New trailer drops for Amazon’s Mary J. Blige documentary

The documentary takes us through Blige's life from the Slocumb projects in Yonkers, New York through to her successful career

Mary J. Blige is the undisputed Queen of Hip-Hop Soul and Amazon Studios is giving her her just due. The documentary Mary J. Blige’s My Life is heading to Amazon Prime on June 25 and today, Amazon Prime dropped the first trailer.

Read More: Ruff Ryder CEO Waah Dean talks DMX and the future of the label

The documentary takes us through Blige’s life from the Slocumb projects in Yonkers, New York through to her multi-platinum Grammy-nominated and Oscar-nominated career. Blige has maintained a successful career over the last 25 years and now stars as Monet on Power Book II: Ghost, a spinoff of the popular Power series on Starz.

Her debut album What’s the 411, produced by Sean “Diddy” Combs, came out in 1992 and is widely considered to be one of the first examples of melding Hip-Hop and R&B.

Now 50-year-old and fresh from a divorce from Kendu Isaacs, Blige has the chance to tell her own story. She and Combs executive produced the documentary.

“In Oscar®-winning filmmaker Vanessa Roth’s documentary Mary J. Blige’s My Life, the singer, producer and actress reveals the demons and blessings that inspired the record and propelled her from the soul-crushing world of New York’s housing projects to international stardom. In the process, she celebrates the 25th anniversary of her most influential work by performing the album live for the first time,” read the synopsis.

Blige recently celebrated another career milestone when she was honored with a spot on the Apollo Walk of Fame. As reported by theGrio, Blige said she was gratified to be amongst the Apollo legends.

“It’s so special, I mean, because you have James Brown come through here. You have Aretha Franklin—like, these are people that, you know, if it wasn’t for them, there would be no us in music. They went through all the tough stuff for us,” the nine-time Grammy winner told The Associated Press. “So when you make it to the Apollo, you have to always have appreciation for everybody that came before you and bless the Apollo for, you know, doing that for us.”

The Apollo Inducts Mary J Blige Into Its Walk Of Fame
Mary J. Blige is inducted into The Apollo Walk of Fame on May 28, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

During the induction ceremony outside the famed Harlem venue, Blige talked about the upcoming documentary.

“This is for the fans who had the ‘My Life’ album, and who, you know, even some of the fans who had the ‘What’s the 411’ album. It’s the beginning of the…process of going through the ‘My Life’ album and making it and everything that came with it,” said the woman dubbed “The Queen of Hip-hop Soul.”

“It’s too much love in it. And you get it from the horse’s mouth instead of on paper from a, you know… ‘reporter’,” said Blige, causing the room to erupt in laughter.

Read More: Mary J. Blige inducted into Apollo Walk of Fame

Harlem is not the only place where fans can see Blige immortalized in cement.

Mary J. Blige attends the 24th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 21, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Getty Images)

In 2018 on her 47th birthday, Blige was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The ceremony was attended by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the once Minneapolis-based producers who worked on “No More Drama” one of Blige’s biggest hits, the late Andre Harrell, who founded Uptown Records and Combs, who talked about how the both of them started from nothing to achieve success together.

At that ceremony, Blige said, “I am so grateful. On this day, my birthday, God put my name on a star.”

Have you subscribed to theGrio’s new podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!

TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!

SHARE THIS ARTICLE