Growing Pains (Mary J. Blige album)

Growing Pains
Studio album by Mary J. Blige
Released	December 18, 2007
Recorded	2006–07
Genre	R&B[1]
Length	65:03
Label	Geffen
Producer	Dejoin Bryan-Michael Cox Dre & Vidal Ron "Neff-U" Feemster Sean Garrett Charles Harmony Eric Hudson Mary J. Blige (exec.) Ne-Yo The Neptunes Jazze Pha Stargate Syience Tricky Stewart
Mary J. Blige chronology
The Breakthrough (2005) Growing Pains (2007) Stronger with Each Tear (2009)
Singles from Growing Pains
"Just Fine" Released: October 16, 2007 "Work That" Released: December 18, 2007 "Stay Down" Released: March 18, 2008

Growing Pains is the eighth studio album by American recording artist Mary J. Blige. An R&B album that was released on December 18, 2007 by Geffen Records. It debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 selling 629,000 copies in its first week. Growing Pains was ranked #29 on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007.^[2]

"Work That" was released as the second single on December 18, 2007 and managed to peak inside the top 20 of the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and number 65 in the Billboard Hot 100. The third official single "Stay Down" reached the top 40 R&B charts, and was chosen in favor of "Hurt Again", which was originally the third single, but eventually was only a radio single by receiving airplay in Spring 2008. Growing Pains was awarded the Best Contemporary R&B Album at the 51st Grammy Awards in February 2009.^[3]

Background

In an interview for Blues & Soul, Blige explained the significance of the album's title, stating:

I started writing the record right after that whole gigantic day I had at the Grammies last year. So it was important to me to get across to my fans that whole feeling I was going through of 'How do I sustain this breakthrough? How do I continue to remind myself I'm in a better place?'... And the only way to continue to stay in that place is to GROW! I believe the majority of people out there, if something uncomfortable is going on in their lives, are forced to either go back to where they were, or to GROW – and that that tension is called PAIN. So the light, happy songs on the album are celebrating my growth. While the less poppy, darker tracks represent the places I'm forced to grow out of. So in that way the title represents the growth, as well as the understanding that – in order for anything to develop – it has to have some kinda tension behind it.^[4]

— Mary J. Blige

Singles

"Just Fine" was released as the album's lead single on October 2, 2007. The single was the only single from the album which was released in multiple formats. The single peaked at #22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 On the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. In the UK, the song performed well peaking at #16 on the official chart. "Work That" was released as the album's second single on December 18, 2007. The single charted from digital downloads when the album was released, and eventually peaked at #65 on the Billboard Hot 100 but did become a top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The song "Hurt Again" was supposed to be released as the official third single released from Growing Pains, but at the last minute was changed in the favor of "Stay Down". Between the loss of momentum from the album's first and second single and lack of promotion for the single, "Stay Down" did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; it peaked at #34 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[5]
The A.V. Club	B+[6]
Robert Christgau	A–[7]
The Guardian	[8]
The Independent	[1]
NME	7/10[9]
PopMatters	8/10[10]
Rolling Stone	[11]
Slant Magazine	[12]
USA Today	[13]

Growing Pains received positive reviews from most music critics.^[14] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 77, based on 17 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".^[14] Allmusic editor Marisa Brown gave it four out of five stars and called it "a mature, polished, and utterly professional set of well-crafted songs", noting that "the album takes an even greater step toward pop".^[5] Alex Macpherson of The Guardian complimented its themes of Blige's "past and present", while citing the track "Roses" as "one of the best songs of her career".^[8] NME commented that it "finds Blige on chirpier form".^[9] Michael Arceneaux of PopMatters complimented Blige's "cheerful demeanor" on the album and called it "a good addition to the Mary J. Blige catalogue".^[10] USA Today's Edna Gundersen wrote that "Her vulnerability and vocal prowess are undeniable, and resistance melts away as her voice [...] commands and communicates with startling clarity".^[13] Steven Hyden of The A.V. Club commended Blige for "reaching beyond the relative stability of her personal life and playing up the vulnerable everywoman persona that's long resonated with her female fanbase".^[6] BBC Online's Talia Kraines commended Blige for "keeping it real" and complimented her "empowering emotion".^[15]

However, Andy Gill of The Independent commented that "it's hard to tell whether the whiplash snares and crisp handclap grooves [...] are suited to [Blige's] needs here" and criticized "Blige's capitulation to R&B cliché, with all women downtrodden and all men culpable, and a corrosively bling-driven worldview".^[1] Slant Magazine's Eric Henderson called the album an "overstuffed collection of affirmations, self-definitions, and keepin'-it-real-isms" and wrote that "what's both most compelling and most limiting about Blige's Growing Pains: She keeps her most salable characteristic, her emotiveness, under duress, which provides tension but no release".^[12] Alfred Soto of The Village Voice noted "no more drama, but plenty of (occasionally excellent) melodrama", adding that "as her acting chops diminish, her command over plush, slightly jagged contempo r&b improves".^[16] Writing for Rolling Stone, critic Robert Christgau commented that "the tone of her confessions has changed with her music", stating "Growing Pains is an edgier record than The Breakthrough, but Blige has definitely lost or just outgrown the brassy urgency of her twenties".^[11] In his consumer guide for MSN Music, Christgau described the album as "an expensive, honorable, credible sampler of the hottest current R&B brands", and gave it an A- rating.^[7]

Accolades

In 2008, at the 50th Grammy Awards, "Just Fine" was nominated in the 'Best Female R&B Vocal Performance' category, losing the award to Alicia Keys' "No One".

At the 2009 51st Grammy Awards it was nominated for Best Contemporary R&B Album and Just Fine was nominated for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical. The album won Best Contemporary R&B Album.^[3]

Commercial performance

Growing Pains sold 629,000 copies in its first week and debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart^[17] and number one on the R&B chart . In its second week the album climbed to number one on the Billboard 200 with 204,000 copies sold.^[18] In the UK, the album entered the charts at Number 6, making it her highest charting album there since No More Drama in 2001 with first week sales of 21,755. In Germany, the album was her worst one charting, peaking #48 and staying on the German Albums Chart for only 3 weeks.^[19] As of 27 March 2010, the album had sold 81,681 copies in the UK.^[20]

Track listing

Growing Pains – Standard edition
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Work That"	Blige Theron Feemster Sean Garrett	Feemster Garrett^[A]	3:30
2.	"Grown Woman" (featuring Ludacris)	Blige Dejion Madison Christopher Bridges Terius Nash	Dejion	4:05
3.	"Just Fine"	Blige Nash Christopher Stewart Phalon Alexander	Stewart Pha Kuk Harrell^[B]	4:02
4.	"Feel Like a Woman"	Blige Feemster Nash	Feemster	4:02
5.	"Stay Down"	Blige Johnta Austin Bryan-Michael Cox	Cox	4:22
6.	"Hurt Again"	Blige Andre Harris Vidal Davis Brian Sledge	Dre & Vidal	4:08
7.	"Shake Down" (featuring Usher)	Blige Nash Stewart Alexander	Stewart Pha Harrell^[B]	3:36
8.	"Till the Morning"	Pharrell Williams	The Neptunes	4:17
9.	"Roses"	Blige Nash Stewart	Stewart Harrell^[B]	4:35
10.	"Fade Away"	Blige Shaffer Smith Mikkel S. Eriksen Tor Erik Hermansen	Stargate Ne-Yo^[A]	4:15
11.	"What Love Is"	Blige Smith Eriksen Hermansen	Stargate Ne-Yo^[A]	4:03
12.	"Work in Progress (Growing Pains)"	Smith Charles Harmony	Chuck Harmony Ne-Yo^[A]	4:00
13.	"Talk to Me"	Blige Austin Eric Hudson Robert Wright Verdine White	Hudson	4:09
14.	"If You Love Me?"	Blige Austin Cox	Cox	3:39
15.	"Smoke"	Smith Reggie Perry	Syience Ne-Yo^[A]	3:10
16.	"Come to Me (Peace)"	Blige Nash Harrell Stewart	Stewart Harrell^[B]	5:01

iTunes edition bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
17.	"Nowhere Fast" (featuring Brook Lynn)	Blige Nash Stewart Alexander	Stewart Pha Harrell^[B]	3:46
18.	"Hello It's Me"	Todd Rundgren	Mark Ronson	4:07
19.	"Mirror" (featuring Eve)	Blige Nash Stewart Harrell Eve Jeffers	Stewart Harrell^[B]	3:54
20.	"Just Fine" (Remix) (featuring Lil Mama)	Blige Nash Stewart Alexander	Stewart Pha Harrell^[B]

Japanese edition bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
17.	"Nowhere Fast" (featuring Brook Lynn)	Blige Nash Stewart Alexander	Stewart Pha Harrell^[B]	3:46
18.	"Hello It's Me"	Todd Rundgren	Mark Ronson	4:07
19.	"Mirror" (featuring Eve)	Blige Nash Stewart Harrell Eve Jeffers	Stewart Harrell^[B]	3:54
20.	"Sleep Walkin'"	Blige Stewart	Stewart Harrell^[B]	4:24

iTunes UK edition bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
17.	"Nowhere Fast" (featuring Brook Lynn)	Blige Nash Stewart Alexander	Stewart Pha Harrell^[B]	3:46
18.	"Hello It's Me"	Todd Rundgren	Mark Ronson	4:07
19.	"Mirror" (featuring Eve)	Blige Nash Stewart Harrell Eve Jeffers	Stewart Harrell^[B]	3:54
20.	"Just Fine" (Moto Blanco Vox Remix)	Blige Nash Stewart Alexander	Moto Blanco	3:46

Notes and sample credits

• ^{^[A]} denotes co-producer
• ^{^[B]} denotes vocal producer
• "Talk to Me" contains a sample from "Key to My Heart", written by Robert Wright and Verdine White, and performed by The Emotions.

Personnel

Credits for Growing Pains adapted from Allmusic.^[21]

Judi Acosta-Stewart – Production Coordination Nick Banns – Assistant Lee Blaske – Strings Mary J. Blige – Executive Producer Jesse Bond – Guitar Andre Bowman – Bass Dru Castro – Engineer Danny Cheung "Stems" – Vocal Engineer Andrew Coleman – Engineer Bryan-Michael Cox – Musician, Producer Vidal Davis – Producer Patrick Dillett – Vocal Engineer The-Dream – Vocals Duane Dugger – Horn Mikkel Storleer Eriksen – Engineer Ron Fair – String Arrangements, String Conductor Theron "Neff U" Feemster – Musician, Producer Drew FitzGerald – Creative Director Brian "Big Bass" Gardener – Mastering Sean Garrett – Producer, Vocals Chuck Harmony – Engineer, Musician, Producer Kuk Harrell – Vocal Engineer, Vocal Producer Andre Harris – Producer Mike Hogue – Assistant Curtis Hudson – Engineer

Eric Hudson – Engineer, Musician, Producer Kendu Isaacs – Management, Vocal Engineer Jaycen Joshua – Mixing Jazze Pha – Drum Programming, Keyboards, Producer Kim Kimble – Hair Stylist James King – Horn Markus Klinko – Photography Andrea Liberman – Stylist DeJion Madison – Producer Ne-Yo – Producer The Neptunes – Producer Alec Newell – Engineer Chris "TEK" ORyan – Engineer Dave Pensado – Mixing Omar Phillips – Percussion Justin Pintar – Assistant Haye Price – Horn Omar Reyna – Assistant Christopher "Tricky" Stewart – Drum Programming, Keyboards, Mixing Supervision, Producer Supa Engineer "Duro" – Mixing Sam Thomas – Engineer Pat Thrall – Overdub Engineer, Post Production Engineer Corey Williams – Engineer Andrew Wuepper – Assistant

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2007) Peak position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[22] 36 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[23] 58 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[24] 98 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[25] 41 Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[26] 31 French Albums (SNEP)[27] 73 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[28] 32 Irish Albums (IRMA)[29] 47 Italian Albums (FIMI)[30] 44 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[31] 22 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[32] 38 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[33] 6 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[34] 6 UK Albums (OCC)[35] 5 US Billboard 200[36] 1 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[37] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2008) Position US Billboard 200[38] 12 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[39] 3 Certifications Region Certification Certified units/Sales United Kingdom (BPI)[40] Silver 60,000^^ United States (RIAA)[41] Platinum 1,000,000^^ ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

Chart precession and succession

Release history

Region	Date
Canada	November 9, 2007
United States	December 18, 2007
United Kingdom	February 4, 2008
Brazil	February 15, 2008
Japan	April 28, 2008

References

1. Gill, Andy (February 1, 2008). "Album: Mary J Blige, Growing Pains (Geffen) - Reviews, Music - The Independent". The Independent. Retrieved on 2011-04-17.
2. Robert Christgau, David Fricke, Christian Hoard, Rob Sheffield (December 17, 2007). Growing Pains top the Billboard 200, charting at #2. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/17601851/the_top_50_albums_of_2007/29 "The Top 50 Albums of 2007"] Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-12-20
3. MTV News Staff (2009-02-08). "Grammy 2009 Winners List". MTV. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
4. Pete Lewis Interviews Mary J. Blige, 'Blues & Soul' February 2008
5. Brown, Marisa (December 17, 2007). "Growing Pains - Mary J. Blige". Allmusic. Retrieved on 2011-04-17.
6. Hyden, Steven (December 18, 2007). "Mary J. Blige: Growing Pains". The A.V. Club. Retrieved on 2011-04-17.
7. Christgau, Robert (February 2008). "Consumer Guide". MSN Music. Retrieved on 2012-12-30.
8. Macpherson, Alex (January 25, 2008). "CD: Mary J Blige, Growing Pains". The Guardian. Retrieved on 2011-04-17.
9. SW (February 1, 2008). "Mary J. Blige - Mary J Blige - Album Reviews - NME.COM". NME. Retrieved on 2011-04-17.
10. Arceneaux, Michael (December 19, 2007). "Mary J. Blige: Growing Pains". PopMatters. Retrieved on 2011-04-17.
11. Christgau, Robert (December 13, 2007). "Growing Pains". Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2011-04-17.
12. Henderson, Eric (December 16, 2007). "Mary J. Blige: Growing Pains". Slant Magazine. Retrieved on 2011-04-17.
13. Gundersen, Edna (December 17, 2007). "Mary J. Blige goes to great 'Pains' - USATODAY.com". USA Today. Retrieved on 2011-04-17.
14. "Growing Pains Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved on 2011-04-17.
15. Kraines, Talia (February 6, 2008). "BBC - Music - Review of Mary J. Blige - Growing Pains". BBC Online. Retrieved on 2011-04-17.
16. Soto, Alfred (December 11, 2007). "Mary J. Blige's Growing Pains - Page 1 - Music - New York - Village Voice". The Village Voice. Retrieved on 2011-04-17.
17. Brandi Hopper, "Mary J. Blige Sells 629K On The Billboard 200, Jahiem & Lupe Fiasco Surprise", sohh.com, December 27, 2007.
18. Katie Hasty, "Blige Topples Groban, Radiohead Debuts Early", Billboard.com, January 2, 2008.
19. Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts, Neuerscheinungen, Tickets, Genres, Genresuche, Genrelexikon, Künstler-Suche, Musik-Suche, Track-Suche, Ticket-Suche - musicline.de
20. "Key Releases". Music Week. 2010-03-27. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
21. Growing Pains - Mary J. Blige | AllMusic. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2011-04-17.
22. "Austriancharts.at – Mary J. Blige – Growing Pains" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
23. "Ultratop.be – Mary J. Blige – Growing Pains" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
24. "Ultratop.be – Mary J. Blige – Growing Pains" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
25. "Mary J. Blige – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Mary J. Blige. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
26. "Dutchcharts.nl – Mary J. Blige – Growing Pains" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
27. "Lescharts.com – Mary J. Blige – Growing Pains". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
28. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
29. "Irish-charts.com – Mary J. Blige – Growing Pains". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
30. "Italiancharts.com – Mary J. Blige – Growing Pains". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
31. "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2007-12-18" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
32. "Norwegiancharts.com – Mary J. Blige – Growing Pains". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
33. "Swedishcharts.com – Mary J. Blige – Growing Pains". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
34. "Swisscharts.com – Mary J. Blige – Growing Pains". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
35. "Mary J. Blige | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved 2016-08-19.
36. "Mary J. Blige – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Mary J. Blige. Retrieved accessdate=2016-08-19.
37. "Mary J. Blige – Chart history" Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums for Mary J. Blige. Retrieved accessdate=2016-08-19.
38. "2008 Year-End Chart – Billboard 200". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2014-06-30.
39. "2008 Year-End Chart – Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2014-06-30.
40. "British album certifications – Mary J. Blige – Growing Pains". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2016-08-19. Enter Growing Pains in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search
41. "American album certifications – Mary J. Blige – Growing Pains". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2016-08-19. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH

External links

• Official website
• Growing Pains at Discogs
• Growing Pains at Metacritic