25/8

Album: My Life II: The Journey Continues (2011)
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Songfacts®:

  • This is the first official single (following the promo track "Someone to Love Me (Naked)") from American R&B singer-songwriter Mary J. Blige's 10th studio album, My Life II: The Journey Continues. The song finds the songstress crooning about how "24/7 ain't enough… 'Cause I got so much love for you boy/ I need another hour and a day so I can love you 25/8." It was released for digital download on September 1, 2011, and performed by Blige for the first time live at Good Morning America the following day.
  • The song was produced and co-written by Eric Hudson, whose previous credits include Kanye West's "Flashing Lights" and Jamie Foxx's "Best Night Of My Life."
  • Blige explained: "The meaning behind 25/8 is to have a 25th hour in your day, and a 8th day in your week. The song is about not having enough time to spend with someone; it's like the ultimate love… like when you're having fun, time just seems to fly."
  • The song samples Heavy D's version of Third World's "Now That We Found Love." Sadly, the Jamaican rapper passed away on November 8, 2011, two weeks before the release of My Life II. Blige and Heavy D were labelmates on Andre Harrell's Uptown Records and also good friends.

    "He just always gave us great advice," she recalled to The Boombox. "He just always wanted us to do good. He was like a father figure to us and I'm going to miss him."
  • This was used on the TV series Private Practice in the 2011 episode "Who We Are."
  • The Diane Martel-directed video finds Blige on the fast-moving streets of New York City, where she sings the tune as a blur of people move around her. The singer's favorite part of the clip is when she dons a military-inspired outfit and performs with a male dance troupe. Martel previously worked with Blige on the video for "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By," the singer's 1995 duet with Method Man.

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