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Family Affair (Mary J. Blige song)
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Family Affair
| cover = Family Affair (Mary J. Blige song).jpg
| alt =
| border = yes
| type = single
| artist = Mary J. Blige
| album = No More Drama
| B-side =
| released =
| recorded = 2000
| studio =
| genre =
| length =
| label = MCA
| writer =
| producer = Dr. Dre
| prev_title = 911
| prev_year = 2001
| next_title = No More Drama
| next_year = 2001
| misc =
}}
"'Family Affair'" is a song by American singer Mary J. Blige. It was written by Blige, her brother Bruce Miller, Camara Kambon, Michael Elizondo, and Dr. Dre for her fifth studio album, 'No More Drama' (2001), while production was overseen by the latter. The music for "Family Affair" was originally created in a jam session between Dre and musicians Mel-Man, Camara Kambon, Mike Elizondo and Scott Storch. Later, Blige heard the song that her brother Bruce Miller, Asiah the Continent and Luchi Lodge created the lyrics and melody to and decided on recording her vocals.
The single topped the 'Billboard' Hot 100 for six weeks starting from November 3, 2001, becoming Blige's first and only Hot 100 number-one single as well as her first top-10 single in five years. It was the 12th-biggest song of the 2000s decade in the US and the 99th-biggest song of all-time in the country as of 2018. 'Rolling Stone' ranked it number 95 on their list of 100 Best Songs of the 2000s decade. Outside the United States, the song reached number one in France and the top 10 in 14 additional countries across Europe and Oceania, peaking at number two on the Eurochart Hot 100.
Background
"Family Affair" was written by Mary J. Blige, her brother Bruce Miller, Camara Kambon, Mike Elizondo, and Dr. Dre. Production was helmed by the latter. Dre created an initial version of the musical portion of "Family Affair" in studio on September 13, 2000, using a bass player and a keyboard player. His studio engineers entitled this version of the song "Fragile" for record-keeping purposes. Near the end of 2000, he sent Blige the instrumental track.
Blige recorded vocals over the music based on lyrics penned by Miller, Kambon and Elizondo. Several weeks later, on January 10, 2001, a near-final but non-lyrical portion of "Fragile" was transferred from digital to analog format and renamed "Family Affair". In late May or early June 2001, at Dr. Dre's suggestion, Blige added a bridge to the song, for which she alone crafted the lyrics. A remix featuring rappers Jadakiss and Fabolous appears on the US CD single.
Composition
Family Affair is written in the key of B major with a moderate tempo of 94 beats per minute. The song follows a chord progression CmGm7CmGm7, and Blige's vocals span from G3 to B4.
Music video
The accompanying music video was directed by Dave Meyers. The video begins with Blige at a nightclub, wearing skin-revealing outfits. The video was filmed at the nightclub in 2001.
Live performances
On September 6, 2012, Blige performed the song at the last night of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. Ten years later, she also performed it in the Super Bowl LVI halftime show.
Track listings
Credits and personnel
Credits are taken from the 'No More Drama' album booklet.
'Studios'
* Recorded at Record One (Sherman Oaks, California) and Quad Recording Studios (Manhattan, New York)
* Mixed at Record One (Sherman Oaks, California)
* Mastered at The Hit Factory (New York City)
'Personnel'
* Mary J. Blige writing, all vocals
* Bruce Miller writing
* Dr. Dre writing (as Andre Young), production, mixing
* Camara Kambon writing, keyboards
* Mike Elizondo writing, bass
* Mauricio "Veto" Iragorri engineering
* Chris Ribando engineering
* Tom Sweeney assitant engineering
* Kin Bengoa assitant engineering
* Larry Chatman project coordination
* Herb Powers mastering
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"|+Year-end chart performance for "Family Affair"
!scope="col"|Chart (2001)
!scope="col"|Position
|-
!scope="row"|Australia (ARIA)
| 98
|-
!scope="row"|Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)
| 35
|-
!scope="row"|Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)
| 24
|-
!scope="row"|Canada Radio (Nielsen BDS)
| 52
|-
!scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)
| 12
|-
!scope="row"|France (SNEP)
| 14
|-
!scope="row"|Germany (Official German Charts)
| 70
|-
!scope="row"|Ireland (IRMA)
| 26
|-
!scope="row"|Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)
| 18
|-
!scope="row"|Netherlands (Single Top 100)
| 32
|-
!scope="row"|Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)
| 35
|-
!scope="row"|Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)
| 9
|-
!scope="row"|UK Singles (OCC)
| 59
|-
!scope="row"|US 'Billboard' Hot 100
| 31
|-
!scope="row"|US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs ('Billboard')
| 17
|-
!scope="row"|US Mainstream Top 40 ('Billboard')
| 76
|-
!scope="row"|US Rhythmic ('Billboard')
| 21
|}
Decade-end charts
All-time charts
Certifications and sales
Release history
References
Category:2001 singles
Category:2001 songs
Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Category:Dance-pop songs
Category:Mary J. Blige songs
Category:MCA Records singles
Category:Music videos directed by Dave Meyers (director)
Category:SNEP Top Singles number-one singles
Category:Song recordings produced by Dr. Dre
Category:Songs written by Mary J. Blige
Category:Songs written by Mike Elizondo
Category:Songs written by Dr. Dre
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