NEW MUSIC: Mary J Blige feat. Busta Rhymes - Next Level

Award winning singer, rapper, actress and model Mary J Blige is widely acclaimed as a legend in her own lifetime (Rolling Stone named her as one of their greatest singers of all time). Having recorded eight multi-platinum albums and being the only artist in history to win Grammy awards in Pop, Rap, Gospel and R&B, the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul seems set to continue her winning streak with new album "My Life II: The Journey Continues (Act I)", the second in a trilogy of albums beginning with her 1994 album "My Life" and closing with "My Life II: The Journey Continues (Act II", tentatively scheduled for a May 2012 release.

Guest appearances on the album come courtesy of Mary's own rap alter-ego Brook-Lynn, Nas, Beyoncé, Drake, and Rick Ross. Despite several confirmations from involved parties and even a leak of two songs they were working on together, Nicki Minaj is nowhere to be seen on the finalized tracklisting of the record.

This week Mary's in the UK promoting her new record and discussing the possibility of joining the judging panel of upcoming televised talent competition, The Voice UK.

One of the best tracks on the record is "Next Level", which rounds off the guest appearances with a feature from fellow legend Busta Rhymes. After some time away, Busta has recently found newfound success with several features (most prominently on Chris Brown's "Look At Me Now" and Kelly Rowland's "Motivation Remix"), which no doubt paved the way for his recently announced new deal with Young Money/Cash Money. For those not in the know, that's the same label and crew who have been running hip-hop with the indomitable trio of Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj and Drake. 

Anyways - check out the cut below. If this isn't a single at some point then damn.