Very few artists can bring me off of this extended period of extreme laziness blog hiatus. Mary is one of them.

On November 29, 1995, she dropped what I consider to be her best work to date – and my favorite album of all time – My Life.

It’s hard for me to put into words (especially these days) how I feel about this album. I just know that the music helped heal me while I was dealing with the pain of my first unrequited love at the tender age of 18. No long talks on the phone with my girlfriends and no comforting words from Mommy made me feel what Mary did. As much as I love Share My World and Mary, I didn’t feel those albums deep inside like I did My Life. It’s an album I will still be playing fifteen years from now. It’s that timeless.

SoulBounce has been celebrating the Month of Mary,  paying tribute to the icon for creating an album that even fifteen years later, still impacts and inspires. For the piece de resistance, they have gathered eleven male artists to re-imagine the songs on My Life and it’s available to you here as a FREE download. The icing on the cake is that it’s hosted by one of the original key producers on the album, Chucky Thompson.

So hurry on over to SoulBounce and check out how much love artists such as Eric Roberson (“My Life”), Darien (“Be Happy”), Jesse Boykins III (“No One Else”), and Slakah the Beatchild (“Don’t Go) show the undisputed Queen of Hip Hop Soul.

While you’re there getting your download on, be sure to leave a comment letting the good folks over there know how much you appreciate this labor of love.

I forsee a return to the blogosphere in the future in a form that I’m not yet certain of.  Meanwhile, you should be getting your music news at sites like SoulBounce, SoulUK, SoulAfrodisiac, Bama Love Soul, Friday Favecast, Soul Reservoir, Novaslim, and Soulified. These cats are rocking the same flava in their ears that I am. They just have the desire to write about it right now.