Mariah Carey: An Emancipated ‘Comeback’?
Contributed anonymously:
By: Leo Porter (aka: LEOlamb)
When you hear the name Mariah Carey what do you think of? Do you think of “Glitter”, how about you hearing “The Most Successful Female Recording Artist in History”? What is your opinion of Mariah Carey?
On top of her game with 15 number one singles, 2 Grammy Awards 8 American Music Awards too many to list here, over 150 million albums sold the only artist to sell out the Tokyo dome more than once at that time. It only looked brighter for the Music Industries Princess. With a new Recording contract worth an estimated 80 to 100 Million Dollars from Virgin Records / EMI (Which was the largest in Music History) and a Film Debut and Soundtrack, the only thing really left to achieve in her Monster Career besides selling records. Mariah Carey has been known to have a not so normal work ethic, nonstop working always stopping to sign an autograph and take a photo with fans, and the ability to practically print money with her talents. It was time for Mariah Carey to take her already envied career to a new level. That is when the fairy tale that people perceived came crashing down.
September 11, 2001, Glitter hits theatres 10 days Later the Soundtrack is released that ended the Mariah Carey career in most people’s eyes. Nobody thought she could have any type of ‘comeback’ it was a done deal. Back in 2001 just about everyone Critics, Journalists, Executives counted Mariah out. They believed she peaked and now was done and will go into history as a Huge Crazy Superstar; end of story.
Charmbracelet: A fan favorite but played out in the media as “here I am, we all have troubles, this is my story take it or leave it”. It’s what the hardcore fans wanted, expected and embraced, but did not live up to Mariah Carey standards on the charts, even with a #3 debut. The CD sold about 3 Million Copies with no hugely successful single to push sales, the most successful part of the Charmbracelet era was the World Tour that took over a year to complete. The tour was stripped down to ‘intimate settings’ and was basically Mariah, her voice and special connection with her fans.
As Mariah has said while on tour she used that time to write material for her next CD. She underwent staff changes, dropped some in-progress projects and seemingly focused on the music. The major under publicized fact about Mariah Carey is that she writes her own material. Take a moment and look at your Mariah Carey collection, pull out a CD jacket and read the ‘fine print’. Notice that Mariah has taken a creative control that a lot of artists could only dream of. Realistically Mariah Carey could never make another record ever again and still be in History for one of the most talented persons that ever lived. Would she do it? Not on your life, you know why? It’s Like That Y’all!
The Emancipation of Mimi: She’s come to have a party! Mariah Carey stripped down to vocals and talent doing what she does best, recording songs that she writes. Personally I feel Mariah Carey could make a hugely successful CD with just her in a studio with a pen and paper.
April 2005, her biggest opening week ever with “MIMI”, over 400k sold and 3 Monster singles that have cemented Mariah Carey as not someone who allowed people to count her out! Breaking all new records, not just analyzed by record executives, but solid records like the first female to hold both the #1 and #2 spots on Billboards Hot 100, giving her yet another Number 1 single with “We Belong Together”. No matter where you turn these days you hear or hear about Mariah Carey. This fall will mark even more success from Mariah with the re-release of The Emancipation of Mimi. If you try to figure out where Mariah is going to go next, you probably won’t guess where it is. Only Mariah Carey sets her limits, hopefully she continues with what she has been doing, providing real music to her real fans. When it comes down to it, forget the ensembles, the charts, the sales the drama and haters, whatever. If you ask her why she does it, she will tell you, it’s for the fans, and I do believe it. She doesn’t allow herself to be counted out, “If you believe in yourself and know what you want, your gonna Make It Happen”, see, she knew this a long time ago and continues to prove it.
