25 years ago today, Mary J. Blige hit #1 with “Family Affair”
No more drama: Dr. Dre's beat, Mary's bridge and two made-up words gave the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul six straight weeks at #1.
Twenty-five years ago today, on November 3, 2001, "Family Affair" went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Nearly a decade into her career, Mary J. Blige had her first Hot 100 chart-topper, and it would turn out to be her only one. She held the spot for six straight weeks, through December 8.
- Hit #1
- Nov 3, 2001
- Weeks at #1
- 6 (consecutive)
- Producer
- Dr. Dre
- Album
- No More Drama (2001)
A beat that was meant for Rakim
Dr. Dre produced and mixed the record and shares writing credit with Blige, her brother Bruce Miller, keyboardist Camara Kambon and bassist Mike Elizondo. The beat had a life before Mary. Dre built it in September 2000 with Rakim in mind, for the rapper's planned Aftermath album Oh, My God. Rakim passed, the album never came out, and the track found its way to Mary. At Dre's suggestion she wrote the bridge herself, in late May or early June 2001.
What she made was an invitation. "Don't need no hateration, holleration" turned two invented words into a dance-floor rule. The song also topped Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Pop Airplay and Rhythmic, and went to #1 in France. The official remix brought in Jadakiss and Fabolous. Rolling Stone later ranked it #95 among the best songs of the 2000s, and The Guardian's Alexis Petridis called it one "of the all-time great pop-R&B party bangers."
It finished the decade as the 12th-biggest Hot 100 song of the 2000s, and Mary has carried it onto the biggest stages since, including the Super Bowl LVI halftime show. A quarter-century later, it's still the fastest way to clear a room of drama.
