Mary J Blige is the cover girl for the September issue of InStyle — and she couldn’t be happier about it.
“IT’S ABOUT D–N TIME! This black woman finally got her 1st @instylemagazine cover and a spread!!!#shhhhiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttt,” she captioned a post on Instagram featuring her cover shoot before promising new music.
Blige is still reeling after her recent documentary, “Mary J. Blige’s My Life,” was hailed as one of the most-watched documentary premieres in the history of Amazon Studios.
Impressive.
The legendary singer also stars as Dinah Washington in the upcoming “Respect,” moving about the life of Aretha Franklin, starring Jennifer Hudson.
“I was not always super secure with my acting ability,” she says. “There’s nobody clapping, nobody screaming, just a cold camera,” she adds, comparing movie life to live performances. “So I had to keep pushing, pushing, pushing. But by the time I got to the end of Season 1, I was like, ‘Monet — boom.’ ”
Season one being “Power Book II.” In the series, Blige plays drug lord, Monet Tejada.
It’s hard to imagine the multi-talented star feeling unsure about her acting abilities. She landed an Oscar nomination for her performance in the 2017 Netflix movie “Mudbound.”
She also shared that she was extremely hands-on when it came to determining Monet’s style.
“Instead of giving her a bang and covering her face, I want people to see her expressions — like, ‘I’m not hiding, don’t f–k … excuse me, don’t play with me.’ And the red is a sign of fire,” she explained, adding, “I didn’t want blond hair, because that’s my s–t.”
The star also reflected on life after divorce. She says she’s in a great place.
“Divorce, that took a load off,” she says. “The day that I began to lighten up is the day my skin began to brighten, my eyes began to brighten. Now I keep beautiful people around me,” adding, “I’m single, without a kid, and I’m having a good time. I’m doing the most.”
