On the eve of her album release, Mary J. Blige is beginning to make the rounds of radio stations and such. One of her first stops was made last Saturday on The Tavis Smiley Show.

A Tavis Smiley interview is always going to be thorough, you can check the full conversation there.

Here she talks about an ashy karma episode..

“I try not to talk about people, because I had this episode, this karma episode, and I was talking about this girl. And her leg was really, really ashy. And I go ‘Ah-ha-ha, she’s ashy.” The next day I had a photo shoot. Now, I know I put lotion on my entire body. I got to that photo shoot and I went to try on my clothes, my entire body was ashy. And I was, like, how did this happen? (Laughter)

So I looked at it like it was karma, so that was a lesson to never - like, just try not to, like, put negative things out there about people or even laugh at people, because you are people too, and things can happen to you. And that’s what has kept me - I’m not perfect and I’m not some good saint, but I work hard on trying to do the right thing.”

There is also a nice bit about the genesis of Growing Pains.

Too much reading? Get your Windows Media on. She tells this story about a minute in.

We were at an Oscar party during that whole Grammys, it was a big Mary J. Blige time, and I got a call from Oprah Winfrey. It was the weirdest thing, because she’s amazing, and I know she cares about me, but I didn’t know she would care enough to want to hang out with me like this, after Africa and all that.

So she goes to the Oscars, she takes my husband and I to the Oscars - or my husband take her and I to the Oscars, we’re on both of his arms. And we’re at the party, and I’m sitting there -

Tavis: I hate Kendu.

Blige: (Laughter) And I’m sitting there, and out of nowhere comes Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, and they’re all screaming and talking about how much they love me, and hugging me and kissing me and taking pictures with me. So in the middle of the night I sat there and I looked around and I said, “Am I good enough for all of this?” Like, “Me? Do they really like me?”

And something was, like, yes, they like you. Something in you, they like. And it was like I had to believe that. At that moment, I had to believe that I deserved that moment right there. They might like my talent or whatever the case may be, but it’s something that came out of me that they liked. So I had to believe that, and that was my “Growing Pains” moment. That’s when I went home and started writing.

Tavis: Started writing this record.

Blige: Exactly.