On Strength of a Woman, Mary J.
Blige covers a lot of lyrical ground familiar to anyone who has heard her 11 previous studio albums.
A significant fraction of this set's sentiments are clichéd.
There are self-help platitudes such as "You gotta love yourself before you love someone else," along with timeworn redemptive declarations like "I was lost but now I'm found" and "Now I'm finally free to be me." In fairness, the stock phrases are delivered with conviction, understandably weighed with a sense of "Not this bull again." The alleged extramarital antics that dragged Blige back into this darkness, after all, are as clichéd as it gets.
Clearly the time wasn't right for Blige to record a bunch of feel-good jams, but in the listener's favor, the anguish has also inspired the singer and her co-writers and producers -- Brandon Hodge, Darhyl Camper, Jr., Prince Charlez, and Jazmine Sullivan, along with many others -- to illustrate these ballads of confrontation and perseverance with enough specifics to distinguish them from the past work.
Take "Set Me Free," where a swanky, winding backdrop supports stinging "hmph" lines like "You musta lost it -- n*gga, you won't get a dime," followed by "There's a special place in hell for you" in dismissive high register.
A clinking Kaytranada collaboration ("Telling the Truth"), a back-stabbed weeper that bares Sullivan's unmistakable touch ("Thank You"), and a machine-soul ballad worthy of an extended 12" mix ("U + Me [Love Lesson]") likewise could not have been made at any other point in Blige's career.
A few songs do depart from expressing pain and the documentation of recovery.
Brightest of all is "Find the Love," pure early-'80s boogie throwback.
Just beneath that is the title track, a theatrical empowerment anthem that would likely close just about any other album.
Instead, extra punctuation is provided by "Hello Father," another gem.
It contains one of the hour's best grooves, provided by Hit-Boy, and is all devotional finesse.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Love YourselfMary J. Blige, David Brown, Charles Hinshaw, Darhyl "DJ" Camper Jr., Kanye West | Mary J. Blige | Play | 04:58 | 11 MB | 30 MB |
| 2 | Thick of ItMary J. Blige, John Goodison, Darhyl "DJ" Camper Jr., Jazmine Sullivan, Phil Wainman | Mary J. Blige | Play | 04:01 | 9 MB | 26 MB |
| 3 | Set Me FreeMary J. Blige, Charles Hinshaw, Darhyl "DJ" Camper Jr., Jazmine Sullivan | Mary J. Blige | Play | 03:29 | 8 MB | 20 MB |
| 4 | It's MeMary J. Blige, Richard Butler, Brandon "B.A.M." Hodge, Dwayne Nesmith, Tremaine Neverson, Priscilla Renea | Mary J. Blige | Play | 04:06 | 9 MB | 27 MB |
| 5 | Glow UpMary J. Blige, Missy Elliott, Darhyl "DJ" Camper Jr., Quavious Marshall, Jazmine Sullivan | Mary J. Blige | Play | 04:56 | 11 MB | 33 MB |
| 6 | U + Me (Love Lesson)Mary J. Blige, David Brown, Charles Hinshaw, Brandon "B.A.M." Hodge | Mary J. Blige | Play | 04:43 | 10 MB | 30 MB |
| 7 | IndestructibleMary J. Blige, Eric Dawkins, Davion Farris, Brandon "B.A.M." Hodge, Elese Russell | Mary J. Blige | Play | 04:05 | 9 MB | 24 MB |
| 8 | Thank YouMary J. Blige, David Brown, Jazmine Sullivan | Mary J. Blige | Play | 04:44 | 10 MB | 30 MB |
| 9 | SurvivorMary J. Blige, Davion Farris, Dave Hoddell, Spike Hoddell, Brandon "B.A.M." Hodge, William Tyler | Mary J. Blige | Play | 03:23 | 7 MB | 23 MB |
| 10 | Find the LoveDerrick Baker, Vincent Berry, Mary J. Blige, Cortni Elisa Jordan, Cainon Lamb | Mary J. Blige | Play | 03:42 | 8 MB | 20 MB |
| 11 | SmileMary J. Blige, Theron Feemster, Charles Hinshaw | Mary J. Blige | Play | 03:57 | 9 MB | 27 MB |
| 12 | Telling the TruthMary J. Blige, Louis Celestin, Chester Hansen, Ashton Simmonds, Alexander Sowinski, Matthew Tavares | Mary J. Blige | Play | 03:49 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 13 | Strength of a WomanMary J. Blige, Eric Dawkins, Davion Farris, Brandon "B.A.M." Hodge, Benjamin Wright | Mary J. Blige | Play | 03:19 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 53 mins | 122 MB | |||||
| 53 mins | 343 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miguel Atwood-Ferguson | Conductor, Harp Arrangement, Soloist, String Arrangements |
| 2 | Derrick Baker | Composer |
| 3 | Derrick "Bigg D" Baker | Guitar |
| 4 | Vincent Berry | Composer |
| 5 | Alison Bjorkedal | Harp |
| 6 | Mary J. Blige | Composer, Executive Producer, Primary Artist |
| 7 | David Brown | Composer, Producer, Vocals (Background) |
| 8 | Gerry Brown | String Engineer |
| 9 | Marshall Bryant | Engineer |
| 10 | Caroline Buckman | Viola |
| 11 | Richard Butler | Composer |
| 12 | Daniel Caesar | Vocals (Background) |
| 13 | Darhyl "DJ" Camper Jr. | Composer, Drums, Fender Rhodes, Organ, Piano, Producer |
| 14 | Paul Cartwright | Violin |
| 15 | Louis Celestin | Composer |
| 16 | Louis Kevin Celestin | Drums, Percussion, Synthesizer Bass |
| 17 | Maddox Chhim | Assistant |
| 18 | Thomas Cullison | Assistant |
| 19 | Eric Dawkins | Composer |
| 20 | Ayanna Depas | Assistant |
| 21 | DJ Khaled | Featured Artist |
| 22 | Aaron Draper | Percussion |
| 23 | Missy Elliott | Composer, Featured Artist |
| 24 | Davion Farris | Composer, Engineer |
| 25 | Theron Feemster | Composer, Producer |
| 26 | Eddie "A&R Eddie" Fourcell | A&R |
| 27 | Vanessa Freebairn-Smith | Cello |
| 28 | Michael Frenke | Engineer |
| 29 | Yesseh Furaha-Ali | Sax (Alto) |
| 30 | John Goodison | Composer |
| 31 | Eric Gorfain | Violin |
| 32 | Cameron Graham | Engineer |
| 33 | Chester Hansen | Composer, Synthesizer |
| 34 | Jaymz Hardy-Martin III | Engineer, Mixing, Vocal Mixing |
| 35 | Charles Hinshaw | Composer |
| 36 | Dave Hoddell | Composer |
| 37 | Spike Hoddell | Composer |
| 38 | Brandon "B.A.M." Hodge | Composer, Producer |
| 39 | Chauncey Hollis | Composer |
| 40 | Jean-Marie Horvat | Mixing |
| 41 | Elizabeth Isik | A&R |
| 42 | Peter Jacobson | Cello |
| 43 | Hotae Alexander Jang | String Engineer |
| 44 | Jaycen Joshua | Mixing |
| 45 | Cortni Elisa Jordan | Composer |
| 46 | Leah Katz | Viola |
| 47 | Kaytranada | Featured Artist |
| 48 | David Kim | Assistant, Mixing Assistant |
| 49 | Steven "Q-Beatz" Kubie | Programming |
| 50 | Marisa Kuney | Violin |
| 51 | Dave Kutch | Mastering |
| 52 | Cainon Lamb | Composer |
| 53 | Songa Lee | Violin |
| 54 | Dennis Leupold | Photography |
| 55 | Timothy Loo | Cello |
| 56 | Quavious Marshall | Composer |
| 57 | Lucia Micarelli | Violin |
| 58 | David Nakaji | Assistant |
| 59 | Dwayne Nesmith | Composer |
| 60 | Jon Nettlesbey | Assistant |
| 61 | Tremaine Neverson | Composer |
| 62 | Prince Charlez | Featured Artist, Vocals (Background) |
| 63 | Quavo | Featured Artist |
| 64 | Dexter Randall | Assistant |
| 65 | Frank Rein | Trombone |
| 66 | Priscilla Renea | Composer |
| 67 | Teddy Riley | Producer |
| 68 | Elese Russell | Composer |
| 69 | Stuart Schenk | Mixing |
| 70 | Ashton Simmonds | Composer |
| 71 | Mary Kathleen Sloan | Violin |
| 72 | Alexander Sowinski | Clapping, Composer, Piano |
| 73 | Dexter Story | Contractor |
| 74 | Jazmine Sullivan | Composer, Vocals (Background) |
| 75 | Jenny Takamatsu | Violin |
| 76 | Matthew Tavares | Composer, Engineer |
| 77 | Gavin Taylor | Art Direction, Design |
| 78 | Thomas Lea | Viola |
| 79 | Sergio "Sergical" Tsai | Engineer |
| 80 | William Tyler | Composer |
| 81 | Ina Veli | Violin |
| 82 | Phil Wainman | Composer |
| 83 | Kanye West | Composer, Featured Artist |
| 84 | Eric Whatley | Bass |
| 85 | Chris Woods | Violin |
| 86 | Kevin Woods | Flugelhorn, Trumpet |
| 87 | Benjamin Wright | Composer, Horn Arrangements, String Arrangements |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |