The Breakthrough

For other uses, see Breakthrough (disambiguation).

The Breakthrough
Studio album by Mary J. Blige
Released	December 20, 2005 (2005-12-20)
Recorded	2004–2005
Genre	R&B, hip hop soul, soul
Length	72:15
Label	Geffen
Producer	9th Wonder, Bryan-Michael Cox, Cool & Dre, Dre & Vidal, D. Emile, Ron Fair, Rich Harrison, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Rodney Jerkins, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Raphael Saadiq, Chucky Thompson for The Hitmen, will.i.am
Mary J. Blige chronology
Love & Life (2003) The Breakthrough (2005) Growing Pains (2007)
Singles from The Breakthrough
"Be Without You" Released: November 15, 2005 "One" Released: 3 April 2006 "Enough Cryin'" Released: June 26, 2006 "Take Me as I Am" Released: August 17, 2006

The Breakthrough is the seventh studio album by American R&B recording artist Mary J. Blige, released December 20, 2005, on Geffen Records. The album opened with over 729,000 units in the United States, becoming her highest first week sales of her career, and the second-highest first-week sales by a female R&B artist, only behind Alicia Keys' As I Am. The album is certified three-time Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and sold 7,000,000 copies worldwide. Upon its release, The Breakthrough received positive reviews from most music critics.

Background

In spite of buzz circulating in the summer of 2004 that Blige's next release would be a retrospective aptly titled Reminisce, she and her label announced that an album of brand-new material was on the way instead.

Production on the album included Blige herself, Rodney Jerkins, will.i.am, Bryan-Michael Cox, 9th Wonder, Davel "Bo" Mckenzie, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Raphael Saadiq, Cool and Dre, and Dre & Vidal, and the album includes a duet with U2 on the cover of their 1992 hit, "One", which was released as the second single in Europe and Latin America.

Singles

"Be Without You", the lead single from the album, proved to be a major return for Blige to her prime. It quickly raced up both the R&B and pop singles charts. "Be Without You" topped the R&B singles chart for a record-setting 15 consecutive weeks, and peaked at number 3 on the Hot 100. "One" was released as the second single in the U.S. on July 17, 2006. The song features Bono as vocal. In the UK, the song gave Mary her biggest hit to date, peaking at #2 on the Top 40.

"Enough Cryin", the album's third single, peaked at #32 on the Billboard Hot 100. It fared particularly well on the R&B charts, hitting #2 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The song was originally supposed to feature rapper Foxy Brown, but Mary went on to record the verse herself because of Brown's sudden hearing loss. This launched the "Brook Lynn" rapping alter ego which went on to appear on other tracks (e.g. the remix of Busta Rhymes's "Touch It"). "Take Me as I Am" was the album's fourth single. It reached #3 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Other charting songs

The song "MJB Da MVP" was released as a radio only single prior to the release of Be Without You. It features the voice of rapper 50 Cent on the chorus. Due to strong airplay, the song charted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #75, before the first official single, "Be Without You" was released from "The Breakthrough". Another song, "Ain't Really Love", reached number 73 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in the U.S., although it was not released as a single.

Reception

Commercial performance

The album debuted at #1 on both the R&B albums and Billboard 200 for sales of 729,000 copies in its first week, making it the fifth largest first-week sales for a female artist, and the fourth largest debut of 2005. It also marked the largest first week sales for a female R&B artist until November 2007, when Alicia Keys' As I Am sold 742,400 copies, a solid 13,400 more.

The album has been certified 3x platinum by the RIAA for shipments of more than 3,000,000 copies in the United States. It has been proclaimed as her comeback album (after the disappointment of Love & Life). The album has shown signs of longevity, remaining in the top five of the Billboard 200 for 11 consecutive weeks (including 2 weeks at #1). The album also went gold in Australia on the ARIA charts.

Critical response

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Entertainment Weekly	B+
The Guardian
The Independent
Los Angeles Times
The New York Times	(favorable)
Rolling Stone
Slant Magazine
Spin	(5/10)
The Village Voice	(mixed)

The Breakthrough received positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 76, based on 20 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Allmusic editor Andy Kellman gave it four-and-a-half out of five stars and commented that "Beat for beat, the album features the best round of productions Blige has been handed since the mid-'90s". Entertainment Weekly's David Browne noted a return of "drama to her music" and wrote that "its messy sprawl of conflicted emotions feels true to her fierce, prickly personality (not to mention life itself)". Jon Pareles of The New York Times complimented its themes of "tribulations and true love" and stated "Blige brings together hip-hop realism and soul's higher aspirations, hip-hop's digitized crispness and soul's slow-building testimonies". Rolling Stone writer Barry Walters noted its "particularly classy material" and commented that "what ultimately differentiates Blige's seventh studio album from previous discs is that its ballads truly matter". Stylus Magazine's Thomas Inskeep viewed it as a "return to form" for Blige, dubbing it her "finest full-length since '99's Mary".

However, Tom Breihan of Spin commented that "nearly all of its tracks sound like odes to her new husband" and criticized its production, writing that "too often, Blige’s voice doesn’t get the space it needs to cut loose with emotion [...] Because Blige never quite connects with the awkwardly programmed drums and cluttered synthetic arrangements of would-be club jams like 'Can’t Hide From Luv' and 'Gonna Breakthrough,' the songs’ chin-up aphorisms ring false". Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani described the album as "the epitome of formulaic, giving you the feeling that you've heard this all before", and stated "it sports the kind of yucky, literal sentiment [...] that, however true it may be, should not be put to tape". Jason King of The Village Voice viewed that the album "improves on 2003's Diddy-helmed misfire Love & Life but lacks the character of 1999's eclectic Mary", adding that "Mary's jones for hermetic, clinically slick production values doesn't complement her soul-baring aura". Blender stated "Her ardent love songs ultimately come off not as love songs but standard ache-and-pain Mary tracks". BBC Online's Matilda Egere-Cooper noted the album production's "ahigh quality", but viewed that it lacks the "attitude" of Blige's previous work.

Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian expressed a mixed response to Blige "celebrating no more drama in her life", but complimented its "compellingly dark, percussive setting" and "the stunning power of [Blige's] voice", writing that "The lyrics may be wet, but she sings with cool conviction, not wasting a note". Despite viewing many of its songs as overlong, Los Angeles Times writer Natalie Nichols commended its producers for "adeptly weaving beats and live instruments, vocals and rapping, melody and rhythm in configurations alternately stark and lush". Mojo gave the album three out of five stars and commented that it "reveals a still intense and enthralling grittiness to her performances". Dimitri Ehrlich of Vibe noted classicist soul music influences in "Blige's nostalgic flair". Dele Fadele of NME gave the album an eight out of 10 rating and commented that "[Blige] draws on an eventful life to reach new levels of feeling". Andy Gill of The Independent complimented Blige's "compelling delivery" and wrote that the album "may be her best, the most vivid realisation of her gripping, confessional style".

Accolades

In December 2006, Blige received eight Grammy Award nominations at the 2007 Grammy Awards for The Breakthrough, the most of any artist for the 2007 awards. "Be Without You" was nominated for both "Record of the Year" and "Song of the Year". Mary won three Grammy Awards: "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance", "Best R&B Song" (both for "Be Without You"), and "Best R&B Album" for The Breakthrough. Blige won nine Billboard Music Awards for work done on The Breakthrough.

Track listing

#	Track	Songwriters	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"No One Will Do"	E Ortiz, K Crowe, C Brown III, D Young, B Sigler	J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League	4:46
2.	"Enough Cryin" (featuring Brook Lynn)	M J Blige, R Jerkins, S Garrett, S Carter	Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins	4:20
3.	"About You" (featuring Nina Simone & will.i.am)	M J Blige, W. J, Adams, K Harris, A Newley, L Bricusse	Will.I.Am	4:04
4.	"Be Without You"	M J Blige, B-Michael Cox, J Perry, J Austin	Bryan-Michael Cox	4:06
5.	"Gonna Breakthrough" (featuring Brook Lynn)	M J Blige, Wynter Gordon, D'Mile, Q Wages, H Palmer	D'Mile	4:00
6.	"Good Woman Down"	M J Blige, S Garrett, P Douthit, R Aries, F Jackson, M Morgan	9th Wonder	4:07
7.	"Take Me as I Am"	J Sucof, E Lewis, C Nelson, K Hilson, T Nkkerfante, L Smith	Infinity & Ron Fair	3:57
8.	"Baggage"	M J Blige, J Harris III, T Lewis, B Avia, I Avia, J Right, D Young	Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis	3:35
9.	"Can't Hide from Luv" (featuring Jay-Z)	M J Blige, A Harris, V Davis, R Toby	Dre & Vidal	3:52
10.	"MJB da MVP" (featuring 50 Cent)	C Jackson, J Taylor, A Lyon, M Valenzano, N Harris, R Backer, A Felder, J Johnson, P Rushen, K Evans, R Ayers	Cool & Dre	3:21
11.	"Can't Get Enough"	M J Blige, Jam & Lewis, B Avila, I Avila	Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis	3:40
12.	"Ain't Really Love"	M J Blige, B Michael-Cox, J Austin, C Childress	Bryan-Michael Cox	4:40
13.	"I Found My Everything" (featuring Raphael Saadiq)	M J Blige, R Saadiq, K Wooten, R Ozuna	Raphael Saadiq	5:23
14.	"Father in You"	M J Blige, A Harris, V Davis, R Toby	Dre & Vidal	5:23
15.	"Alone" (featuring Dave Young)	D McKenzie, D Young	Davel "Bo" McKenzie	4:29
16.	"One" (with U2)	Bono, A Clayton, The Edge, L Mullen Jr	Ron Fair	4:20

#	Bonus track	Songwriters	Producer(s)	Length
17.	"So Lady" (featuring Raphael Saadiq) [International and iTunes bonus track]	M J Blige, R Saadiq, T Moses	Raphael Saadiq	4:16
18.	"Show Love" [UK, Japan, Amazon.com MP3 and iTunes bonus track]	M J Blige, S Garrett, C Thompson	Chucky Thompson	3:40
19.	"Out My Head" [Japanese bonus track]	M J Blige	Rich Harrison	3:41

Sample credits

Credits adapted from album liner notes.

• "No One Will Do" contains excerpts from "I Swear I Love No One but You", written by Bunny Sigler and published by Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corporation (BMI), performed by The O'Jays courtesy of Philadelphia Int'l Records.
• "About You" contains samples from "Feeling Good", written by Anthony Newley, Leslie Bricusse and published by Musical Company Productions (BMI) by arrangement with the Richmond Organization, as recorded by Nina Simone used courtesy of RCA Records, a unit of Sony BMG Music Entertainment.
• "Gonna Breakthrough" contains samples from The Mohawks recording and composition "Champ", written by Harry Palmer published by Embassy Music obo The Sparta Florida Music Group BMI, produced under license from Warner Strategic Marketing and Jet Star Phonographics.
• "Good Woman Down" contains excerpts from "Heart Breaking Decision", written by Robert Aries, Freddie Jackson and Mel'isa Jackson and published by EMI April Music Inc. ASCAP, Wick-Di Music ASCAP, and Universal MCA Music Pub ASCAP, as performed by Mel'isa Morgan, used under license from Capitol Records, a division of Capitol Records, Inc.
• "Take Me as I Am" contains samples from the composition "A Garden of Peace", written by Lonnie Liston Smith published by Songs of Universal Inc., performed by Lonnie Liston Smith courtesy of Sony BMG Music Entertainment.
• "Can't Hide from Luv" contains excerpts and a sample of the recording "I Wanna Be Where You Are", written by Arthur Ross and Leon Ware and published by Jobete Music Co ASCAP, as performed by Willie Hutch. (P) 1977 Motown Records, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc. Courtesy of Motown Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises.
• "MJB da MVP" contains excerpts from "Rubberband" (Baker, Felder, Harris) published by Golden Fleece Music/Mured Music Co. BMI as performed by The Tramps. Used by permission courtesy of Sony/Buddah. It also contains resung lyrics from the composition "All Night Long", written by James Johnson and published by Stone City Music (ASCAP), from the composition "Remind Me", written by Patrice Rushen and Karen Evans and published by Baby Fingers Music ASCAP, and from the composition "Everybody Loves the Sunshine", written by Roy Ayers and published by Chrysalis Music (ASCAP).

Personnel

Credits for The Breakthrough adapted from Allmusic.

• 50 Cent – Vocals
• Chalmers Alford – Guitar
• Johnta Austin – Vocal Producer
• Bobby Ross Avila – Guitar, Keyboards, Producer, Strings
• Issiah "IZ" Avila – Bass, Drums, Percussion, Producer
• Robert Bacon – Guitar
• Charlie Bisharat – String Instrument
• Mary J. Blige – Producer, Vocal Arrangement, Vocal Producer, Vocals
• Bono – Guitar, Vocals
• Jacqueline Brand – String Instrument, Violin
• Craig Brokman – Piano
• Charles "Biscuits" Brungardt – Vocal Producer
• Roberto Cani – String Instrument, Violin
• Lily Chen – String Instrument, Violin
• Danny Cheung "Stems" – Engineer
• Candice Childress – Production Coordination
• Adam Clayton – Guitar (Bass)
• Larry Corbett – Cello, String Instrument
• Bryan-Michael Cox – Instrumentation, Producer, String Arrangements
• Vidal Davis – Instrumentation, Producer
• Loren Dawson – Piano
• Mario Diaz de Leon – String Instrument, Violin
• Brian Dembow – String Instrument, Viola
• Joel Deroin – String Instrument
• Patrick Dillett – Engineer, Vocal Producer
• Reginald Dozier – Engineer
• Andrew Duckles – String Instrument, Viola
• Bruce Dukov – Violin
• The Edge – Guitar
• Michael Eleopoulos – Assistant Engineer, Engineer
• Stephen Erdody – Cello, String Instrument
• Anthony "Devyne" Evans – Engineer
• Anthony Lavon Evans – Engineer
• Ron Fair – Conductor, Guitar, Harmonica, Keyboards, Orchestra Bells, Organ, Piano, Producer, String Arrangements, Vocal Arrangement, Vocal Producer
• Jan Fairchild – Engineer
• AMarlow Fisher – String Instrument, Viola
• Drew FitzGerald – Art Direction
• Paul Foley – Engineer
• Samuel Formicola – String Instrument, Viola
• Matt Funes – String Instrument
• Sean Garrett – Vocal Producer
• Endre Genet – String Instrument
• Julie Gigante – String Instrument, Violin
• Carl Glanville – Original Recordings
• Larry Gold – String Arrangements
• John Goux – Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric)
• Alicia Graham – A&R
• Endre Granat – Violin
• Bernie Grundman – Mastering
• Alan Grunfeld – String Instrument
• Rexell Hardy, Jr. – Drums
• Andre Harris – Instrumentation, Producer
• Keith Harris – Keyboards, Organ, Piano, Synthesizer Bass
• Clayton Haslop – String Instrument, Violin
• Tal Herzberg – Digital Editing, Engineer, Producer
• Keri Hilson – Vocal Arrangement
• Paula Hochhalter – Cello, String Instrument, Strings
• Infinity – Producer
• Kendu Isaacs – Management, Mixing

• Jun Ishizeki – Assistant Engineer
• Jake & the Phatman – Producer
• Jimmy Jam – Producer
• Jaycen Joshua – Assistant Engineer, Engineer, Mixing
• Rodney Jerkins – Mixing, Producer
• Jahaun Johnson – A&R
• Justice League – Producer
• Suzie Katayama – Cello, String Instrument
• Bernard Kenny – Bass
• Kimberly Kimble – Hair Stylist
• Markus Klinko & Indrani – Photography
• Armen Ksadjikian – Cello, String Instrument
• Songa Lee – String Instrument, Violin
• Natalie Leggett – String Instrument, Violin
• Phillipe Levy – String Instrument, Violin
• Terry Lewis – Producer
• Andrea Liberman – Stylist
• David Low – String Instrument
• David Lowery – String Instrument
• Rene Mandel – Violin
• Matt Marrin – Engineer
• Tony Maserati – Mixing
• Harvey Mason, Sr. – Glockenspiel, Tympani [Timpani]
• Darrin McCann – String Instrument, Viola
• Davel "Bo" McKenzie – Producer
• Cornelius Mims – Bass
• Vicki Miskolczy – Viola
• Peter Mokran – Mixing
• Wesley Morrow – Production Coordination
• Larry Mullen, Jr. – Drums, Percussion
• Dean Nelson – Assistant, Mixing
• 9th Wonder – Producer
• Robin Olson – Violin
• Robert Ozuna – Drums, Percussion, Scratching
• Sid Page – String Instrument, Violin
• Alyssa Park – String Instrument, Violin
• Dave Pensado – Mixing
• Katia Popov – Violin
• Jack Joseph Puig – Mixing
• Frank Ramono – Guitar
• Mark Robertson – Violin
• Mally Roncal – Make-Up
• Anatoly Rosinsky – Violin
• Raphael Saadiq – Bass, Guitar, Producer
• Allen Sides – Engineer
• The South Central Chamber Orchestra – Strings
• South Central Orchestra – Strings
• Tereza Stanislav – String Instrument
• Supa Engineer "Dura" – Mixing
• John Tanksley – Assistant Engineer, Engineer
• Troy Taylor – Vocal Producer
• Cecilia Tsan – Cello
• Charles Vail – Strings
• Josephina Vergara – String Instrument, Violin
• will.i.am – Engineer, Keyboards
• Kelvin Wooten – Keyboards
• Benjamin Wright – String Arrangements, String Conductor, String Writing
• James "Big Jim" Wright – Keyboards, Producer
• Dave Young – Performer
• Dave Young Orchestra – Vocal Producer

Charts

Chart (2006)	Providers	Peak position	Certification
Australian Albums Chart	ARIA	19	Gold
Austrian Albums Chart	Media Control	42
Canadian Albums Chart	Nielsen SoundScan	13
Danish Albums Chart	IFPI	20
Dutch Albums Chart	MegaCharts	12
French Albums Chart	SNEP/IFOP	25
German Albums Chart	Media Control	28
Irish Albums Chart	IRMA	55
Italian Albums Chart	FIMI	12	Gold
Japanese Albums Chart	Oricon/RIAJ	18	Gold
Norwegian Albums Chart	VG Nett	18
Spanish Albums Chart	PROMUSICAE	74
Swedish Albums Chart	GLF	13	Platinum
Swiss Albums Chart	Media Control	7
UK Albums Chart	BPI/The Official UK Charts Company	22	Gold
U.S. Billboard 200	RIAA	1	3× Platinum
U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums		1
U.S. Billboard Top Internet Albums		1

Chart precession and succession

Preceded by Curtain Call: The Hits by Eminem	Billboard 200 number-one album (First Run) January 1, 2006 – January 7, 2006	Succeeded by Unpredictable by Jamie Foxx
Preceded by Unpredictable by Jamie Foxx	Billboard 200 number-one album (Second Run) January 22, 2006 – January 28, 2006	Succeeded by Unpredictable by Jamie Foxx

External links

• Official website
• The Breakthrough at Discogs
• The Breakthrough at Metacritic