“I can’t help but love him,” sings Mary J. Blige on her latest single “Mr. Wrong”, the second off the soul songtress’ upcoming tenth studio album “My Life II…The Journey Continues (Act 1)”. The Queen of Hip Hop Soul debuted the track, which features rapper Drake, on Angie Martinez’s Hot97 show in New York City earlier today.
The song was written and produced by Rico Love, who has previously penned tracks for artists including Usher (“There Goes My Baby”, “Hey Daddy”), Beyonce (“Sweet Dreams”) and Nelly (“Gone”, “Just a Dream”). Grammy-winning producer Jim Jonsin (Beyonce, Lil Wayne, Usher, Eminem) also helped craft the tune.
“Mr. Wrong” has Blige singing about the title “character”, a lover who she can’t stay away from (“We got a special thing going on”) even though remaining with him isn’t in her best interest (“…he breaks my heart so bad”). Drake plays the source of her agony, a man whose main problem appears to be an obsession with making money (“The rewards I see from working made me an addict/There’s way more people that want it than people that have it”) at the expense of his relationship.
With its mix of heartbreak and slow soul jams, the tune definitely harkens back to the brand of classic soul balladry featured on earlier Blige albums like “My Life” (which this new album functions as a sequel to) and “Share My World”, and it should particularly please fans of that period of her career.
Blige’s last album, 2009’s “Stronger with Each Tear”, has been certified Gold in the U.S. with more than 500,000 copies sold. It’s her only studio album that hasn’t yet reached Platinum status.
Listen to the new song below and let us know what you think!
“My Life II” hits stores on November 21st.