(ThyBlackMan.com) Two very big pop stars released albums this week, and while tradition would have had most of us pitting one album against the other, these two couldn’t be more different — Rihanna’s Talk That Talk and Mary J. Blige’s My Life II…The Journey Continues (Act I).
Is it possible to be both a Rihanna and Mary J fan? Possibly, but perhaps not plausibly. These artists represent two ends of the R&B spectrum, Mary J. firmly established as damn near the definition, the “Queen of Hip Hop Soul,” the one who sang all the hooks of your favorite hip hop tracks of the 90s.
And then you have Rihanna — so pop, so alternative, so dance rock top 40, she’s kind of beyond the R&B category.
But both women are artists known to exorcise their demons on wax — singing about heartbreak, lost lovers, women scorned, women empowered. These 
universal themes help project their talents, make them the icons of women, black and otherwise, worldwide.
Mary J.’s very wordy My Life II… The Journey Continues (Act I) finds the R&B diva at an impasse of sorts — here is a woman who has had a nearly 20 year career, nine Grammys, eight multi-platinum albums. She’s a well-respected elder — but that’s the catch, she’s an elder. Something that may be a tough pill to swallow when some of the world’s biggest pop stars barely are old enough for a driver’s license.
So this latest effort capitalizes on the success of her 1994 album My Life, a dark album that revealed Mary J.’s struggle with drugs, alcohol, and depression.
“It’s not a competitor. It’s a sequel. In a extension of how far we’ve come,” she tells Diddy on the intro track to the album. What follows is classic Mary J. fare, heartfelt ballads, an appearance by her rapping alter-ego Brook Lynn, and even a cover of Rufus & Chaka Khan’s “Ain’t Nobody.” It’s an album that stay’s true to Mary’s style, and will appeal to her fans seeking the emotional Mary of the 1990s.
Finish story over at; TheGrio – Mary J. Blige, Rihanna RnB, etc.
Also follow TheGrio on Twitter; http://Twitter.com/TheGrio.
and Facebook; http://www.facebook.com/theGrio.
