Thursday night turned into a special affair at The Hit Factory in midtown Manhattan. DJs, journalists and what P. Diddy labeled “taste makers” gathered to hear tracks from Mary J. Blige’s sixth CD, Love & Life, out August 26. Joining the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul were P. Diddy, who executive-produced the CD along with Mary, Bad Boy’s Loon, Eric B., Deric “D-Dot” Angelettie and NYC Power 105’s Ed Lover & Dr. Dre and Steph Lova. Mary looked beautiful, fine and fit, complete with hat and white leather thigh-high boots. P. Diddy explained that the two had to come together to make more magic like they did on What’s the 411? and My Life. Record execs also explained that MCA had folded into Geffen Records, and they introduced the staff. Highlights of Love & Life include the first single, “Love @ 1st Sight” with Method Man and two songs which are both being considered for the second single, “Not Today” and “Ooh!”
On Thursday Erykah Badu also unveiled new tracks—from her EP, “World Wide Underground,” out September 16. Recorded on the bus while she was touring Europe, Badu and her creative crew, Freakquency (James Poyser, Ringo Smith, R.C. Williams) birthed seven extremely funky and fun tracks. With candles burning and spiritual mood set, Erykah explained she was experiencing a “creative metamorphosis” and these were her most recent expressions. “Danger,” the first single, is “Otherside Of The Game” Part II, “Steady On The Grind” features dead prez and her bonus track is a re-working of Sequence’s “Funk You Up” featuring Queen Latifah, Bahamadia and Angie Stone.
