When Mary J. Blige signed to Uptown Records, she began working with an up-and-coming producer named Sean "Puffy" Combs, and together they forged the idea of what came to be known as "hip-hop soul" —music with the emotional heft of the former, the sample-heavy breeziness of the latter, and the pop appeal of both. The combination — not to mention Blige's powerhouse voice, which added extra gravitas to songs like the feather-light "Real Love" — resulted in cross-generational success. In the immediate, 411 inspired the likes of Mariah Carey and Madonna to incorporate more hip-hop sensibilities into their brands of pop; but even two decades later, tracks like Ariana Grande's "Problem" and Charli XCX's "Boom Clap" operate in Blige's swaggering shadow.
Ludacris' music aged better and he was a better lyricist/artist in general.
I find it sad that he faded into irrelevance. It seemed like every year from 2003-2009, he had a new jam that EVERY SINGLE PARTY would basically be required to play. And they were great jams too.
