Songfacts®:

• This is the song that started it all for Mary J. Blige. Released as her first single, it introduced the sound that Puff Daddy, a young upstart at her record label, called "hip-hop soul," anointing Mary the queen. It didn't do much damage on the pop charts, peaking at #29, but it was a #1 R&B hit in the summer of 1992, clearing a path for singers like Aaliyah and Brandy.
• In this song, Blige spots a guy who reminds her of someone from her past that lit her fire. It's one of her lighter and more lively songs, a crowd-pleaser every time she performs it. Blige revived it on her Strength Of A Woman tour in 2017 and on her Good Morning Gorgeous tour in 2022.
• "You Remind Me" was written by Eric Milteer along with the song's producer, Dave Hall. Milteer's only other charting co-write is "Before We Start" by McGruff; Hall also worked on Blige's "Reminisce" and "Love No Limit," and on Mariah Carey's #1 hit "Dreamlover."
• The song samples "Remind Me," a 1982 track by Patrice Rushen of "Forget Me Nots" fame.
• "You Remind Me" first appeared in 1991 on the soundtrack to the movie Strictly Business, starring Tommy Davidson and Halle Berry, but it wasn't used in the film. It was released as a single in June 1992 and appeared on Blige's debut album, What's The 411?, in July.
• Mary J. Blige's next single, "Real Love," was an even bigger hit, also going to #1 on the R&B chart and rising to #7 on the Hot 100.
• Various remixes were released, including one by Tony Dofat with a rap by Greg Nice that was called the "Daddy Hip Hop" mix. This is the one that was used in the music video, which was directed by Marcus Raboy and finds Mary doing a bit of dancing.
• If the album title What's The 411? has you baffled, you were probably born after 1990: 411 was what you dialed to get a phone number. You called it, and a human would answer and try to find the number for you. It was known as "calling information." The phrase "What's the 411" became a clever way of asking what was going on.