What's the 411?

What's the 411?
A black-and-white photo of Mary J. Blige with her eyes covered in the shadows. Both the artist's name and album title appear above and on the lower right corner of the cover respectively, cursively written in white.
Studio album by
Mary J. Blige
ReleasedJuly 28, 1992 (1992-07-28)
Recorded1991–1992
Studio
Genre
Length51:59
Label
Producer
Mary J. Blige chronology
What's the 411?
(1992) 		What's the 411? Remix
(1993)
Singles from What's the 411?
  1. "You Remind Me"
    Released: June 23, 1992
  2. "Real Love"
    Released: August 25, 1992[1]
  3. "Reminisce"
    Released: October 13, 1992
  4. "Sweet Thing"
    Released: April 2, 1993
  5. "Love No Limit"
    Released: May 10, 1993

What's the 411? is the debut album by American R&B singer Mary J. Blige. It was released on July 28, 1992, by Uptown Records and MCA Records. After signing a record contract with Uptown, Blige began working on the album with producer Sean "Puffy" Combs. Other producers and songwriters included DeVante Swing, Tony Dofat, Dave Hall, Mark Morales and Mark "Cory" Rooney. The resulting music covered hip hop soul, contemporary R&B, and new jack swing styles.

What's the 411? was also met with positive reviews from critics, who applauded Blige's singing and the combination of hip hop and soul music, which led to her being named the "Queen of Hip Hop Soul". The album peaked at number six on the US Billboard 200 and topped the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.[2] It was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and eventually sold 3.5 million copies.

  1. ^ "Amazon.com: Mary J. Blige: Real Love: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Billboard albums was invoked but never defined (see the help page).