Songoftheday 11/18/22 - Don't need no hateration holleration in this dancery...

"Family Affair" - Mary J. Blige

from the album No More Drama (2001)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (six weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 36

Today's song comes from R&B singer Mary J. Blige, who had a critically acclaimed fourth studio album with 1999's Mary, which also sold over two million copies, but radio had somehow soured on it, with lead single "All That I Can Say" missing the Hot 100 top-40 (by a few notches) in the autumn of that year. A year later, her momentum picked up when she returned to the pop top-40 as a featured singer on singer/rapper/producer Wyclef Jean's single "911" in the fall of 2000. At the start of 2001, Blige also was one of the singers at the Super Bowl halftime show (supporting Aerosmith on "Walk This Way").

That summer, Mary released her fifth album on MCA Records, No More Drama. The first single from the record was the celebratory jam "Family Affair". The song was produced by Andre "Dr. Dre" Young, who wrote it with Blige, her brother Bruce Miller, Asiah Lewis, Camara Kambon, Mike Elizondo, and Luchana Lodge. It's a rather simple club party track, as opposed to her meatier material from her last album (which may be why MCA led with this), with Blige touting herself, Dre, and the music, but the production isn't run-of-the-mill dance fare, but rather a chunky mid-tempo beat with strings flaring up on it as it churns along. In fact, the words "family affair" don't even show up in the lyrics at all, but signify the "come together and dance" vibe of the record that everyone can understand. And it coined new words "dancery" and "hateration". The music video goes full bacchanalia, with keys left at the door and all...

"Family Affair" turned into a massive success, becoming Blige's biggest pop hit and sole #1 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart where it stayed for a month and a half starting in November of 2001, while taking two weeks at the top of their R&B Singles list (her fifth #1 there). On the radio, the song spent four weeks at #1 on the Mainstream Top-40 chart, got to #2 on the R&B Airplay list, went to #15 on the older-skewing Adult R&B station roundup, and topped the dance-oriented Rhythmic format for four weeks. Internationally, the single went to #1 in France, and made the top ten in Belgium (#2W/#5F), New Zealand (#2), the Netherlands (#3), Denmark (#4), Switzerland (#4), Ireland (#5), Croatia (#6), Sweden (#7), the United Kingdom (#8), Australia (#8), Norway (#8), Hungary (#9), and Germany (#10). The No More Drama album, released in August of 2001, took a week at #2 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, and two weeks at #1 on the R&B Albums list, going on to sell over three million copies. At the Grammy Awards, "Family Affair" was nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, losing to Alicia Keys for "Fallin'". No More Drama was also up for Best R&B Album, which again went to Keys for her debut Songs In A Minor. Both Mary and the album will be back to the series.

(8/10)

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There was a "Remix" done for the single that didn't change the music but added rappers Fabolous and Jadakiss on it...