With this cutting-edge debut, {$Mary J. Blige} became the reigning queen of her own hybrid category: {\hip-hop} {\soul}. In retrospect, it is easier to place the album into the context of her career and, as such, to pinpoint the occasions when it runs wide of the rails. For instance, the synthesizer-heavy backdrops ({&"Reminisce,"} {&"Love No Limit"}) are sometimes flatter or more plastic than either the songs or {$Blige}'s passionate performances deserve, while the answering-machine skits, much-copied in the wake of {^What's the 411?}, haven't worn well as either stand-alone tracks or conceptual segues. Despite the minor flaws, the music is indeed revelatory on a frequent basis. {&"Real Love"} and the {\gospel}-thrusted {&"Sweet Thing"} (the primary reason for the {$Chaka Kahn} comparisons) are and likely will always remain timeless slices of {\soul} even after their trendiness has worn off, and {&"You Remind Me"} and the duet with {$Jodeci}'s {$K-Ci} ({&"I Don't Want to Do Anything"}) are nearly as effecting in their own right. It is nevertheless unclear how much of the {\hip-hop} swagger in her {\soul} was a genuine expression of {$Blige}'s own vision or that of her admittedly fine collaborators (Svengali {$Sean "Puffy" Combs}, {\R&B} producers {$Dave Hall} and {$DeVante Swing}, {\rap} beatsmith {$Tony Dofat}, rapper {$Grand Puba}). Certainly the singer comes across as street-savvy and tough -- "real," in the lingo of the day -- and even tries her hand at rhyming on the title track, but never again would her records lean this heavily on the sonic tricks of the {\rap} trade. The eloquence and evocativeness that comes through in her voice, on the other hand, could be neither borrowed nor fabricated, making {^What's the 411?} one of the decade's most explosive, coming-out displays of pure singing prowess. A momentous album, it is not {$Blige}'s finest. In fact, those who prefer their {\soul} more stirring, heart-on-sleeve, or close to the bone would likely find her fluid, powerfully vulnerable next recording ({^My Life}) or one of the consistently strong subsequent efforts that followed it more to their liking. For broad appeal and historical importance, though, {^What's the 411?} is an inarguably paramount and trailblazing achievement. ~ Stanton Swihart, All Music Guide