MODESTY isn't one of Queen of Hip Hop Mary J Blige's strong points, but with a voice like hers and her incredible history on and off stage, you can forgive a touch of bravado.
In New York's Times Square, two adjoining huge billboards promote Mary J Blige and Jay-Z's Heart of the City joint tour. One features Blige's face, the other Beyonce's bloke. Both are emblazoned with the name of the tour and tour dates. One thing's missing from each picture -- the name of either artist. Madonna and Cher have dropped their surnames; here Blige and Jay-Z have gone one step further. In some places, it seems, you don't need to be introduced. For Blige is not only the Queen of Hip Hop Soul but apparently the Queen of New York. ‘‘Come on,'' Blige says. ‘‘This is my home. Everyone knows who I am in New York. Everyone.'' Modesty isn't one of Blige's strong points, but with a voice like hers and her incredible history on and off stage, you can forgive a touch of bravado. And her propensity for talking in the third person. Like when Blige explains what Australians can expect from her first tour to these parts. ‘‘It's a journey for people that know something about Mary J Blige,'' she says. ‘‘For people who understand my history, there's everything from What's the 411? through to the Growing Pains album. It's fun. It's a show. I come with a live band and everything else that comes with it. All the hits. The most important thing is to connect with your fans, connect with them in person.''1992's What's the 411? was Blige's debut and breakthrough. Her life story is almost as impressive as her voice. Born in 1971 in Yonkers, she struggled through a tough youth in New York by immersing herself in the music of Aretha Franklin and Anita Baker. Blige recorded herself singing Baker's Caught Up in the Rapture on a cassette that wound up with her being signed to Andre Harrell's Uptown Records in 1989. Before long a young entrepreneur at Uptown named Sean Combs (in his pre-Puff Daddy days) took Blige under his wing, producing her debut album and the follow-up My Life, both selling millions in the US. However, behind the scenes Blige was in disarray. She revealed to Oprah two years ago she was molested as a child, a pain she carried through dysfunctional relationships (one with K-Ci of duo K-Ci and JoJo) and a descent into alcoholism and cocaine abuse that grew in proportion to her success. She cleaned up her act in 2001 after 9/11 and the death of friend Aaliyah. Even now when Blige sings tracks from her first two albums she says she hears a younger version of herself ‘‘singing to escape'' the troubles of her early life. ‘‘It's like this,'' Blige says, ‘‘if I put on the My Life or What's the 411? album right now I immediately go back to those times. My life was real. You just automatically go back and everyone automatically goes back with you. I go back there every single time I sing them. Absolutely every single time.'' Her life story has been full of so many highs and lows -- and the obligatory happy ending -- she's been the subject of countless documentaries. The most recent, The Evolution of Mary J Blige, aired last month. One of the many viewers was Mary J Blige. ‘‘I cried a lot when I saw it,'' Blige admits. ‘‘I can see my growth. I look at me and I see the evolution. I'm still Mary, though. I haven't become this person people don't identify with. ‘‘My fans, they just really, really appreciate everything I've done. All the trials and tribulations I've come through just so we can all be free. And I absolutely appreciate it. ‘‘There has to be a happy ending with someone who's come from where I come from. There's gotta be.'' Though Blige was inspired by Baker, for many of today's female artists she's their Anita Baker; a living influence. Just ask Blige. ‘‘It seems like every artist that's out I've inspired, every urban female artist that exists,'' she says. Can she hear it? ‘‘I can in some. I don't sound like Anita Baker, I don't sound like Aretha Franklin, but they were my inspiration. I don't wish to sound like them, I just know they're part of my DNA because I grew up listening to them.'' Beyonce is one of her most famous fans; the feeling is mutual. ‘‘She's a genius,'' Blige says, ‘‘she's beautiful, she can sing . . . there aren't many beautiful women that look like Beyonce who can sing. She's the full package.'' Blige made headlines when she confirmed Beyonce and Jay-Z had married during the New York leg of the Heart of the City tour. Blige wasn't at the wedding, but she congratulated them onstage -- something newspapers picked up on as the confirmation the pair have refused to make. ‘‘It was all over the news,'' Blige laughs. ‘‘It was on the (TV news) ticker. It was on CNN. It was on every channel. If it's all over the place, I'm assuming, OK, they're married. If they're not, my apologies went out to them already.'' Blige married record company executive Kendu Isaacs in 2003. He now acts as her manager. The woman who once sang No More Drama (a tune that sampled the theme to The Young and the Restless) insists she keeps her troubles behind closed doors these days. ‘‘There's drama, there's me and all my mental situations I deal with that only my husband knows about.'' Blige now reserves her drama for the acting world; she made a killer cameo in Entourage last year (‘‘Jeremy Piven is one of the most beautiful, down-to-earth actors'') and is linked to a 2009 biopic of jazz icon Nina Simone. ‘‘I really desire to do it,'' Blige says of the movie, still in an embryonic stage. Until then, she's touring latest album Growing Pains and embarking on new geographical frontiers. ‘‘You've got to work your way around the world,'' Blige says. ‘‘I'm excited I've finally worked my way to Australia. Everyone's been telling me how beautiful Australia is, how beautiful the people are and how I have to go. So now I'm like ‘OK, all right, enough. I'm going'.'' Mary J Blige, Rod Laver Arena, June 12, $102/$142, Ticketek.
