''Love & Life'' is the sixth studio album by American singer Mary J. Blige, released in the United States on August 26, 2003 (see 2003 in music) on Geffen Records. The album was primarily produced by Sean "Diddy" Combs, who executive produced her first two albums. Additional production came from Dr. Dre and The Hitmen.

The album became Blige's first album in six years to debut at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 285,298 copies in first week.

''Love & Life'' received mixed reviews from music critics. ''Allmusic'' gave it 4 stars and said the album "beamed with joy" and ''Rolling Stone'' gave it three stars, saying "You may not always love Blige's music, but you will feel her".

The album was eventually certified Platinum by the RIAA. To date the album has sold over 1,000,000 copies in the U.S. and over 2,000,000 copies worldwide. The album was nominated for the Best Contemporary R&B Album at the 46th Grammy Awards. - Wikipedia

Some divas make it all look so easy. Mary J. Blige makes it look so damn hard, as if her performances are consciously designed to remind us how much of a struggle life is. On the spoken interlude "Finally Made It," she muses on her success, concluding "If I wasn't doin' this... I'd probably be like braidin' hair, workin' at a supermarket." She's doing a job for her fans, she insists, and for once the obligatory guest raps serve a thematic purpose here-the offhand insouciance of Jay-Z, 50 Cent and Method Man stands in sharp contrast to Blige's dogged persistence.

For the third straight record, Blige insists she's committed to a sunnier outlook, and Love & Life is full of happy love songs. Yet as always Blige sings with an undertow of disbelief that's a constant reminder of a painful past. Sometimes this makes her protestations of happiness that much deeper; sometimes it makes them sound hollow.

This disc is the first time Blige has worked with Sean "P. Diddy" Combs since he was still Puff Daddy and still in the employee of Andre Harrell's Uptown Records. It's an auspicious reunion, with Puff's tracks grinding up and down underneath Blige like a Stairmaster, giving her a workout even at midtempo. But nothing matches the intensity of the one Dr. Dre-produced track here, "Not Today"-not because Dre's the more expert trackmaster, but because it's a sad song, and no matter how balanced her personal life becomes, Mary's heart will always be in the sad ones.