Q&A: Mary J. Blige feels "Growing Pains"

By Gail Mitchell

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Everyone loves a good comeback story. And this time last year, Mary J. Blige was the central character in her own inspiring fable.

The husky-voiced Queen of Hip-Hop Soul was just days away from a career-crowning achievement: the artist with the most Grammy Award nominations (eight) for her 2005 studio album, "The Breakthrough." The aptly titled release, featuring the mega-hit "Be Without You," musically symbolized Blige's hard-won, years-long fight against the personal demons -- a troubled childhood, drug addiction, an abusive relationship -- that fueled the raw, painful honesty of her fan-winning artistry.

On the eve of flying to South Africa to begin promoting her December follow-up album, "Growing Pains," an ever-frank Blige shared her perspective on life after "The Breakthrough."

Q: Was it more or less intimidating going back into the studio after the success of "The Breakthrough?"

Blige: "We were coming out of a valley, so to speak, with 'The Breakthrough.' Everyone had run away and turned their backs on us. And that was cool. We love them still, and we forgive them. But it's been easier doing 'Growing Pains' because now you don't have anything to try to conquer. It's like you've accomplished everything you set out to do. You've done the hard work to be where you are. Now, though, you've got to work harder to deliver based on that confidence. Not that I was lax on anything or taking anything for granted because "The Breakthrough" did so well. I worked just as hard, maybe even harder, on this album."

Q: Among your collaborators on this new project is Ne-Yo.

Blige: "Ne-Yo is an incredible kid. He nailed everything. I began writing for this album in February around the time of the Grammys and the (Academy Award) parties. I started out with this concept of growing pains because that's how I was feeling during the Grammys: 'Am I good enough for this; do I really deserve all this in my life?' But something in my head said, 'Yes, you are. Now you're forced to rapidly grow up in this area in order to achieve and get the things you want.' All this was in my poem and everything else I'd been writing.

"I read everything to Ne-Yo. He came back with not only some of the words that were in my poem but with songs that matched up to where I'm going and where I'm at in my life. He's such a sweet man, a gentleman who respects women. When I got a chance to sit down with him and talk ... you know, men don't usually relate to or understand women on that level. He just totally understood."