Long established as one of the premiere female hip-hop/R&B artists of her generation, Mary J. Blige is telling her story – the one that earned her the title of Queen of Hip-Hop Soul – through HERstory, Vol. 1, a new multi-format compilation coming this December.

Born in The Bronx and raised in both Savannah, Georgia and the projects of Yonkers, New York, Mary J. Blige’s three-decade-plus career has been supported by music that balances street sounds with feminine soul and the pen of a gifted, honest storyteller. As an 18-year-old high school dropout, she became the youngest and first female signee to Andre Harrell’s formative Uptown Records. Three years later, in 1992, she issued her debut album, What’s The 411?, and immediately galvanized critics and audiences alike with her virtually unprecedented mix of rap and soul. (The album was executive produced by a relatively unknown Sean “Puffy” Combs, who’d invite some of the genre’s greatest rappers to collaborate with her, including The Notorious B.I.G., who guested on a remix of her first pop crossover hit “Real Love.”)

Following four Top 10 R&B hits from 411, Mary battled substance abuse and clinical depression before and during the creation of her follow-up album, the aptly-titled My Life (1994). The finished product was hailed as a masterwork, debuting atop Billboard‘s R&B/hip-hop albums chart and staying there for an unprecedented eight of its 84 total weeks on the chart. My Life earned Blige her first Grammy Award for Best R&B Album, and is on all-time best-of album lists by Rolling Stone, Time and Blender. In the wake of My Life‘s success, Mary appeared on several notable rap singles, duetting with Wu-Tang Clan’s Method Man on the Grammy-winning “I’ll Be There For You/You’re All I Need To Get By” and singing the hook to Jay-Z’s breakthrough single “Can’t Knock The Hustle.”

Blige has since released 12 more Top 10 albums and has earned increasing acclaim for her body of work (including an Oscar-nominated turn in the 2017 film Mudbound). HERstory, Vol. 1 takes listeners through the first five or so years of that career, primarily focusing on singles from What’s The 411? and My Life (many in rare single-only remix form) as well as the aforementioned Method Man and Jay-Z collaborations and the relatively rare “Everyday It Rains” off the soundtrack to the 1995 hip-hop documentary The Show. The album will be primarily available as a CD, 2LP or digital set, with a special deluxe box set edition featuring 16 hits and remixes from the same period (a slightly different track list from the standard album) across eight newly-created 7″ singles.

Taken together, it’s a solid summary of her first few years on the scene – and, judging by its title, hopefully the first of a series. HERstory, Vol. 1 is told on December 6, and you can pre-order all formats below.

HERstory, Vol. 1 (UMe B0029963-01/02, 2019)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

1. You Remind Me
2. Real Love (Hip-Hop Remix feat. The Notorious B.I.G.)
3. Reminisce (Bad Boy Remix)
4. Love No Limit (Puff Daddy Mix)
5. You Don’t Have To Worry (Remix Main with Rap feat. Craig Mack)
6. What’s The 411? (feat. Puba)
7. What’s The 411? (Remix feat. The Notorious B.I.G. & K-Ci)
8. Be Happy
9. Mary Jane (All Night Long) (Remix feat. LL Cool J)
10. I Love You (Remix feat. Smif N Wesson)
11. I’m Goin’ Down
12. You Bring Me Joy
13. I’ll Be There For You/You’re All I Need To Get By (Puff Daddy Mix) – Method Man feat. Mary J. Blige
14. Everyday It Rains
15. Love Is All We Need (feat. Nas)
16. Can’t Knock The Hustle – Jay-Z (CD bonus track)

Original versions of Tracks 1-7 from What’s The 411? (Uptown, 1992)

• Tracks 1 and 6 from original album – Uptown UPTD-10681, 1992
• Track 2 from Uptown CD single UPTDM-54456, 1992
• Track 3 from Uptown CD single UPTDM-54525, 1992
• Track 4 from Uptown CD single UPTDM-54640, 1993
• Track 5 from Uptown cassette single UPTCS-54701, 1993
• Track 7 from What’s The 411? Remix – Uptown UPTD-10942, 1993

Original versions of Tracks 8-12 from My Life (Uptown, 1994)

• Tracks 8 and 11-12 from original album – Uptown UPTD-11156, 1994
• Tracks 9-10 from Uptown promo CD single UPT5P-3552, 1995

Track 13 from Def Jam single 422 851 879-2, 1995. Original version from Tical (Def Jam, 1994)
Track 14 from Russell Simmons Presents The Show: The Soundtrack – Def Jam 314 529 021-2, 1995
Track 15 from Share My World – MCA Records MCAD-11606, 1997
Track 16 from Reasonable Doubt – Priority/Freeze/Roc-a-Fella P2 50592, 1996

HERstory Vol. 1 – 7″ Box Set (UMe, 2019) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

• You Remind Me b/w You Remind Me (Bentley’s Mix)
• Real Love b/w Real Love (Hip-Hop Mix feat. The Notorious B.I.G.)
• Reminisce (Bad Boy Remix) b/w Love No Limit (Puff Daddy Mix)
• You Don’t Have To Worry (Album/Radio Mix) b/w You Don’t Have To Worry (Remix Main with Clean Rap feat. Craig Mack)
• What’s The 411? (feat. Puba) b/w What’s The 411? (Remix feat. The Notorious B.I.G. & K-Ci)
• Be Happy b/w Be Happy (Bad Boy Butter Mix feat. Keith Murray)
• Mary Jane (All Night Long) b/w I Love You (Remix feat. Smif N Wesson)
• You Bring Me Joy b/w I’ll Be There For You/You’re All I Need To Get By (Puff Daddy Mix) – Method Man feat. Mary J. Blige