(CNN) -- Seventeen years after the release of her breakthrough album, "My Life," Mary J. Blige offers up a sequel -- "My Life II: ... The Journey Continues (Act 1)." "The first 'My Life' album was about healing and helping people get through things," the singer told CNN. "Now there's recession, there's war and there's people really not feeling good about life anymore. So it's time, because people need to feel the hug that comes through music." In the mid-90s, Blige herself was in a troubled place, spiraling downward with drugs, alcohol and a tumultuous relationship with K-Ci Hailey of the R&B duo K-Ci & JoJo.
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Mary J. Blige's new album, "My Life II," is a follow-up to an album from 17 years ago
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The singer says that recently, she has learned to say, "You know what? I AM deserving"
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"You either know how to get around it, or you just have to go through it," Blige says
Four million people responded to that album, saying, '@placeholder, wow.