Mary J Blige was spotted in Hackney this weekend Pic: Wikipedia

RnB star My J Blige was spotted shooting a music video in Hackney this weekend, ahead of the release of a new album, The London Sessions.

The Grammy-award winning singer was seen filming near Mare Street.

On Twitter, Becky Thomas said: “Mary J Blige is shooting a video literally outside my friend’s house in Hackney.”

Dalston resident Maya Oppenheim said: “We’d just finished dinner and walked round the back of Mare Street before we stumbled on a film set for a music video. It all looked quite low budget so we just assumed it was your bog-standard home-grown hipster music video, but we thought we might as well hang around.

“After a couple of minutes a woman in thigh-high black boots and a glittery top emerged from the brick arches. I thought it was Mary straight away but my friend couldn’t quite believe it – what would Mary be doing round the back end of Hackney Central by a scrap metal yard?

“But I was right – it was her – all of the crew confirmed it. I started trying to video it but the crew stopped me halfway through!”

Blige spent a month in London this summer, working alongside British musicians and producers, including Sam Smith, Emile Sandé and Disclosure. The new album, named after the capital, is out in November.