Mary J. Blige chats with Miami.com before Jazz in the Gardens

This year’s Jazz in the Gardens festival boasts plenty of outstanding acts, including Patti LaBelle, Doug E Fresh, Ledisi and host MC Lyte. But the unquestioned superstar of the group is the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, Mary J. Blige, who closes out the festival with a performance Sunday night. You’re sure to hear her huge hits, including “No More Drama,” “Family Affair,” “Be Without You” and “I’m Going Down,” plus new tracks from her 11th studio album, “My Life II … The Journey Continues (Act I).” Blige – who is the only artist to win Grammys in the pop, rap, gospel and R&B categories – gave Miami.com the 411 about the show, acting in the upcoming film “Rock of Ages” and her experience on “American Idol” last week, helping to mentor the contestants.

 

Q: What attracts you to a festival like Jazz in the Gardens?

 

A: They call and invite us to come down, and we go [laughs]. And we just have a good time with everyone.

 

Q: You’re known as the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul. What does that mean to you?

 

A: It means a lot, because it was the beginning of an era that changed music. It changed the way things sounded, the new-jack swing and contemporary R&B. Hip-hop soul is what music is now – every rapper is singing over it, every singer’s wanting to sing over it. If it’s not hip-hop soul, it’s four on the floor, which is the club songs. Even if it’s a ballad, it’s hip-hop and it’s soulful, and it means a lot, because it was the beginning of something that changed something.

 

Q: Back then, did you have a sense of how groundbreaking this new sound was?

 

A: No, I didn’t understand till later, when I went, “Whoa, whoa, whoa!”

 

Q: You’re in “Rock of Ages” – what’s that about, and what’s your role?

 

A: “Rock of Ages” is a Broadway musical that has been turned into a movie by Adam Shankman. And the movie is an early ’80s piece on rock-and-roll and this young lady who runs away from home to find herself in Los Angeles, where rock was really heavy. There are so many songs in this movie. I play a gentlemen’s club owner by the name of Justice Charlier, and it’s an all-star cast with Tom Cruise, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Alec Baldwin, Paul Giamatti, Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta. I mean, there are so many people – Russell Brand. It’s just fun, because everybody gets to play a character. All my outfits are like from the ’80s, whatever Chaka Khan and Whitney Houston would have worn and how they wear their hair. It was fun and it was good.

 

Q: And I’m sure you sing in the movie?

 

A: Of course – everybody’s singing in the movie.

 

Q: Give us a song or two that you do.

 

A: I’m singing “Any Way You Want It” by Journey, “Shadows of the Night” by Pat Benatar, “Harden My Heart” by Quarterflash, “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” by Poison, “Here I Go Again” by Whitesnake. Everybody’s singing these songs and I’m singing with them, and you know how they cut to one person. But that’s how it goes.

 

Q: Has that experience made you want to pursue more acting roles?

 

A: Yes, it has. It really, really has made me want to go for it more, because I saw some of the dailies back, and I’m nervous because of course I needed an acting coach for that role, or any role. But when I saw the dailies back, I was really shocked. I was like, “Ohhh. OK, I did the work! I really did the work!” So yeah, it made me wanna do more.

 

Q: How has your experience been on “American Idol”?

 

A: Well I was mentoring on “Idol” along with Jimmy Iovine, and [last] week all the guys had to sing Stevie Wonder songs and all the girls had to sing Whitney Houston songs. So we were just coaching them on what they had to do, and our opinion of what they should do.

 

Q: You are the only person ever to win Grammys in four different categories – are you kind of just pinching yourself, like, “Did that really happen?”

 

A: I mean, sometimes I have to really remember so I can appreciate and never take that for granted – wow! That is rare, and that is something that doesn’t happen every day, so I’m so thankful and so blessed for something like that to happen to me. You forget sometimes, you know? Mmm-hmm.

 

Q: You’re a New Yorker. What do you think of Miami?

 

A: I love Miami. So many New Yorkers live in Miami, and Miami’s fun and hot and just fun!

This story was originally published March 13, 2012 at 2:03 AM.