Mary J. Blige, We Ride (I See The Future) | Music Lifts 🎶 🏋

In the 31st edition of Music Lifts (2024), we’re uplifted by Mary J. Blige performing, “We Ride (I See The Future).”

Welcome to Music Lifts 🎶 🏋, a column highlighting songs that encourage, inspire, and uplift the spirit; songs exuding fortitude, positivity, and resolve, even in the face of adversity.  Featured songs aren’t genre-specific; songs may or may not be faith-based. The goal is for these songs to make you feel better – be LIFTED to new heights!  So, for the 31^st edition of Music Lifts 🎶 🏋 (2024), we highlight “We Ride (I See The Future)” as performed by Mary J. Blige.

“Just can’t help it, I love my hun / All that I need and all that I want.” Back in 2006, when “We Ride (I See The Future)” arrived, Mary J. Blige was happily married. The single, from her greatest hits compilation, Reflections – A Retrospective, speaks about looking forward to growing stronger as a couple. In the chorus, Blige asserts, “From the day to the night / We ride, we ride, we ride /… I see the future, baby / You and I, better with time.” Sadly, her future with husband Kendu Isaacs ended in 2018 after 15 years of marriage, but it doesn’t take away from the bright, uplifting nature of the song. MJB penned “We Ride” alongside Bryan-Michael Cox, Johnta Austin, and Kendrick Dean. Cox and Dean produced it.  The smooth piano and sophisticated contemporary R&B vibes catch the ear.

The star of the show is Mary J. Blige.  She is authentic, dynamic, expressive, and heartfelt in her performance.  She captures a happiness she didn’t believe she would ever find. “Now ladies if you got a man and he treat you real good / Ain’t you gon’ flex every chance that you get,” she sings in the first verse, adding, “Now ain’t you gonna love him just like you should? / Especially when you never thought you would.” In the second verse, she addresses the men: “Now fellas if you got a girl and she treat you right / Ain’t you gonna spend every dollar, every cent? /… Especially when she’s reppin’ you for life.” Aww! Blige amplifies the feels in the bridge when she asserts, “Love is a mountain and we’re at the top.” Sadly, not everybody experiences the love that Blige sings about in “We Ride (I See The Future)”.  Some experience it for a while but the ‘honeymoon’ ends. Regardless, just hearing about a love like this makes you want it. It drives you to search and fight for something so substantial.

Mary J. Blige // Reflections – A Retrospective // Geffen // 2006

Mary J. Blige, We Ride (I See The Future): Music Lifts 🎶 🏋 No. 31 (2024) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Geffen; Monstera Production, Qamar Rehman, RDNE Stock Project, Thomas Ronveaux, Wolrider YURTSEVEN from Pexels; OpenClipart-Vectors, Quốc Hùng Hầu from Pixabay]