Mary J. Blige in performance at Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest 2007. - File

The Queen of hip hop, soul and R&B, Mary J. Blige, can move the hardest of hearts with her emotional and soulful singing. This year Blige did just that at Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest, leaving behind goosebumps and rave reviews.

Having started out in the music business as a teenager Blige, now 36, has sustained a long and illustrious career in the music business, having reached platinum sales levels many times. However, despite her success, Blige's career has not been smooth sailing, having endured a public and abusive relationship with with Jodeci frontman Cedric 'K-Ci' Hailey, and also going through years of abusing drugs and alcohol herself.

Through the difficulties she has kept strong. "I think what has really helped in my success is me taking responsibility for my actions, for every action and everything that I do. Understanding that, for me, this is my gift that God has given me and I have to take care of it. I can't really worry about anything negative that people say or to the opinions of people," she said.

What brought success

"What made it so successful was my belief in God, my belief in myself, that I can do it no matter what. I can push aside all the obstacles, I can make this happen, Knowing that I deserve better than what I've been getting 'cause I've given so much in life. I've given so much of my life to people, to this world," she said.

Blige is intent on giving back in her own way, having recently started her own company, Matriarch Records. Another way in which she gave back was through her song One, with Bono from U2. The song was done for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. She recently said in an interview that "I am releasing some artistes. I have a label called Matriach Records. My first artiste is named Davian; you'll be hearing from him soon. He's incredible - the women will love his vocals. I'm looking at scripts for films, I haven't decided on anything yet."

Effortlessly moving between the genres of hip hop and R&B, Blige is both a rapper and a singer. She attests that while hip hop was her platform in the business, R&B is her passion. It is a passion that was nurtured by P Diddy, who produced three of her albums, Life & Love, What's the 411? and My Life.

Blige says "My professional relationship with Puffy is perfect, my personal relationship with Puffy is perfect. We've always been friends and family; we'll never stop been friends and family. He has been there for me ever since What's the 411? We've grown up and gone our separate ways. Now we're adults loving and caring for each other as though we're just family and friends."

Growing up in the Schlobaum Housing Projects in New York city, the streets that she walked were filled with reggae music. Blige has plans to dabble in reggae herself at some point. She said "I did something with Supercat along time ago, called Only My Baby. I wanted to do something with Sean Paul. He's great. Its just a matter of time before someone says 'Mary, let's do a song'."

Describing Jamaica as a "beautiful place", Blige is eager to keep her love affair with the island in the future.