I was listening to her first album, and her pen game was heavy and her vocals were astonishing. Had she not been on Bad Boy, she probably would have been a much bigger star. She definitely had the talent. I look at MJB and see what she lacks in vocals. Her record label always gave her the best producers and really put a machine behind her. MJB is very lucky because her voice is mediocre at best, but it's also what made her so different because she was basically a blues singer (most don't have to have a good voice but are great orators and can make you feel what they are saying) singing R&B. The pain in MJB's voice was nothing, but the blues turned into R&B.
Faith's messy personal life also held her career back; she should have severed ties with Puff after Biggie died and went elsewhere. She was undervalued. They pushed her as the first lady of Bad Boy, but we always knew MJB really held that title and had Puff's attention. When Puff did start to show favor over Faith, it was MJB who had enough sense to cut him loose. He did Faith a disservice by having Misa style her in the same category as Mary. But then again, Misa had Faith looking really matronly a lot of times too, so I don't know. She really didn't need the horrible blonde wigs and the shades and boots that were Mary's thing (no shade).
Her second album is very underrated. I never realized how much I really liked it until I let it play a while back. It was not promoted well at all; she had some bops.
The most tragic of all is the album Faithfully, which should have been her mainstream moment. I love that album.
