Music

April, 1995

Nelson GeorgeMary J. Blige's What's the 411? was a street-smart, beautifully written and arranged debut that established her as the brightest young female star in R&B. Blige's highly anticipated sophomore effort, My Life (Uptown/MCA), isn't so savvy as its predecessor. Instead of offering bright, sharply crafted songs, My Life is moody and meandering. In keeping with hip-hop's most distressing tradition, many songs are built around samples from earlier R&B records. Bits of Rick James, Rose Royce...