Black Music Decades Battle: 90’s Vs 00’s MJB

        I was born in the 80s, but raised in the 90’s, I believe every genre of music in the 90s was great, do you agree? I could do the Humpty Dance, become A Genie in A Bottle, and wonder How Do I live all in one decade of music because all of it was good and TV stations were more diversified in representing all genres of music from artist of all backgrounds.

       The month of June is Black Music Month and there are decades of mainstream hits from Black artists that has left a mark in this world.  There were so many artists who started their careers in the 90’s but not all of them continued their careers into the 2000’s. One of the few who did make this transition is the lovely Mary J. Blige, who I am a very big fan of. She was my first concert experience at 13 years old and I’ve seen her two times since then and each time she never disappoints. In the 90s, she had four studio albums and in the 00’s, she had five; now many of us who listen to her music can say that each album brought a different feeling to our soul, and we all have our favorites, but we are here to have some fun with a battle of the decades.

       Mary’s albums from the 90’s includes What’s the 411?, My Life, Share My World, and Mary and during this time there was more pain for her for many reasons we have learned over the years but with that pain her music brought so much joy to our hearts because we could bop to it and still feel the words she sang on each record.

      The albums of the 00’s was No More Drama, Love & Life, The Breakthrough, Growing Pains, and Stronger with Each Tear. These albums represented her path to healing as well as love during that time. She still gave us something we could move with, but the tone of the songs and lyrics were lighter and made you smile more because she was in a new space.

     So now here goes our battle. If you add each album from one side (the 90’s) together and compare them to the collection on the other side (the 00’s), which would you choose as your favorite. Is it Real Love, You Bring Me Joy, I Can Love You, and All That I Can Say; or is it Family Affair, Love @ 1^st Sight, Be Without You, Just Fine, and We Got Hood Love? Both sides are great but if there could only be one which would you choose?

       But, in the end as an artist of many decades now she deserves to be celebrated and honored this Black Music Month!