MJB covers VIBE and dishes about style, music, Rihanna and more…

Posted by | Ray Cornelius

“My inner child is having fun now. She feels pretty. She’s feeling things she never had a chance to feel before. And now that I can let her out, she’s smiling, she’s laughing…”   MJB

The Queen of Hip Hop Soul Mary J. Blige has finally found the joy and happiness she’s been looking for and now the Grammy-winning diva wants everyone else around her to experience the very same peace.

The recent Impact Award honoree talked candidly to VIBE magazine about her two decades in the music industry as well as her evolving style, her views on today’s music stars and why spirituality is her therapy.

Check out a few photos and excerpts from her interview below:

On her ever changing style…

I’ve evolved. I’m a woman now, and I’ve softened. I’ve been a tomboy my whole life. But then you get older, you get married, you soften up. You still have that other exterior if needed [laughs].

 

On when she feels the most beautiful…

When I’m made up and dressed up and my heart is in the right place… [When] I feel happy. I’m not going to lie and say I feel beautiful when I have on a hair scarf and I’m running to the gym. I feel confident, but beautiful? No.

On the current state of R&B music…

I am so proud of what Rihanna is doing...She is speaking to her generation, and she’s living her life in front of them. I don’t even think she’s purposely doing it. She’s such a beautiful girl, and I don’t think she knows she’s that beautiful…

Drake is amazing. He is an amazing writer: great songs, great melodies. And Kendrick Lamar has a classic album right now. Classic…I also love Bruno Mars. They need to take him seriously…And Miguel is amazing. His voice; his writing. All of his songs are beautiful. He is pure inspiration.

On her new found spirituality…

Yes. I went to church as a kid, but that’s not the same thing. Now it’s about me learning how to walk in love. I had to forgive everyone, and take responsibility. I can’t blame anyone anymore for what happened to me when I was younger. I’m an adult. That’s the therapy.

On what she wants right now…

Love, health, unity in my family and my friendships, success, a long life. I want everyone to be happy and to have what they need. Things I don’t want, I don’t deal with. I’m around female celebrities all the time and I can’t and won’t compare myself to them because that’s a terrible feeling.

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