Grammy Award-winning songstress Mary J. Blige partnered with Lifetime to executive produce an original Lifetime movie inspired by her iconic 1992 hit song, “Real Love.”

Blige reportedly said that her legendary song was based on her real-life experiences and that she was excited to use it as inspiration to create a new movie.

“I wrote ‘Real Love’ based on my real-life experiences, and my fans connected to it in a deeply personal way. It’s exciting to now use this song and my music to create a new story by way of film, continuing to build on a pillar of the foundation of my production company, Blue Butterfly. My passions for acting and music now include developing diverse stories with music as the backdrop.”

The 51-year-old R&B veteran also said she would be working on the movie alongside Ashaunna Ayars and Nicole Jackson under her Blue Butterfly banner.

She concluded, thanking Lifetime for partnering with her, once again, to executive produce the film, also titled Real Love.

“I am grateful to Lifetime for their partnership in the story of Real Love.”

Real Love will be a coming-of-age romantic drama about a woman named Kendra who falls in love with her film class partner, Ben while studying at a college in upstate New York. Despite obstacles such as financial hardship, parental disapproval, and academic competition, they would fall harder for each other each day and learn the meaning of true love; real love.

Rachel Ingram and Sonja Warfield wrote it.

Blige has had a longstanding relationship with the Lifetime Network. In 2013, she played her first leading role as Dr. Betty Shabazz in Lifetime’s Betty & Coretta, starring herself and Angela Bassett. In 2020, she executive produced the network’s top-rated original movie, The Clark Sisters: The First Ladies of Gospel, alongside hip-hop royalty Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott and Queen Latifah.

“Mary is one of those phenomenal talents that can do it all, and we are so thrilled to be able to partner with her again on this new opportunity to bring her music to life in the form of a movie that we know audiences will love,” said Tanya Lopez, EVP Scripted Content at Lifetime and LMN.

Speaking of her music, the queen of hip-hop soul recently released her 15th album, Good Morning Gorgeous, on Feb. 11. She revealed that a song on the album titled “Rent” was about her having to owe her ex-husband, Kendu Isaacs, so much alimony that she couldn’t pay for all her living expenses.

“I didn’t have [any] money to pay my rent and all this other stuff…I was just drained of everything, so it was time for somebody to pay…I was like, rent money due. Period!”

She was equally candid in her recent documentary, My Life, which followed her as she commemorated the 25th anniversary of her 1994 studio album of the same name. The doc debuted on Amazon Prime Video on Jun. 23, 2021.

“The only thing that kept us guided was the music. It just saved you,” Blige said in the documentary’s trailer, detailing what music did for her as a young girl. “In the neighborhood we lived in, it’s like prison.”

She was born in the Bronx, New York, but grew up in the rough streets of Yonkers. However, despite her tumultuous upbringing, she managed to have a legendary musical career. Her first hit song, “Real Love,” which was released on Aug. 25, 1992, by Uptown Records, appeared on her classic debut album, What’s The 411. The single was certified gold in November of that year and was listed in Rolling Stone’s “500 Best Songs of All Time” in 2021.