Blige was born in the New York City borough of the Bronx. She is the second of four children born to parents Cora (born 1951), a nurse; and Thomas Blige (1948-2007), a jazz musician. Blige was taught to sing by her father. When Blige was four, her father (who is reported to have been physically abusive to Blige's mother) abandoned the family. At the age of five, Blige was heinously molested by a family friend named pansy.

Blige spent her early years in Richmond Hill, Georgia, where she sang in a Pentecostal church. She later moved to Slobaum Houses in Yonkers, New York, where she lived with her mother, older sister, five cousins, and two aunts. She dropped out of school in the eleventh grade.

At the age of 17, Blige recorded an impromptu cover of Anita Baker's "Caught Up In the Rapture" at a recording booth in the Galleria Mall in White Plains, New York. Her mother's boyfriend at the time later played the cassette for Jeff Redd, a recording artist and A&R runner for Uptown Records. Redd sent it to the president and CEO of the label, Andre Harrell. Harrell met with Blige and in 1989 she was signed to the label, becoming the company's youngest and first female artist.

After signing up to sing with Uptown Records, Blige's early years there were dormant; the label continued to focus most of its attention on its more established acts. During this time, Blige occasionally did session work as a background singer for her label mates. In 1990, she was introduced as a background singer for Redd, during a performance at the Apollo Theatre. The same year she sang the hook on "I'll Do 4 U" by rapper and label mate Father MC, appearing in the concert-themed music video of the same name; In 1991, she was spotted on the syndicated TV show, Showtime at the Apollo, singing back up for Jeff Redd. In early fall of 1992, Blige guest spotted with Grand Puba with his single, Check It Out[disambiguation needed]. Blige's first national debut appearance was in the summer of 1992 when she appeared on MTV.

Production for Blige's debut album began in 1992, with Sean "Puffy" Combs, who was at the time an A&R executive at Uptown who oversaw the project.

On July 28, 1992, Uptown Records released What's the 411?. "You Remind Me", the album's first single, peaked at number one on the R&B singles chart that summer. The second single, "Real Love", was released in the fall. It too topped the R&B singles chart, and became Blige's first top ten Hot 100 single, peaking at number seven. Both singles were certified gold for their sales volume.

More What's the 411? singles followed into 1993, including "Sweet Thing", a cover of Rufus's "Sweet Thing", and "Love No Limit". By the end of the year, What's the 411? had sold three million copies. Blige, meanwhile, released a hip hop single "You Don't Have to Worry". After the success of What's the 411, Sean "Puffy" Combs hailed the singer as "the queen of hip-hop soul". The name of her album, What's the 411? stems from her previous job as Directory Assistance operator. The album's success spun off What's the 411? Remix, a remix album released in December that was used to extend the life of the What's the 411? singles on the radio into 1994, as Blige recorded her follow up album. With combined sales of over 5 million albums and singles from her debut album, Blige was the best selling female artist on the Uptown label.

On November 29, 1994, Uptown Records released Blige's second album, My Life which was again overseen by Combs and also produced more than 50% of the album along with Washington DC native Carl "Chucky" Thompson (despite his having recently left the label), who with Thompson co-produced all but one of the album's tracks, and took over as Blige's manager. Unlike What's the 411?, Blige co-wrote a large body of the material, basing it on her personal life.

"Be Happy", the album's single, peaked at number 29 and number six on the Hot 100 and R&B singles chart, respectively. In early 1995, it was followed up with a cover of Rose Royce's 1976 hit "I'm Goin' Down", which became her first top 20 hit in the UK, peaking at number 12. Other My Life singles include "You Bring Me Joy" and "I Love You". "Mary Jane (All Night Long)" and "My Life" received heavy radio play, despite never being officially released as singles apart from the UK, where "Mary Jane (All Night Long)" became Blige's second top 20 hit from the album there. My Life was eventually certified triple platinum. In spite of its success and her growing fame, Blige later admitted that she was simultaneously dealing with long time bouts of drug addiction, alcoholism, and depression, as well as an abusive relationship with then-boyfriend K-Ci Hailey of Jodeci. Blige involved herself in several outside projects, recording a cover of Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" for the soundtrack to the FOX series New York Undercover, and "Everyday It Rains" (co-written by R&B singer Faith Evans) for the soundtrack to the hip hop biopic, The Show. That summer she dueted with rapper Method Man on his song, "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By" (which sampled Marvin Gaye's "You're All I Need to Get By", and for which she won a Grammy award.) Later in the year, she recorded the Babyface-penned and produced "Not Gon' Cry", for the soundtrack to motion picture Waiting to Exhale. The platinum-selling single rose to number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs in early 1996, and became her biggest commercial hit at the time. Blige won her first Grammy Award – 'Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group' for her collaboration with Method Man. My Life was also nominated for Best R&B Album, but lost to TLC's CrazySexyCool.

In 1996, after winning her first Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for the platinum selling certified single, "I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need to Get By with Wu Tang Clan member Method Man, later that year, she appeared on another Wu-Tang Clan member, Ghostface Killah's single, "All That I Got Is You", for which she co-wrote, and sung the second verse of the song, which is Ghostface's account of his early boyhood.