Along with Lauryn Hill, Missy Elliott and Eryka Badu, Mary J. Blige has somehow been afforded the status of hip-hop doyenne. Granted, her music has been no more weighty or meaningful than anyone else’s, yet somehow her status is above that of the likes of Lil’ Kim, Aaliyah or Ashanti. In the hip-hop world, her relative lack of concern with bling or flash seems to have translated into respect or some sense of soulful worldliness/authority. In other words, if you throw enough ‘Queen of Hip Hop’ references at the wall, some are bound to stick.

No less than five lawyers are credited in the sleevenotes, and there’s even an “executive in charge of P. Diddy’s production” credited. The first song, ‘Love & Life’ with its ominous-sounding strings, sounds like a highly promising start, but alas, the album then slides into a depressingly homogenous succession of god-loving, bland hip-hop. There’s no doubting that Blige’s voice is truly powerful, purposeful and worthy of accolade, but her almost-vacuous music seems to shimmy along, the 20 tracks on the album never shifting gear, always staying put on the same unchallenged level.

As far as self-aggrandising and self-promotion goes, Love & Life is truly an exercise in excellence. Just don’t expect the tunes to be quite as inspirational.