No one can relay lyrics about crappy relationship like Mary J. Blige. Whether you’re in a blissful or tumultuous courtship MJB can make you feel her pain (See My Life, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this month). On “Whole Dame Year,” one of the records off The London Sessions, Mary let’s listeners in on what a lack of trust over 365 days sounds like. “It took a whole damn year to repair my body,” sings Mary.
The song was co-written by Knox Brown and Emile Sandé. “I wrote this song and I love this song, but I didn’t think that it was a song for me for some reason,” Sandé says. “And as soon as Mary heard it and connected to it, it really felt like the song had found it’s natural and true home.”
Sandé, along with Sam Smith, Disclosure, James Napier and Naughty Boy, worked on Mary’s 20-day workshop in London. Overseen by Rodney Jerkins, the final product in the form of The London Session, will be released on December 2. Check the making of “Whole Damn Year” below.