As we watch the teen princesses take their spot center stage with their pretty faces, toned bodies and their dreams and aspirations of being the next lady to sing the Rhythm and Blues, we see their backs walking off stage just as quick as we saw their fronts walking on. However there is one face, one voice and one legacy which continues to reign supreme in the kingdom of Hip-hop/Soul and R and B and that belongs to Mary J Blige.

After six multi-platinum selling studio albums the poignant persona of one of the music industries most influential has added another jewel to the crown that has adorned her head for the last thirteen years. Presenting to her fans both old and new the latest diamond for her crown, The Breakthrough, another chapter in the life of a woman whose lyrics and emotions we have come to respect and appreciate, Mary once again has exceeded any expectations we had of her. She broke down why she believes she is still prominent in the game quite easily, “You know what I find, I find with an artist like me the fans just want what you really are. They don’t care about all the fluff and tricks they just want who you really are.”

With a new life and a new song to sing Mary never once faltered in her decision of sharing her joy with her fans as opposed to the pain she was known for. “You know I thought about it [losing fans], it was a choice I had to make to be either a leader or a follower and I made the choice to be a leader and I said if people think I am leaving them then they will understand, that is a chance we take as leaders.” So when albums sales soared way past gold in the first week, it was more than apparent that happy or melancholy, Mary was still the chick to sing along to.

With so much ego feeding the need for competition in music today Mary explained, “Well I am not competing with anyone. So many people are competing and their whole meetings are how can we cut Mary’s head off whereas mine are about, how can I connect with my fans constantly, how can I bring people to a place where they feel better about themselves and that is really it?” The younger influx of R&B songstresses bother Mary for only one reason and it isn’t to do with their singing capabilities; it is what they believe they need to do to make an impression. When it comes down to showing a little too much flesh MJB had this to say, “I am not judging the females, because if it works for them it works for them. Me? Well there is a way to show off your abdominal area for Mary J Blige just as there is a way to show off your arms and your legs and you just have to know that you have people, little kids watching.”

Throughout her career Mary has continually earned our love from her honesty and our high regard from her ability to craft melodious words from her own life’s exposure to heartbreak, pain and now happiness. Never has the Bronx born, Yonkers NY raised icon made a track that one of us out here in the world of fans and listeners haven’t been able to relate to. And having worked with the best of the best from the Hip-Hop world, the rock world, the pop world, there is still an endless list of people Mary wants to work with, particularly one producer, “There are so many people that I want to work with, both young and old but as far as producers if I had my choice it would be Kanye West and I always say that because I truly think he has figured it out and he has probably always known what it was since he was a child as you can hear it.”

Regardless of how successful, she has become, who she has on her resume and just how celebrated Mary J Blige has become she is still that girl from around the way that can make you feel that she is singing that song note by note for just you and what you may be going through. As we have heard her 411, understood her Life, shared her world and finally celebrated when she realized that No More Drama would compensate her Love and Life, people forget, or sadly don’t realize as she embarks on her Breakthrough project just what other achievements this unique personality has under her belt. She heals us with her words but she also touches many with her actions.

So besides the platinum and gold discs, Ms. Mary J Blige, throughout her career, has won awards that your typical music fan may not be aware of. Amongst Grammies, MTV Video Music Awards, Soul Train awards there are awards that possibly mean just a little more than the rest; one being the Patrick Lippert Award which is Rock the Votes highest honor for involvement in community activism. But these awards are never mentioned in the same breath as the music awards and when asked if this bothered her, Mary explained to HiphopDX, “I would say it doesn’t really bother me because at the end of the day it is not about me blowing my horn that I have done this, it is about me getting it done and God rewarding me and giving me the reward, because anyone else may be like ‘I did this I did that,’ and I am not doing it for that, I am doing it because I really care about people.”

Mary has never faltered in paying her success forward by involving herself in abundant charitable organizations. Having raised substantial funds for aids charities, such as the City of Hope National Medical Center and playing an active role in organizations such as the Crest Healthy Smiles campaign which promotes oral hygiene and provides kids in deprived areas with the essentials to encourage healthy teeth, reaching out and helping those that need it, without a melody or video involved is equally important to Mary. She can make a difference to many, through her words, through her actions and all the while, maintain that authenticity she has encompassed from the first time she stepped center stage.

Her abundant fan base has been the driving force behind her tenure in the game, obviously Mary has had times like the rest of us in her life when she has thought about throwing in the towel, but her persistence in standing strong she owes to them. “There have been days when I say I have had enough but then my fans, they always come out of nowhere and say ‘Don’t leave us out here, we need you.’ I think I did an interview in London a couple of months back and this girl said, ‘Mary we are glad you are back, but where were you when I needed you?’ And it is stuff like that that makes me say I won’t go anywhere right now.” But once again like she already stated, sometimes people look for leaders and Mary exemplifies that, even when the responsibility to maintain her position is expected as opposed to hoped for, “It’s a big responsibility man and on top of that you gotta thank God as a lot of my fans have children and children want leaders and kids like kids stuff and if you can figure out a way to actually communicate with them and then the real stuff you are talking about, you have got everything.”

And communicating with her fans is something Mary has never failed to do, “You know what it is, lyrical content is what makes me connect, go eye to eye with my fans whether I was drunk or sober back in the days, if something was crazy like when I performed My Life or Your Child, you are automatically connected, the people are going to grab your hand and say ‘Look at me, sing this to me.’”

Having reached a new plateau in her life after marrying Kendu Isaacs, renowned music producer, the Breakthrough project demonstrates the change in her mind-set, it closes in on the missing link that her life was lacking before Kendu made her his wife; a partner. She admits ‘being married has drastically changed my music,’ and it is exhilarating to see her one again share this transformation with us. We have lived her previous heartbreak and distress now we can rejoice with her as she embarks on an entirely new episode in her life; an episode that may be long overdue but nonetheless anticipated.

On how life is right now, Mary had this to say, “I am content with life with period, because life is life; it is ups, downs, the hard times, the good times. And once you can expect the inevitable which is the drama, bad times, you know things are going to happen and once you can accept those you know how to deal with it when it comes; but if you are to play around with it.”

So fourteen years of the girl from Yonkers who still has the world eating out of the palm of her hand. With a straight A report card in music, Mary plans on taking her career down another avenue, the silver screen, “I feel that that is the next thing. You know I feel that is the next avenue I have to share with people after the music. You know they get a chance to see me get it all off my chest in character.”

So it is apparent that she will continue to stand center stage, whether it be singing or stepping into the role of actress; regardless she will glow and bask in our admiration and exude her own bliss because there is just something about Mary that encourages us to want her to maintain that position.