Mary J. Blige Has a New Album Produced By Dr. Dre On the Way — Despite Just Releasing a New Album ‘Good Morning Gorgeous’
Grammy Award-winning musician and actor Mary J. Blige made her highly-anticipated return to music in 2022 with Good Morning Gorgeous, her first album in five years. But hot on the heels of the album’s release, she might already have another one in the pipeline — thanks to her friend and longtime collaborator Dr. Dre.
Dr. Dre produced Mary J. Blige’s hit single ‘Family Affair’
Blige rose to fame in the 1990s and was quickly crowned the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul. Hit singles such as “Real Love” and “I’m Goin’ Down” showed that there was no other artist like her. By the time Blige burst onto the scene, Dr. Dre had made a name for himself as a rapper — first as a part of the group N.W.A. and later on his own. By the turn of the century, he was respected for his talents as a producer.
In 2001, Blige teamed up with Dre for her hit song “Family Affair.” The Dr. Dre-produced track was released as the lead single from her fifth album No More Drama. It went on to become her first — and to date, only — No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Dr. Dre says a new Mary J. Blige album is in the works
When Blige and Dre teamed up for the 2022 Super Bowl halftime show, it truly was a “Family Affair.” Blige performed the song as part of her performance, while Dre and Snoop Dogg opened and closed the show.
After the show, Dre invited Blige back to his house to celebrate. He spoke about his post-Super Bowl activities in an interview with TMZ.
“Everybody was extremely excited,” Dre said of the performers after the show. “Mary came back here to the house last night and we went downstairs to the studio, and she was playing me samples and we were just vibing out.”
Dre revealed that he and Blige were even working on an album together, and admitted that he probably should’ve kept his mouth shut. “We’re talking about working together on her next project,” he said.
Blige confirmed that she was working with Dre in an interview on The Breakfast Club a few days later. “That was something I always wanted to do: to do a produced album by Dr. Dre, because everything he does, you know you’re going to smashes and you know it’s going to be excellent,” she said frankly. “I was like, ‘Yo, this is a dream come true for me. I want you to produce an album for me.’ And he was like ‘Oh my God, it’s a dream come true for me!’ And then boom, here we are. It’s really happening.”
Mary J. Blige released ‘Good Morning Gorgeous’ after 5 years away from music
Blige released her fourteenth album Good Morning Gorgeous in February 2022, just two days before her Super Bowl performance. Fans were eager to see Blige back making music. For Blige, making the album was a therapeutic process.
She spoke about the intention behind the album in an interview on The Breakfast Club.
“Good Morning Gorgeous, there’s nothing vain about that. It’s something I had to say to myself when I was in a very very dark situation, because I was never enough, I couldn’t please this person, nothing was never enough,” she admitted. “So I had to find a way to love myself out of that situation.”
