Shortly after performing at the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday, Mary J. Blige sat down for an interview with iHeart Radio and opened up about her personal life, including the struggles she faced after her divorce. Blige said her latest song “Rent Money” featured on her new album, Good Morning Gorgeous, was inspired by the financial challenges she faced after divorcing Martin “Kendu” Isaacs.
“I didn’t have no money to pay my rent and all this other stuff,” she told iHeart Radio. “So, I had to go, you know, I had to go on tour, and make all the money back to pay the alimony.”
The 51-year-old said she didn't have any money to pay rent after her divorce. In her new song, she illustrated the emotional toll she faced during the challenging time.
"I didn’t have my soul. I was just drained of everything," the singer said. "So it was time for somebody to pay; sometimes you just feel like somebody gotta pay.”
Blige said she was angry when she made the song.
Blige was ordered to pay $30,000 a month in alimony to her ex-husband in 2017 after Isaacs' lawyers said he “has experienced physical manifestations of stress and emotional distress from this matter, which has caused him to become hospitalized,” Atlanta Black Star reports.
The attorneys also said their client would become “destitute,” making it impossible to pay rent without Blige's financial support.
The "Family Affair" singer said she was very angry when she made “Rent Money.”
"I was like, rent money due — period!” the artist said.
Blige and Isaacs, who married in 2003, split in 2016 and finalized their divorce in 2018, Popculture reports.
The "Mary Jane" singer released Good Morning Gorgeous on Friday. During Sunday's Super Bowl halftime show in Los Angeles, Blige performed alongside Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg and Kendrick Lamar.
