Mary J. Blige Celebrates Her Personal 'Growing Pains'

Dec. 17, 2007 — -- Mary J. Blige says she's still a work in progress.

Her 2005 album, The Breakthrough, was a commercial and artistic triumph, and married life has given her unprecedented personal happiness. But as her new Growing Pains attests, she still sees room for improvement.

"Once you climb to another level, you have to figure out how to sustain it," says Blige, 36. "I'm not just talking about musically -- that's a God-given blessing -- but the work on your spirit."

It has been a long climb for Blige to reach a point where she could sing on her Grammy-nominated new single that her life is Just Fine. The Bronx native grew up in poverty, and her early career was marked by bad relationships, substance abuse and low self-esteem. For 15 years, she has charted her pain and evolution through her music, helping to heal others while healing herself.

On Growing Pains, she stresses the importance of self-love, the need for patience, commitment and empathy in relationships, and a recognition that things will not always be easy. Blige mapped out these themes before putting the album together with songwriters such as Sean Garrett, The Dream, Ne-Yo, Johnta Austin and Brian Sledge, and such producers as Bryan Michael-Cox, the Neptunes, C. "Tricky" Stewart, Jazze Pha and Syience.

"I look at myself as every woman out there because I know what she's been through because I've been through it too," Blige says. "I've just been growing right along. It's painful, but it's a great pain, and I like suffering for great results. It's like going to the gym. It hurts really bad at first, but after a couple of months and after that diet, you're looking so hot."

Blige was anointed queen of hip-hop soul after her 1992 debut, What's the 411, but her fan base has steadily broadened. The Breakthrough was just that, on several levels. It helped her rebound from the relatively lukewarm reception of 2003's Love & Life by selling nearly 3 million copies. She received eight Grammy nods and won three, doubling her career total. It also raised her corporate profile. She has had ads for Chevrolet and Apple's iPod, which features Growing Pains' second single, Work It.

On that song, "I speak for the chick that is dying to look like the chick in the magazine but doesn't. You've got what you've got and if you believe in it, everybody else will believe in it, too."

In addition to Just Fine, she is also Grammy-nominated for Disrespectful, a duet she did for Chaka Khan's Funk This!

The singer, who married Kendu Isaacs in 2003 and is stepmother to his two youngest children, Jordan, 8, and Nasir, 7, says the role has given her a different perspective on what's important.

"They have really made me see that it is not all about me and my issues," she says. "It's about trying to make sure that these kids stay beautiful, because they came into my life as beautiful kids."