Mary J. Blige has one of the smoothest voices in music. But for her, listening to her own songs hasn’t always been so easy.
On an episode of TODAY With Hoda and Jenna from Wednesdsay (March 8), the R&B/Soul icon revealed some surprising thoughts about her own music.
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“I used to hate everything about me. The sound of my voice, the sound of my speaking voice. And I used to just be afraid to hear any music back,” she said.
Check out the clip below, which begins at about the seven minute mark.
Though Blige struggled to get over this self-loathing, she revealed that these bad feelings eventually went away.
She said: “We grow up thinking we couldn’t boast or brag or love on ourselves, and now I’m doing all that…I have so much fun with myself. I’m like, ‘Girl, you look so good. I’m so proud of you. Oh, that looks nice on you.’ And I’m by myself a lot, so I’m always like, ‘Oh Mary, I love that! Let’s wear this tonight. That’s gonna be hot!’”
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Earlier this week, while promoting her Strength of a Woman Summit, Mary J. also stopped by CBS Mornings and made an exciting announcement about her love life.
Blige said that she manifested the love she deserves and has been relishing the good relationship she has after going through it with her ex-husband, Martin “Kendu” Isaacs.
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“I am in love. I believe I deserve a good relationship,” she said. “With myself. With a partner. When you believe it, it comes to you.
“I’m able to be my own company because I believe in love for myself, I’m not going to give up on love. I’m not going to let a bad relationship or a bad marriage stop me from having a good life and having romance and getting the hugs that I want and the desire and kisses.”
The “Family Affair” singer has been very vocal about her struggles in the music industry.
Last year, the superstar singer opened up about her journey in her cover story for Glamour. The magazine dubbed the Yonkers native ‘Woman of the Year,’ and while diving into her success, Mary had to also reflect on the ride it took to get there.
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“This is not an overnight success,” she said. “This is not an easy thing, this new me, this new Mary. This is hard work. When you’re happy and you’re strong, and you’ve been…[as] miserable as I’ve been in life and went through as much hell, it’s easy to revert back to the residue. It’s easy to revert back to the past because that’s what you knew. Because you know the pain of the past will always try to pull you back.”
