When Mary J. Blige's debut album, What's the 411?, hit the streets in July 1992, critics and fans were floored by its powerful combination of modern soul and edgy hip-hop production that glanced off of the pain and grit of the singer's New York upbringing. Blige instantly became a distinct force in R&B, and throughout a three-decade career has put the full power of her voice behind her music, exorcizing her demons and consequently softening her style, yet never ceding her rank as "the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul." Each one of the singer's proper studio albums has debuted within the Top Ten of the Billboard 200, highlighted by a streak of five multi-platinum titles lasting through No More Drama (2001), and Best R&B Album Grammy awards for The Breakthrough (2005) and Growing Pains (2007). As she continued to add to her rich catalog in the 2010s, a new generation of artists cited her as an influence and sought her for collaborations