2. Mary J. Blige - Family Affair (2001)

The common denominator between this record and the previous one is that they were both produced by Dr. Dre, but contrary to Eminem's heart-wrenching drama, Mary J. is requesting "no more drama". Following the nineties, which represented a new low in the relationship between blacks and whites and between men and women, Blige opens the new millennium on a more positive note, a note that would resonate throughout the decade. This is the most characteristic trait of the last decade: the emergence of a new harmony, a harmony that enabled the plethora of voices that emerged in the sixties to come together at last.

And that is why the title of the record is so symbolic. This harmony, after all, was the ideal that in the sixties was personified in Sly & the Family Stone, a band that included members from both genders and races, who merged black funk and white psychedelic rock to fulfill the dream of soul music, the dream of all people living in harmony and mutual respect. Sly & the Family Stone created optimistic, happy and danceable pop, which carried the hopes of the sixties. But the dream was shattered to pieces, and in 1972 they released the record 'Family Affair', which documented the collapse of the family, the fragmentation of American society. Three decades later, it was at last possible to feel that the process of healing had begun, and a record by the same name reaffirms the original dream, and invites us all to groove on it together.

And nobody contributed to the growth of this harmony more than Mary J. Blige. In the mid-nineties, hip-hop was macho and chauvinistic, monopolized by males, while R'n'B was soft and feeble, sung mainly by females. There was almost no grounds for dialogue between the two styles, a fact that reflected the relationship between the genders in African-American street culture. Blige found the way to sing to the same hip-hop beats that the rappers rapped to, and transformed R'n'B into a style that expresses a more powerful femininity, one that stands its ground. That also opened up the possibility of dialogue with rap, a dialogue which gradually affected a warming up of the relationship. Here, she is already a ripe artist, manufacturing another masterpiece. Dr. Dre provides the fine production and the funky beat, and Mary J., as always, steers her way masterfully within the sound-stew, always in control, always full of soul, always hitting the right note for the feeling. A perfect record.