Mary J. Blige Releases New Original Track from ‘Belly of the Beast’ Documentary
Throughout her three decade career, hip hop and soul artist Mary J. Blige has always been a champion for women’s rights. She’s making herself vocal once again dropping a new single called “See What You’ve Done” which is set to appear in the “Belly of the Beast” documentary.
In addition to appearing in the documentary, the song will also be featured on Blige’s 14th studio album which will come out sometime in November. It will be her first release on Republic Records. She calls the album “a testimony, a call to be strong and an anthem for a movement”. She went on to say it is “about life, struggle but mostly triumph.”
Writing credits for ‘See What You’ve Done’ are shared by Blige, DJ Camper and Nova Wav. Camper also produced the song which is on track to be a 2021 Academy Awards Best Original Song contender.
Musically, the song features Blige’s smooth and powerful pipes in the forefront. They are complimented by alternate dramatic piano sections and bass heavy backgrounds with a tribal beat. Lyrics of the song are as follows.
'Cause it ain't over, 'til it's over
It ain't over 'til it's done
'Til these shackles are broken
It ain't over
'Cause some wounds never heal, do you see what you've done?
Blige wrote the song for the Belly of the Best documentary which is directed by Erika Cohn and calls attention to the issue of enforced and illegal sterilization of Black and Latinx women at Central California Women’s Facility. It will premier on November 23 at 10 PM EST on PBS.
The release of the new song is not the only thing keeping Blige busy during the pandemic. She also landed a leading role in the spin-off to 50 Cent’s hit drama series Power, Power Book II: Ghost. Blige’s role will be that of a ruthless queenpin.
Both Blige and 50 Cent are excited about the collaboration. 50 Cent shared his excitement on Twitter saying, “I had to bring something big to Power, I went and got the best @therealmaryjblige to star in Power Book II “the show must go on.”
Blige is also looking forward to the reissue of her breakthrough sophomore album “My Life”. The album, which came out in 1994 celebrated its 25th anniversary last year and helped her secure the title as the Queen of Hip Hop Soul.
She is paying homage to the artistic endeavor by rereleasing it on November 20 in three formats: a 2 CD set, a standard weight black double vinyl set and a triple vinyl edition in translucent blue with a lenticular cover. It will also be available in digital formats.
The 3 LP edition will include bonus tracks featuring LL Cool J and Smif N’ Wessun as well as commentary from Blige.
