Mary J. Blige- Be Happy (1994)

In 1994, Blige's second album, My Life was released which was again overseen by Combs who also produced more than 50% of the album along with Washington DC native Carl "Chucky" Thompson (despite his having recently left the label), who with Thompson co-produced all but one of the album's tracks, and took over as Blige's manager. Unlike What's the 411?, Blige co-wrote a large body of the material, basing it on her personal life.
One of Mary J's best vocals ever, in my opinion. Curtis Mayfield sets the mood via the sample from You're So Good to Me. Is it me, but does her backing vocal at 2:44 - 2:47 sound like a homage to Marvin Gayes' backing vocals to I Want You? Haunting vocal.

From the album My Life.

It's a Mary J. Blige Friday

An Rn'B vocalist who's songs deserve a lot more love. Enjoy.

Mary J. Blige - You Remind Me (1992)

Mary J Blige's debut album What's The 411? was so successful, fans invented a genre to describe its sound: Hip-Hop Soul. Now known as 'the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul', Blige has sold over 40 million records and inspired countless stars of contemporary R&B.

One of the first records produced by a young Sean Combs, What's The 411? went on to sell over two million copies after several singles became R&B hits, including this, which had been released previously to raise awareness of the upcoming album.

Mary J. Blige Share My World (1997)

Share My World marked several personal and professional changes in her life and career. Following the departure of Andre Harrell the year before, Blige defected from Uptown Records in favour of its parent label MCA and severed professional ties with long-time producer and mentor Sean “Puffy” Combs shortly before the production of Share My World began. His absence was filled with a bevy of high profile producers, such as: Rodney Jerkins, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Babyface, Bryce Wilson, and R. Kelly. The end result produced an album that was less entrenched in the Hip Hop Soul of her first two albums, and replaced with a style that was more aligned with Contemporary R&B.
You could tell by all of this that Mary was polishing her sound; it was most evident on this, the title track. 

Kool & The Gang - Summer Madness (1974)

Light of  Worlds was by far Kool & the Gang's most spiritual and sophisticated work, produced in the wake of the success of their previous album, Wild and Peaceful. 

Summer Madness is considered to be the album's highlight, incorporating smooth melodies and a mesmerizing synthesizer. It was later released as a single, with a follow up titled "Winter Sadness" to the Gang's Spirit of the Boogie a year later. A remake of Summer Madness was released on the Gang's 1993 album Unite titled WKOOL/Summer.