Production for Blige's debut album began in 1991, with Sean "Puffy" Combs (at the time a fledgling A&R executive at Uptown) largely overseeing the project. Also enlisted were some of the top R&B and hip hop producers of the time, among them Tony Dofat, Mark Morales and Cory Rooney, Dave "Jam" Hall, and DeVante Swing. On July 28, 1992, Uptown Records released What's the 411?. "You Remind Me", the album's lead-off single, peaked at 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 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 also certified Gold. More What's the 411? singles followed into 1993, including "Reminisce", 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". She later confessed that, at the time, she believed the title to be nothing more than a marketing tool. The name 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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TRACKLIST
1. Leave A Message
2. Reminisce
3. Real Love
4. You Remind Me
5. Intro Talk (featuring Busta Rhyme)
6. Sweet Thing
7. Love No Limit
8. I Don't Want To Do Anything (featuing K-Ci Hailey)
9. Slow Down
10. My Love
11. Changes I've Been Going Through
12. What's The 411 (featuring Grand Puba)
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ALBUM PRVIEW
MARY J BLIGE - REAL LOVE
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