Kingdom, the album debuted at number five on the UK Albums Chart. On October 18, 2000, the album was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, for shipments of two million copies in the United States. It has also been certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry, for shipments of 60,000 copies in the United Kingdom, and certified gold by the Canadian Recording Industry Association, for shipments of 40,000 copies in Canada. As of 2009, Mary has sold 2,100,000 copies in the United States. Critical response Mary was met with universal acclaim from critics. Q wrote, "Blige can turn from sassy to agonized to vulnerable in the space of a single phrase [...] The Queen Of Hip Hop Soul remains classy and invincible". Craig Seymour of Spin praised its classicist influences and called Mary "emotionally gripping and stylistically diverse", writing that "[Blige's] assured blues moans, gospel shouts, and jazzy inflections graph the history of African-American music". Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot noted "a more organic feel" in its production, which he viewed as less "uninspired" than on Blige's previous albums. Entertainment Weeklys Anthony DeCurtis complimented Blige's vocal embellishments and the album's "lush and spare" arrangements, stating "Musically, Mary is essentially a long, soulful, ballad-tempo vamp over which Blige alternately — and sometimes simultaneously — tells tales of faithless love, preaches the gospel of female strength, and determinedly clings to hope". The Source complimented Blige's "pure emotion" and stated "she dares to break the hip-hop soul template she helped create, and do something different. Something our loop-weary souls need". Steve Jones of USA Today commended Blige for "making you feel rather than merely hear what she's singing about", adding that she "continues to separate herself from her peers, conveying a wide range of emotions without becoming whiny, petty or overwrought". Despite viewing its strength as "more in how Blige sings the songs than the songs themselves", Los Angeles Times writer Soren Baker commented that "the lively, supple instrumentation only adds to the force of her already dominating delivery" and noted "a more soul-stirring, straightforward R&B attitude than the hip-hop/R&B hybrid of her earlier collections". Rolling Stone writer Touré said "Blige seems to have moved away from the Terry McMillan once-again-he's-breaking-my-heart mantra to, perhaps, an Oprah love-your-spirit ethos". Christopher John Farley of Time wrote that "Mary is somewhat inconsistent in song quality, but Blige's soul-singed vocals save the weaker