Mary J. Blige

Released: July 28, 1998

Songwriter: Mary J. Blige Chucky Thompson Diddy Arlene DelValle Roy Ayers

Producer: Chucky Thompson Diddy

[Intro]
Sing!

L.A., let me see y'all wave your hands from side to side
From side to side, y'all, from side to side
Come on, come on, a-what you say, baby

La-di-da-da-da, lo-luh-lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lo, lo-lo
Mmm, ooh, ooh-ooh, oh, oh
("My life, my life, my life, my life, in the sunshine")

[Chorus]
If you looked in my life
And see what I've seen...
(What you see? La-da-da-da-da)
If you looked in my life
And see what I've seen...
(La-da-da-da-da, da-da)
If you looked in my life
And see what I've seen...
(Yeah, la-da-da-da-da)
If you looked in my life
And see what I've seen...
("My life, my life, my life, my life, in the sunshine")

[Verse 1]
Life can be only what you make it
When you're feeling down
You should never fake it
Say what's on your mind
And you'll find in time
That all the negative energy
It would all decease

And you'll be at peace with yourself
You won't really need no one else
(Except who? Except who, baby?)
Except for the man up above
(And why is that? And why is that?)
Because He'll give you love
Ooh, ooh ooh, ooh
("My life, my life, my life, my life, in the sunshine")
If you looked into my life, my life, my life, my life

Mary Jane Blige (b. Jan 11 1971) grew up in the projects of Yonkers, New York. A random decision to record a cover of “Caught Up in the Rapture” by Anita Baker in a pop-up recording booth at a mall led MJB to getting signed by Uptown Entertainment. After providing background vocals on Father MC’s hit single “I’ll Do 4 U” in 1990, a young intern at Uptown named Sean “Puffy” Combs ended up executive producing Mary’s 1992 debut album What’s The 411?. Fusing hip-hop beats with Mary’s soulful voice earned her the nickname “Queen of Hip-Hop Soul”.

She followed up her debut with a string of critically acclaimed albums, including 1994’s My Life and 1997’s Share My World, as well as hit singles such as “Not Gon' Cry,” “Family Affair,” “Be Without You,” and “Just Fine.”

She also collaborated with rappers on a number of tracks, including Jay-Z’s “Can’t Knock the Hustle,” Ghostface Killah’s “All That I Got is You,” Wyclef’s “911,” Common’s “Come Close,” and Method Man’s “I’ll Be There for You/All I Need to Get By,” which was a platinum hit and won the two of them a Grammy Award in 1996 for Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group.

more tracks from the album

The Tour

From the album

The Tour (1998)

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The Tour