying (and struggling) too hold it down for r&b and should of been highlighted by her.
You know you’re a flop when you’re being interviewed and asked about more successful artists…
#REIGN…. MARY RESPECTS QUEEN RIH
Mary mary quite contrary. You know you be telling lies.
Lol, that’s f***** up VIBE went “Wait, really?”
Would have loved to see what kind of look the interviewer had on his/her face.
Yes. She is speaking to her generation, and she’s living her life in front of them. I don’t even think she’s purposely doing it. She’s such a beautiful girl, and I don’t think she knows she’s that beautiful. She’s just living her life, and leading her generation, and she has great, great songs. Her career is amazing; and her team, obviously, is amazing.
They give her a hard time because she’s living her life. As long as she’s having fun and isn’t three minutes away from wanting to shoot herself, good! I want her to be happy. That’s impressive to me. And I love her songs. Adele also gives me hope. God bless Amy Winehouse. She was just the perfect thing.
^^^^ AWWWWWW I LOVE THIS MARY THAT WAS NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH
They asked about CURRENT R&B and she mentions: Rihanna, Adele, Amy Whinehouse and Kendrick Lamar (HIP HOP) um okay Mary!
This old b**** is des-per-ate.
I wonder how many Rihanna stans will become Mary’s after this…
Ok girl, no more crispy chicken for you!
Of course the hive is mad cause she didn’t mention beyonce lol the jealousy is actually adorable Rihanna is respected in this industry & like mary said Rihanna makes great great music she has hits for days… this generation loves Rihanna sam & a couple of hive h*** cant ruin that xoxo
@MyForehead booo you are to pressed lol
Dead @ the Vibe interviewer:
” Wait, really?”
—–
^Lol, nobody believed that s*** that was coming out of her mouth.
Rihanna is definitely speakin and is loved by THIS generation. Now will she be just as loved for generations to come is a much more interesting conversation. I think she has the personality to be a pop star but not the talent to be a legend. BIG DIFFERNCE!
MONSTA☈EBEL WHY WOULD I BE JEALOUS BECAUSE BEYONCE WAS NOT METION…THE PRESIDENT OF THE US,OPRAH AND EVEN RIHANNA HAS ALWAYS PRAISED BEYONCE AND YES I HAVE EVIDENCE PLUS IT WAS SIMPLE FACTS THAT RIHANNA IS NOT AN R&B ARTIST(EXAMPLES OF R&B ARTIST SO YOU CAN HAVE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT TRUE R&B MELANIE FIONA,MARSHA AMABROSIUS,LUKE JAMES,MIGUEL,USHER,NE-YO ETC.
@KingB Whatever b****….
MONSTA☈EBEL SO WAIT IT IS WHATEVER WHEN I STATE FACTS OK GIRL I SEE YOU. LMFAO! AND THE HIVE IS SO DELUSIONAL RIGHT. OK.
MAY THE LORD BE WITH YOU.
Sam probably cut his wrists after reading something positive sm1 said about Rih!
YOU HAD A CHANCE MARY…you had a chance to take a stand for true R&B/SOUL and co-sign some artists who are making that real R&B/soul (Anthony Hamilton, India.Arie, Leela James, Amel Larrieux, Kem, Jill Scott, Angie Stone, Goapale, Jazmine Sullivan, etc.)-but you BETRAYED us by co-signing that pop trash!
Way to tarnish your legacy…
Well Mary, no wonder your last few albums were lacking a classic sound. She just showed her lack of musical knowledge when all she can do is reel off the same names everybody else in big name publications do to save face and stay in favour. Mary, it’s VIBE. Hardly anybody reads vibe anymore so if you had told the truth it wouldn’t have matter.
Mary, you’ve gone down in my estimations
Get it rih you have legends praising you!
RIHANNA IS GARBAGE! THE YODELING!!!! !
MARY W
And once again the disrespectful little children don’t have a clue. Every generation has it’s key players and Rihanna is definitely one, she is loved by the industry, not just mary, but buy Adele, and a whole slew of other artist, and the best thing about Rihanna is that you continue to see growth that is important, the music that she put out at 18 isn so much different than what she is putting out now, you can see and HEAR the growth and that is what a true artist does they grow, but you so called stans don’t want to see your artist grow, you try to keep them in a box. It shows that you all are in a box and stuck in your situations if you can’t allow others to grow. Now you are disrespecting artist like Mary who has paved the way and done their work , Mary does not have to put out another album as long as she lives, she is the Queen and guess what she did not give herself that title like some others.
@Alicia well said no need for them to disrespect Mary for her opinion… Idk why there mad about Rihanna receiving praise she is one of the top artist at the moment n shes very versatile she appeals to a wide variety of people… No one expected Rihanna to be this huge star she is today but shes exceeded everyones expectations
IM GLAD I ALWAYS LIKED RIHANNA. iT MUST REALLY SUCK TO HAVE TO ALWAYS EAT YOUR WORDS…I THINK WE ALL KNOW RIH’S HERE FOR THE LONG RUN!..SHE PROVEN HERSELF….NOW SHE JUST GOTTA GIVE US A DANCE PERFORMANCE!!
SIDE BAR– I GENUINELY HOPE SHE LEARNS TO LOVE/VALUE HERSELF MORE THAN WHAT SHE DOES….HER FUTURE IS LIMITLESS IF SHE PLAYS IT CORRECTLY….
Mary only said those things about Rih because she knows if she said how she really felt she would be ripped apart by Rih’s crazy ass delusional stans.
Mary gave a similar interview some time ago when she was asked about the state of R&B and she took jabs at other R&B acts for abandoning their fanbase and falling prey to to dance pop.
Its funny how Unapologetic became Rihs first #1 US album and best first week sales of her career but since its November release it hasnt even sold 700k in the US. SMH.
Anyway Mary if you want to keep me as a fan i need you to keep it 100% and tell us how you really feel about Rihanna. At this point in your career you have nothing to lose nor prove.
@CHRISTINA B**** YOUR SO DUMB…MARY THE ONE WHO DECIDED TO BRING RIHS NAME UP YOU MAD CAUSE SHE LIKES AND SUPPORTS RIHANNA GET OVER IT
I see no lies to be quite honest.
There is room for many baddies in this industry and Rihanna is definitely one of them
I think anyone real music lover, any R&B music lover can look at Rihanna and say DAMN this girl came a long way. Who at some point in the last 4 years hasn’t looked at Rihanna and said “This ho is f****** with the genre, the community, and she needs to have a seat.” With each album Rihanna has won over chunks of the black community by giving you different style and flavours of R&B. She’s one of the FEW R&B artists who serves early 80’s R&B dance, raggae and island flavoured jams, late 80’s edgy R&B pop, 90’s R&B grooves, ratchet 2000’s club anthems, and so on. She’s showcased nearly every spectrum the genre has to offer and that’s why I was a Rihanna convert by the time LOUD came out. So yal need to get with it if even Mary J. Bligeeee’s old ass is getting with it
Is she lying though? I can honestly say I didn’t get the hype behind Rihanna until GGGB. It was easy at first to mark her as another pretty but non singing b****. Then Rihannas team came up with this Madonna approach without neccessarily mimicking Madonna she emulated her ethic of constantly evolving and reinventing and blasted out of that realm of being compared to Cassie or Ciara and really became a force. I love Rihanna! Her stans are unruly and disrespectful but the chick is hot..am I feeling this last album? Besides Diamonds, Stay and Paradise, no! She’s gonna be here for awhile and that’s making me eat my own words because when she came out I was like “oh another roc nation girl that will be hot for 15seconds” life is so great and fiun when you stan for the it girl( Rihanna) and the icon ( Beyoncé).The two chicks right now who can DO IT.
side bar: mary let vibe play her.that cover isn’t flattering
i’m impressed by all that , go rihanna, you are on the right way now.
thank you mary for keeping it real with the chrihanna situation , you gained a new kind of respect from me.
How come people are hating on Mary like this?
Y’all need to shut the f*** up about Mary ! she always been praising Rihanna. She is a legend, she don’t have to have f*** throwing shots at her because she stated her opinion.
I just wanna ask one thing: Concerning Rihanna, if you take away the hit songs not written by her, her ever changing hair color, and her love life drama, what do you have left? And whatever’s left, does that qualify her as a respectable and true talent/artist?
Cuz yea Rih gets some praise here and there, but if you really think about it, everyone says nothing more than she’s “pretty” she’s “fearless” she’s “always evolving” she has a “great team” etc etc. But i NEVER and i do mean never have heard anyone talk about Rihanna in terms of her actual talents i.e. her voice or dancing. So thats why I pose the question. She can be all of that but at the end of the end without all of that, what really makes her an artist, if she is one? Cuz as a fan of music and the art, I care more about the talent than the image…
HAAAAA . really rihanna loool Adele is more Rnb than rihanna
I know you queens aren’t calling Mary a flop! Her lowest selling album (her last album sold 700k without a hit single) sold more than some of your favs HIGHEST selling album. Mary has ALWAYS sold without compromising her core fanbase (Hip Hop Soul/R&B). I’m gonna need you f*** to not disrespect such a LEGEND. Thanks.
And Mary is not the first legend to give Rih her props. Madam Jill Scott also tweeted about how much she LOVES UNA’s vocals, arrangements and lyrics. Like it or not, ALL of Rihanna’s albums have a theme. She is smarter than you think. Call her manufactured or whatever, but she has made her mark in 8 years. STAY PRESSED!
The funny thing is though people bitching rihanna is pop and only her dance songs chart well
Stay is #1 on iTunes
If god is with you. Who can be against you. She’s living her life while the hive and others live their lives to impress others
What I live about rihanna is she keeps it really irrespective of the reprocessing it may have on her career
People say she can’t sing
Tell me one performance she has this unapologetic era that was not GOOD or flawless. We are quick to forget the epic beds that was the Diamonds xFactor performance
The flawless SNL stay performance
And her total domination of both the 2012 ‘ 2013 Grammy awards where she slayed everyone with her stay performance
Which was the mist talked about performance of the night on twitter
She was the Most Talked About artist at the Grammy the same Grammy awards that every artist went to !
Why Werner your faves?
the Christina Aguilera fan has a Lion HEART
the b**** is soooooo F****** BRAVE!
How You Gone Be A Christina Fan and talk about ALBUM SALES?
Have you seen Lotus US & WW sales
the b**** cant even sell past 250 k globally
yet u talk about unappolgetic that has now sold 2.2 million WW in # and a half months?!!!!
b**** must have been out of her mind
Crhistina Aguilera Last two Albums Lotus and Bionic combined have sold less than Rihanna’s debute Album Music of The Sun Both in the U.S and WW
you can critic someones sale xtina fans when your fave is certified anything but tin….
The NERVE.
the Christina Aguilera fan has a Lion HEART
the b**** is soooooo F****** BRAVE!
How You Gone Be A Christina Fan and talk about ALBUM SALES?
Have you seen Lotus US & WW sales
the b**** cant even sell past 250 k globally
yet u talk about unappolgetic that has now sold 2.2 million WW in # and a half months?!!!!
b**** must have been out of her mind
Crhistina Aguilera Last two Albums Lotus and Bionic combined have sold less than Rihanna’s debut Album Music of The Sun Both in the U.S and WW
you can critic someones sale xtina fans when your fave is certified anything but tin….
The NERVE.
She better praise Kendrick!
YES MARY YOU BETTER STAN FOR THE QUEEN.
Hmmmmm, I like Mary and Rihanna, but I think Mary J is trynna get in with the youth. How you gonna praise someone for leading a generation into drug use, sexual exploitation of the female body and a constant I don’t give a f*** attitude about anything! Why didn’t she shed some light on the female talents who are keeping R&B alive with more than just their beauty, but their actual talents.
This cover is terrible! They could have at least airbrushed it.
Oh Mary…..
I’m pretty sure that the interviewer asked you specifically about R & B music and not POP.
Love Rihanna but she is pop. Not into Bruno but I respect his talent and he, too, is pop. Kendrick Lamar is hip-hop–VERY GOOD hip hip at that. Love Adele but = Pop.
Which means that this answer should’ve began with Amy & Miguel and went from there.
See @Burmy’s apt comment whether you like it or not. & I say all of this as a HUGE MJB fan.
Again, oh Mary…..
a TRUE QUEEN has spoken!! #theWorldisListening
This site is a joke the only reason bey and Rihanna are big cause gay fem guys want to be like them and cant that why there no R&B it about drop pop and lock it and when bey and Rihanna cant move any more they will fall just like janet jackson and forgot about . caue they would never be like JLO 40 still moving. bey going to look like here mom in 5 yr top rihanna will we know how that going to go if he ill f****** with bobby brown mean chris brown
This site is a joke the only reason bey and Rihanna are big cause gay fem guys want to be like them and cant. that why there no R&B it about drop pop and lock it when bey and Rihanna cant move any more they will fall just like janet jackson and forgot about . they would never be like JLO 40 still moving. bey going to look like here mom in 5 yr top rihanna we know how that going to go if she sill f****** with bobby brown mean chris brown