Mary J. Blige has stepped into a new chapter, with music reflecting a lighter, more peaceful phase after three decades of turning personal and romantic struggles into songs.
Across 15 albums—from “What’s the 411?” to “My Life”—Mary J. Blige chronicles her journey to happiness.
At the height of her success, she captivated audiences worldwide even as her marriage to Martin “Kendu” Isaacs unraveled behind the scenes.
She married him in 2003 and divorced him in 2018, filing in 2016 and citing irreconcilable differences.
In the documents, Blige requested that Isaacs be denied spousal support.
In 2017, she told Variety, “I thought someone loved me, right? Turns out, he was a con artist and he didn’t, and now he’s coming after me for all my money… There was someone else that was his queen. I got played. I got suckered.”
Observers believe Starshell, once a protégée of Mary J. Blige, was the alleged other woman.
In 2017, the court ordered Blige to pay $30,000 per month in temporary support.
She kept paying until the divorce was final.
Days later, Blige attended the 2018 Oscars as a Best Supporting Actress nominee for her role in Mudbound.
Like Blige, female celebrities such as Halle Berry, Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, and Janet Jackson have all made payments to an ex. Berry also pays ex Oliver Martinez child support for their son, Maceo.
They stayed married for two years.
In a new interview for Scott Evans’ YouTube show “House Guest,” the Grammy Award winner reflected on the failed relationship.
Blige admitted that paying spousal support left her feeling like an “angry Black woman.” She explained, “I didn’t want to pay it, but I know that they were taking everything or lock me up or something like that.”
A friend going through a similar situation advised her to obey court orders. They told Blige, “‘Give him everything to set yourself free.'” At first, the entertainer resented the outcome.
“I was still like, ‘F–k that! I don’t wanna pay.’ … But I did everything the right way, and everything flipped in my favor, and after a while I didn’t have to pay anything,” she recalled.
Viewers commented, “His energy always seemed wack and his actions after the divorce solidified that. I’m sooo happy that she was able to close that chapter,” and “Why do men ask for money? What happened to the male pride?”
Other commenters didn’t see it the same.
One person said, “Now you know how we feel. Sorry Mary”
While someone else said, “No one wants to hear this bs….. men have to pay after divorce all the time.”
Another person said, “She wrote it the same way men write it all the time. Oh well.”
Blige also explained her 2005 album “The Breakthrough” wasn’t the soundtrack to a happy life like fans imagined. “I was in f–king — a s–t storm,” she told Evans.
“No More Drama,” a track on her 2001 album of the same name, includes haunting lyrics like “Broken heart again/ Another lesson learned/ Better know your friends/ Or else you will get burnt.”
Blige dropped to her knees, then fell to her back during an emotional performance on the record during the 2023 Super Bowl halftime show.
Viewers assuming she channeled the divorce fallout on stage would be wrong, because she has healed from the turmoil.
She began singing the song from “a world perspective” between 2018 and 2020. She cites the COVID-19 pandemic as a second impetus.
“Automatically, I got a whole ’nother reason to sing ‘No More Drama’ the way I did,” Blige explained. “The fallout was for me before — the fallout was like, ‘Oh, I’m tired of going through sh-t.’
The fallout was for people that was sitting in the house… and everything that we’re dealing with.”
“This song is demanding that you stay away from my life if you’re going to bring me drama,” she told Jet magazine about the anthem.
“The bottom line is people will always fail you, so that’s why I say, ‘I got to count on me because I can guarantee that I’ll be fine.’”
The superstar is currently preparing to begin her Vegas residency, “My Life, My Story.” She will perform five shows in both May and June.
