She was vulnerable but certainly not soft and as Blige later told The Guardian in 2005, вЂњI had no idea that my personal pain would create such a big fan base. R&B loves its balladry, but Blige brought a sense of realism and gravitas to the heart of it, cutting through the saccharine promises of the crooner landscape to become the patron saint of the broken hearted for years to come. While many praised Combs as the Svengali of BligeвЂ™s success, carefully crafting her fly-girl next-door image and stacking the album with strategic samples and slick production, it was really BligeвЂ™s vocal prowess and the way she spoke to people in her songs that gained listenersвЂ™ loyalty. For the next year, the album was played indefinitely on rap, soul, and pop radio followed by a slew of remixes that started the cycle all over again. In the summer of 1992, Blige blew the roof off both, establishing herself as the вЂњQueen of Hip-Hop SoulвЂ™ when WhatвЂ™s The 411? went triple platinum, spawning six singles, including вЂњYou Remind MeвЂќ and вЂњReal LoveвЂќ and selling over 3.4 million copies. Hip-hop and New Jack Swing had already been creeping onto the pop charts with the success of Boyz II MenвЂ™s вЂњ MotownphillyвЂќВ and Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam вЂњLet The Beat Hit вЂEmвЂќ while contemporary R&B was dominated by power ballads and female belters like Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Lisa Fischer. She had the street style, the swagger, and the vocal intensity that were missing from the male-dominated rap and soul game in 1991.

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