Built around that haunting “Baby don’t go” vocal hook, repeated like some kind of mantra, this track hypnotizes you into a world of hurt. This is one of three My Life tunes co-written by Faith Evans, who also sings background vocals. But in the sadness, there’s a real beauty.

This jazzy bop kicks off what is essentially the second half of the album, after the “My Life Interlude.” “I can’t deal with the fact that you don’t want me around/Why you wanna see me down?” she sings, referencing the emotional breakdown she’s just had on “I’m Goin’ Down.” But even if Mary’s not getting shown any love, she’s still staying and standing by her man.ĭespite the hip-hop strut in that beat - and the swag in that title - you can feel all of the vulnerability in Blige, who sounds almost defeated by the “unnecessary pain” that she’s had to endure. This ballad - in the minority as one of the songs not to feature any samples or interpolations - captures the painful ache in her fear of losing her man, who at the time was K-Ci Hailey of Jodeci. But still, working as part of the soulful fabric of the whole LP, it’s not a skip track either.īlige is pictured in a blue hue on the cover of My Life, and tracks such as this one are colored with the blues. Fresh and Slick Rick, it can’t compete with the defining moments on the rest of the album. Opening with that “There is no competition” vocal sample from “La Di Da Di,” the 1985 hip-hop classic by Doug E. Dalvin of Jodeci, this is the only original song on My Life that Blige didn’t have a hand in writing.

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