Q&A canvas
Mariah Carey
By jimi izrael, AOL BlackVoices columnist,
Posted: 2005-04-06 10:41:44
Mariah Carey is still working 'It's Like That,' the Jermaine Dupri-produced first single from her new album 'The Emancipation of Mimi,' to be released April 12 on her new Monarch label. It's all over the radio, and the streets ain't mad either. She took some time out to talk to BV about her move to more street-edged sound, her old friend, Trey Lorenz, and the life and loves of Mimi.
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The drama of Mariah Carey's personal life may have ecplised the milestones of her career in the past, but her new album 'The Emancipation of Mimi' aims to get the public focused on her artistry once again.
- Learn More About Mariah
- Listen to the Entire Album Now on AOL Music
How well does one have to know you to call you Mimi?
Well, before this album, you had to know me pretty well. But lately, everybody is trying to call me Mimi. Most people just call me "M. C."
That's cool. Listen, I know it was leaked to the Internet before you had a chance to even select it as a single.
Exactly.
50 Cent intentionally leaked his first single, 'Disco Inferno,' to start a buzz and get fan reaction. How do you feel about leaks like this and file sharing in general?
Wow, I didn't even know that he did that. Well, first, I'm not used to the whole leak thing. When I heard it happened, I was like yeah, well . . . OK, because I liked it and I felt like it was a strong first single. Jermaine [Dupri] felt the same way. So when the diehard fans responded to the leaked track, we knew we had our first single. As far as file sharing, I'm so not in touch with the whole computer situation. I dunno, if I feel like [file sharing] is stealing, because it's music and it's in the air for everybody to enjoy. But then, we do work within the structure of a record industry system, so for the artist, file sharing can make things difficult.
The single and the album have a real definitive street edge, with a lot of heavy-hitting, hip-hop producers. Any concern about alienating your mainstream fan base?
If I didn't alienate them when I did 'Fantasy' with ODB, then whatever (laughs). When I did 'Fantasy,' I snuck it on people, and although that version [with ODB] wasn't on the album, it's that version of the song that you can still here in the clubs today. The album version is nowhere near as popular. I don't mind the pop sound, but I've grown. It's taken me a minute to get with a creative team that understands that -- look -- I'm not doing this because I think it's the hot thing of the moment, or whatever. This is part of who I am, and this is what I listen to.
A lot of your songs have an intense, torch-song quality, and you write a lot of your own material. Themes like unrequited love keep coming back over and over, has true love eluded you?
[snickers] I dunno, I think one of the reasons that people want to be famous is because they feel like they are lacking something maybe, like a sense of approval or whatever it may be. I knew that I wanted to sing from the time I started talking, because it was my creative outlet, my form of escapism. But when it became something that made me famous, I feel like that grew from a desire to be accepted.
What's the vision behind your label Monarch?
Well, right now, it is about pushing my album. But looking towards the future, it's about signing good artists with a real desire to express themselves.
Will Trey Lorenz or any of your other old friends be signed to your label?
You know what? Trey is on a lot of songs on the new album. He's like family to me at this point. He's really doing his own thing right now; a lot of writing, and an inspirational project he's working on. So I'm all about supporting him in whatever thing he's working on.
Your good friend Randy Jackson is a judge on 'American Idol'. Any chance he could convince you to be a guest judge?
It's something that's been proposed to me, and it's something I'm on the fence about. I mean, I would wanna give it to people straight, right? But I wouldn't want to hurt their feelings, you know? And then, if they came back at me the wrong way with some kind of snappy comment, I wouldn't want to have to set their souls free either [laughs].
About the Author
jimi izrael is a journalist and opinion writer living in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Philadelphia Enquirer. He blogs occasionally at www.jimiizrael.com.
Well, before this album, you had to know me pretty well. But lately, everybody is trying to call me Mimi. Most people just call me "M. C."
That's cool. Listen, I know it was leaked to the Internet before you had a chance to even select it as a single.
Exactly.
50 Cent intentionally leaked his first single, 'Disco Inferno,' to start a buzz and get fan reaction. How do you feel about leaks like this and file sharing in general?
Wow, I didn't even know that he did that. Well, first, I'm not used to the whole leak thing. When I heard it happened, I was like yeah, well . . . OK, because I liked it and I felt like it was a strong first single. Jermaine [Dupri] felt the same way. So when the diehard fans responded to the leaked track, we knew we had our first single. As far as file sharing, I'm so not in touch with the whole computer situation. I dunno, if I feel like [file sharing] is stealing, because it's music and it's in the air for everybody to enjoy. But then, we do work within the structure of a record industry system, so for the artist, file sharing can make things difficult.
The single and the album have a real definitive street edge, with a lot of heavy-hitting, hip-hop producers. Any concern about alienating your mainstream fan base?
If I didn't alienate them when I did 'Fantasy' with ODB, then whatever (laughs). When I did 'Fantasy,' I snuck it on people, and although that version [with ODB] wasn't on the album, it's that version of the song that you can still here in the clubs today. The album version is nowhere near as popular. I don't mind the pop sound, but I've grown. It's taken me a minute to get with a creative team that understands that -- look -- I'm not doing this because I think it's the hot thing of the moment, or whatever. This is part of who I am, and this is what I listen to.
A lot of your songs have an intense, torch-song quality, and you write a lot of your own material. Themes like unrequited love keep coming back over and over, has true love eluded you?
[snickers] I dunno, I think one of the reasons that people want to be famous is because they feel like they are lacking something maybe, like a sense of approval or whatever it may be. I knew that I wanted to sing from the time I started talking, because it was my creative outlet, my form of escapism. But when it became something that made me famous, I feel like that grew from a desire to be accepted.
What's the vision behind your label Monarch?
Well, right now, it is about pushing my album. But looking towards the future, it's about signing good artists with a real desire to express themselves.
Will Trey Lorenz or any of your other old friends be signed to your label?
You know what? Trey is on a lot of songs on the new album. He's like family to me at this point. He's really doing his own thing right now; a lot of writing, and an inspirational project he's working on. So I'm all about supporting him in whatever thing he's working on.
Your good friend Randy Jackson is a judge on 'American Idol'. Any chance he could convince you to be a guest judge?
It's something that's been proposed to me, and it's something I'm on the fence about. I mean, I would wanna give it to people straight, right? But I wouldn't want to hurt their feelings, you know? And then, if they came back at me the wrong way with some kind of snappy comment, I wouldn't want to have to set their souls free either [laughs].
About the Author
jimi izrael is a journalist and opinion writer living in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Philadelphia Enquirer. He blogs occasionally at www.jimiizrael.com.
