Mary J. Blige Opens Up About Her Struggle With Self-Acceptance And Being ‘Beat Down,’ Talks Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show
26.01.2022 - 19:15
/ etcanada.com
Mary J. Blige graces the cover of Elle magazine’s “State of Black Beauty” issue.
The “Queen of Hip Hop and Soul” opens up about her struggle navigating self-acceptance through beauty, her iconic platinum-blond hair, and the inspiration that led to her upcoming album Good Morning Gorgeous.
Blige, who’s been in the spotlight since 1992 when she debuted her first album What’s the 411?, told Elle that it took her a long time to reach the point of self-acceptance.
“I didn’t feel beautiful—like, for real for real, not just ‘Hey, I’m pretty’ but actually believing it—until about 2016,” she said.
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The nine-time Grammy Award winner recalled her experience feeling uncomfortable in her own skin for the majority of her adult life. Insecurities fed Blige’s discomfort, especially with a childhood scar beneath her left eye and a bumpy 13-year marriage to her ex-husband and former manager.
“If you’ve been beat down mentally by someone, you’re never pretty enough. You’re never smart enough. Nothing’s ever good enough,” she said.
The singer, who started out in the music industry with a “tomboy sartorial slant,” revealed that she never desired to subject to society’s standards of what an R&B singer should look like because it wasn’t rooted in survival.
“When you have a single mother with two little girls living in the hood, you develop tomboy skills. You become the guys you’re hanging with, but I’m still a girl. I’m a little rougher because my environment is rougher. There’s always something you have to fight for. It was never a comfortable situation for little girls, so we had to be little tomboys to get