| Аннотация к альбому Whats The 411 Mary J. Blige |
Production for Blige's debut album began in 1992, with Sean "Puffy" Combs, at the time an A&R executive at Uptown, largely overseeing the project.
On July 28, 1991, Uptown Records released What's the 411?. "You Remind Me", the album's lead-off single, peaked chart and number one on the R&B singles chart that summer. The second single, "Real Love", was released in the fall. It too topped the R&B singles chart, and became Blige's first top ten Hot 100 single, peaking at number seven. Both singles were certified gold.
More What's the 411? singles followed into 1993, including "Sweet Thing", a cover of Rufus's "Sweet Thing", and "Love No Limit". By the end of the year, What's the 411? had sold three million copies. Blige, meanwhile, released a hip hop single "You Don't Have to Worry". After the success of What's the 411, Sean "Puffy" Combs hailed the singer as "the queen of hip-hop soul", a title that she has since retained. She later confessed that, at the time, she believed the title to be nothing more than a marketing tool. The name of her album, What's the 411? stems from her previous job as Directory Assistance operator. The album's success spun off What's the 411? Remix, a remix album released in December that was used to extend the life of the What's the 411? singles on the radio into 1994, as Blige recorded her follow up album.
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