On an unseasonably cool early September day, I trekked to the Ritz Carlton in Midtown New York City to meet with the icon of hip-hop soul, the legendary Mary J. Blige.  I hadn’t been nervous in years to interview a celebrity but for some reason Mary was giving me the butterflies.  On the ride up, I rocked out to songs from the “What’s the 411? Remix” album (yep, I still listen to that on the regular!), watched the “No More Drama” video on my iPod and wrote down more questions than I could ask. 

After seeing her natural performance as the maternal Tanya in Tyler Perry’s “I Can Do Bad All by Myself,” it further proved this woman always deals right with the soul.  She is not about perfection (although she tends to land near there most of the time), but about truth whether it’s her music or acting. 

Sitting down with Mary, my butterflies flew away.  Although I had never personally met her before, she made me feel like I had.  In this candid interview a joyful Mary talks acting, music and progression.

So “I Can Do Bad All by Myself,” is your first film since “Prison Song,” which is always on BET!
I wish they’d stop playing that horrible movie! [Laughs]

Why have you stayed away from film so long?
I stayed away from film because I wasn’t prepared at all.  I had to get prepared for this film.  Then, I love what I do.  Singing is what I love.  I’m not just going to be doing four or five movies a year.  I wasn’t prepared mentally to even go forth to get an acting coach.  I got myself together and knew that, “Okay, I want this.  This is what I want.” 

The main character, April, is a character a lot of women can relate to.  What parts of your life can relate to April?
All of it! [Laughs] I am April, I have been April.  I am April in her overcoming adversity.  I am April, I am better now because April made the switch and she changed her life around. 

Your character Tanya is the voice of reason in the film.  When are you the voice of reason in your personal life?
I have to be the voice of reason a lot; I do have that in me.  Tanya is the mother, she is the maternal figure.  So, I find myself in that situation now more than ever -- just regular people, trying to give them advice, having to be brutally honest with them and being honest with themselves.

I‘ve often said Taraji P. Henson is the Mary J. Blige of film. 
I totally agree!  That girl can do no wrong.  Taraji’s so down to earth and free.  Free from whatever stipulations people put on people or just things that people say.  She’s always Taraji.  It was very comfortable and refreshing working with someone that’s not acting all the time.  She’s not acting, she’s just herself. 

Do you see yourself continuing with acting?
I definitely see myself continuing.  Working hard, continuing to get coaching for it.  I want to see myself in that film where I’m like, “Wow – that’s me?”  I want to get that far with it. 

There are those rumors going around that you were going to be in the biopic of Nina Simone.
Well, they weren’t rumors – it was real talk.  Something just keeps happening with the business side of it.  I’m prepared to go in, go hard and go get it, but they’re just not ready I guess. 

Nina’s a powerful force!
I know!  I’d have to go to a super dark place to play that.  I don’t even know if I wanna go back there! [Laughs]

What would the Mary J. Blige of 1994 think about the Mary J. Blige of 2009?
The Mary J. Blige of 1994 would think this Mary is corny. [Laughs] “Who wants to hear all that self-help – blah, blah, blah.”  You can’t relate when you haven’t gotten that far.  She wouldn’t hate on her, she’d just be a little like, “Well, who are you to tell me that I shouldn’t be upset or shouldn’t be sad.”  That’s why I try to be careful with my fans and just actually live what I’m living and not say, “This is what you should do!”  I just walk out what I'm actually saying.  My fans believe when it’s true.  Some of them are mad at me for making the switch, but I would’ve died over there.  Literally, I’d be six feet under.

You’d be a Janis Joplin or a Kurt Cobain.
Exactly!

I loved your covers of U2 and Janis Joplin. 
Thank you.

Would you ever consider doing a rock album?
You know what, that might not be a bad idea.  I’d love to go that hard.  I love to hear my voice just go Janis Joplin -- why not?

What’s coming up musically?
Right now I’m working on my new album; it’s called “Stronger.”  It has a really great piece of work.  It has featured artists such as T.I. and Drake.  I just did a song for the LeBron James documentary, “More Than a Game.”  I did a song for the movie “Precious,” which is a song called “I Can See in Color,” which is amazing. 

A lot of people wanted me to ask if you would ever consider doing a duet with Faith again.
I love Faith.  I think Faith is an amazing singer and there’s not a chick right now rocking like Faith.  I would absolutely do a duet with Faith.  I think I'm going to love Faith for the rest of my life. 

How would you describe the progression of your voice to now?
I would say the vocals are back to when I was seven years old.  When I became a teenager I started doing all kinds of foolishness, smoking cigarettes, doing drugs and it kills your voice.  But, just in the nick of time my voice was saved.  I got vocal training to strengthen my muscle.  Now that my muscles are strengthened I'd say I give myself an A.  I’m not Mariah Carey; I’m not even Whitney Houston in her prime. But, I’m Mary J. Blige and I give her an A! [Laughs]

When you’re in that moment – sometimes you go to this scream or wail.  Does that hurt?  I’m like, how can she talk after that and she’s still on key!
[Laughs] You know what it is, it just comes from a place if you’re straining and you know it then it might hurt.  But, if it comes from a place where you are not even there, you’re just like out of body – you remember you did it, but you don’t feel anything.

Who could you see playing the Mary J. Blige story?  It’s gonna come!
Yeah, it’s gonna come… I don’t know! [Laughs] I don’t know yet.  It might not be anyone from our time.  It might be someone two generations from now or a generation from now.

Do you care about reviews?
I mean, it matters when it’s positive.  When it’s not positive sometimes you got to pay attention to what they are saying, if it’s something that’s sticking.  If it’s just a bunch of negativity, it means nothing.  If it’s something that bothers you about you then you might have to go check it out.  Back in the day, they said I didn’t sing on-key.  I wasn’t, I purposely didn’t sing on-key. It was something Puffy and I were doing to create the movement that we were creating.

You were singing to beats.
Exactly!  But, when I almost lost my voice and it began to be like chatter – it was like, "It’s either my voice or all this foolishness."

What has BET meant for your career?
Wow, without BET, I, Mary J. Blige probably wouldn’t be this far.  It was the only outlet for our videos at one point.  For our interviews, for us to even learn something, it was “Teen Summit,” there was Ed Gordon.  If it wasn’t for BET, as Black entertainment, we’d probably be nowhere. 

Why should people go out to see “I Can Do Bad All by Myself"?
I think men, women and children should go see this movie because they are going to walk away with everybody needs some help and it’s okay to ask for help.  But, we got to want the help and know that life is a gift.  If you’re not living it, you’re dead.  The only way you’re going to live it is if you get out of your own way and if you need the help, ask for the help.  Someone might come into your life, so it’s basically just saying, learn to love.