“I've done well, I've been disappointed, and I think it all goes back to you. Of course the labels are going to be the labels. It's the music business. You are a business. That's what they do. So you've got to protect yourself.”

American singer, songwriter, actress, and entrepreneur

Mary J. Blige is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and entrepreneur. She is widely known as the “Queen of Hip-Hop Soul” and the “Queen of R&B.” Her career has brought her major recognition across music and television, including nine Grammy Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award. She has also won four American Music Awards, twelve NAACP Image Awards, and twelve Billboard Music Awards, among them the Billboard Icon Award.