"Real Love" (Mary J. Blige)

I'd heard Mary J. Blige's debut single, "You Remind Me," on the radio back in 1992, and I liked it well enough.  It was a pleasant R&B ballad with a nice hook.  But it didn't bowl me over.
And then her second single from What's the 411? dropped.
I'd never heard anything quite like "Real Love" before.  
Before 1992, if a song came at you with that kind of streetwise beat, you pretty much knew someone was going to be rapping, not singing, over it.  But here was this beautiful, young voice, singing about her quest for true affection with this hip-hop backdrop (sampled from the classic track "Top Billin'" by Audio Two, which itself is built on a cleverly chopped up sample from "Impeach the President" by the Honey Drippers.)  Her delivery was warm and sincere, yet it also had a ton of grit; it was like listening to a hip-hop Etta James.
Although I think Blige truly came into her own on 1994's My Life, which is a stronger collection of songs overall compared to What's the 411?, "Real Love" is still the touchstone that defines the career of the "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" for me.