Album: What's The 411? (Uptown/ MCA)
Songwriters: Mark Morales and Mark C. Rooney
Hit #1: October 17th, 1992
A potent piano line straight out of the house scene, a jack move of "Top Billin'"'s legendary skipping drum beat, a young woman's meaty vocal birthed from her raw soul and a weighty lyric on the search for true love came together to create the #1 anthem for the "New Jill Swing" movement. If you didn't know who Mary J. Blige was prior to "Real Love"'s impact, you surely knew her afterwards and most likely became an instant fan.
A culmination of every popular Black sound of the time (soul, R&B, dance, hip hop), "Real Love" wasn't just another urban smorgasbord, it was The Truth. Blige tears into the much-experienced role of the hurt and lonely, her wide-eyed hope of finding "my inspiration" dimming amidst a sea of heartbreakers. Yet, with the unstoppable blockbuster beat beneath her keeping her spirit alive, Blige perseveres, turning to God to "send her someone real" and prove that Prince Charmings don't exist solely in fairy tales.
"Real Love" anointed Mary as the voice to an un-sung female sect, the ones surrounded by the overwhelming despair of the inner city, yet continually inspired by the undying dream of a future that would bring them some much-deserved happiness both in life and love. Though it would take years and years before she finally achieved the romance she so early envisioned, the emotional ride to get there would birth some of the '90's best semblances of yesteryear soul.
The career-establishing smash would not only provide the break-out mainstream hit for Hip Hop-Soul's still-reigning Queen (it was her first Top Ten pop success), but on it's Puffy-helmed remix (marrying her acapella vocal with sparse drum loops and a snippet of "Clean-Up Woman"'s classic Jamaican strut), we were introduced to another future Black icon: a young Notorious BIG in a relatively humble cameo performance.
DL: "Real Love" (YFH)
DL: "Real Love (Remix)" (YFH)
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