Rolling Stone (10/31/02, p.136) - Ranked # 17 in Rolling Stone's "Women in Rock: The 50 Essential Albums" - "...Opaque, seductive..."
Rolling Stone (5/13/99, p.74) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's."
Spin (9/99, p.156) - Ranked #72 in Spin Magazine's "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s."
Entertainment Weekly (11/25/94, p.77) - "...more serious than her crossover 1992 debut....[Mary J. Blige] continues soaring to soulful heights over streetwise beats..." - Rating: B
Vibe (12/99, p.160) - Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century
Musician (3/95, p.88) - "As the album's intro makes plain, even Blige's own camp worried whether she could `do it again,' and to be honest, she doesn't--she does it better....She...knows how to work a groove..."
NME (Magazine) (1/7/95, p.34) - 7 (out of 10) - "...In rap, the beats sometimes seem irrelevant compared to the chat: here they reign supreme. Blige is telling her audience she grew up the same way they did, listened to the same things, was influenced by the same situations. That's what makes her so beloved..."