The Breakthrough


The Breakthrough is the seventh studio album by American R&B singer Mary J. Blige. It was released on December 20, 2005, by Geffen Records. Blige recorded the album with a host of songwriters and record producers, including 9th Wonder, Rodney Jerkins, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Bryan-Michael Cox, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Raphael Saadiq, Chucky Thompson, Cool & Dre, Ron Fair, and will.i.am.
The Breakthrough received positive reviews from most critics and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. It was certified three-time platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, and has sold 3,100,000 copies in the United States.

Release and promotion

Mary J. Blige embarked on several live performances and appearances to promote the release of The Breakthrough. Blige performed with rapper The Game during his performance of "Hate It or Love It" at the BET Awards on June 28, 2005. Blige sung a medley of "You're All I Need To Get By" with Method Man, "I'm Goin' Down", "Real Love", and "Can't Hide From Luv" on BET's 25 Strong: The BET Silver Anniversary Special in October 2005. In November 2005, Blige was honored with the V LEGEND AWARD at 2005 Vibe Awards. On December 21, 2005, Blige was interviewed and performed on The Tyra Banks Show, singing a rendition of "Can't Hide From Luv". Blige sung a medley of "Family Affair", "Can't Hide From Luv", and "Be Without You" on New Year's Eve with Carson Daly on December 31, 2005.. On February 8, 2006 Blige performed "One" with U2 at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards. Blige performed "Be Without You" and "Enough Cryin" on Saturday Night Live in April 2006. Blige sung a medley of "Be Without You" and "Enough Cryin" at the 2006 BET Awards, where she won two awards for
Best Female R&B Artist and Video of the Year on June 27, 2006. Blige embarked on The Breakthrough Experience Tour from July 14, 2006 to September 10, 2006. Letoya Luckett and Jaheim were opening acts during the tour. On December 4, 2006, Blige performed "Enough Cryin" and "Take Me As I Am" at the 2006 Billboard Music Awards, where she won nine awards. At the 49th Annual Grammy Awards, on February 11, 2007, Blige performed "Be Without You". She won three awards during the ceremony.

Critical reception

The Breakthrough was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 76, based on 20 reviews. Andy Gill of The Independent deemed it perhaps "her best, the most vivid realisation of her gripping, confessional style". David Browne believed The Breakthrough marked a return for Blige to her dramatic strengths, writing in Entertainment Weekly that the music's "messy sprawl of conflicted emotions feels true to her fierce, prickly personality ". In The New York Times, Jon Pareles credited the singer for bringing together "hip-hop realism and soul's higher aspirations, hip-hop's digitized crispness and soul's slow-building testimonies". Stylus Magazines Thomas Inskeep viewed it as a "return to form" for Blige, calling it her "finest full-length since '99's Mary", while Rolling Stone journalist Barry Walters said that unlike with her previous albums, The Breakthroughs ballads genuinely stand out. Andy Kellman from AllMusic said each song proved Blige had been given her "best round of productions" since the mid 1990s. Los Angeles Times critic Natalie Nichols credited the producers for "adeptly weaving beats and live instruments, vocals and rapping, melody and rhythm in configurations alternately stark and lush".
Jason King was less impressed in The Village Voice, feeling that The Breakthrough had improved on Blige's 2003 album Love & Life but still lacked the creativity of 1999's Mary. Blige's penchant for "hermetic, clinically slick production values doesn't complement her soul-baring aura", King wrote. Spin journalist Tom Breihan felt the production's "awkwardly programmed drums and cluttered synthetic arrangements" generally failed to give her a conducive space for an effective performance and left "the songs' chin-up aphorisms ringing false". Slant Magazines Sal Cinquemani was more critical of the lyrics, finding them distastefully sentimental, unsubtle, and "the epitome of formulaic, giving you the feeling that you've heard this all before".
At the end of 2006, The Breakthrough earned Blige eight nominations for the 49th Annual Grammy Awards, the most of any artist for that ceremony. "Be Without You" was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year categories; it won for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song, while The Breakthrough won in the category of Best R&B Album.

Track listing

;Track notes
Credits adapted from album liner notes.
Credits for The Breakthrough adapted from Allmusic.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart Position
Australian Urban Albums 46
US Billboard 200181
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums 63

Certifications