I just did the opposite, stood back, respected her space. I know her energy at that time was everybody was coming at her - she’s this new young hip-hop phenomenon, and everyone wanted a piece of her. Once she’s actually in the studio recording this one song, I meet her. I wasn’t initially scheduled to do shit else but that one song.

This one song comes up that she’s not supposed to have, and she loved it. She was picking through like a thousand tapes and she hated everything. But the song got sent to Puff, and then Mary heard it. One song in particular got everything started: “Be With You.” I wasn’t even supposed to send that song - it was actually for a group in DC. I sent “Think of You” as a record for Mary, but Puff ended up using that for Usher. The songs I was sending him to give him an idea of me as a producer, he ended up using them for the album. I already had a lot of the My Life album done before I met Puff. So when I heard that What’s the 411? album, I’m like, “ this is out of what I’m thinking.” At that time, I was doing a lot of merging of hip-hop with live instruments, because I played eight different instruments. Hiram could get me to TLC Puffy could get me to Mary. I was seeking management at that time, and it was between two people, Hiram Hicks or Puffy. Go-go - and he spoke with Rolling Stone about his time in the studio with Blige and how his D.C. Thompson appears in the My Life documentary - he’s also at work on a film of his own, Chucky Thompson Presents D.C. Not only did the young beat-maker serve as a crucial behind-the-scenes presence during the making of My Life, blending rich Seventies soul with radio-ready hip-hop, Thompson also created “Big Poppa” and “Me & My Bitch” for a fresh-faced New York rapper by the name of the Notorious B.I.G.

who had played with the famous Go-Go pioneer Chuck Brown. 1994 was a breakout year for Thompson, a multi-instrumentalist from D.C. Diddy and the rising producer Chucky Thompson. “I have 13 albums,” she declares early on in her new Amazon documentary, released on Friday, “but my second, My Life, is my most important.”Īfter working with a grab-bag of big names - including Devante Swing of Jodeci and the rappers Busta Rhymes and Grand Puba - on her debut, What’s the 411?, Blige narrowed her focus for its follow-up, working almost exclusively with P. Some artists struggle to determine which of their releases is the most vital - it’s like asking a parent to pick a favorite child. Blige Made 'My Life,' Her 'Most Important' Album Blige Made 'My Life,' Her 'Most Important' Album How Mary J.

Mary j blige my life album cover front