MARIAH CAREY: Long Live The Queen

Not having to prove anything to anyone anymore might be the most transcendent form of Mariah Carey maintaining her reign as the Queen of Pop- sitting atop her throne within the sparkly queendom of Mariah’s World.

Vanity Fair / Via axs.com

Much like the Queen that she is, Mariah Carey has already owned 2017.

After her New Year’s Eve fiasco, the iconic pop diva has been setting headlines ‘on fire’ left and right nonstop- and Mariah knows how to ‘shake it off’. Mariah is no stranger to overcoming obstacles. In fact, the vocal legend chopped it all up to declaring “sh*t happens”.

The songbird’s new E! “docu-series”, Mariah’s World, opens the doors into the superstar’s domain to remind us just how much our world really is “bleak” in comparison to hers. “Is this a normal outfit to wear at home?” she teases viewers during a confessional, “I don’t know, for me it is.” Lounging across a chaise in a full on ensemble that appears she just stepped off the stage of her Las Vegas show, this shows just how much being a diva has become a part of the elusive chanteuse’s everyday repertoire.

Just like her legendary 2002 MTV Cribs episode, the infamous stilettos-on-the-Stairmaster one, touring her New York Tribeca penthouse— Mariah’s World brilliantly seizes such alike magical ‘moments’. With the ostensible receipt of being an international superstar, Mariah Carey has dominated the entertainment industry for the past three decades, consistently, to reach a level that only musical acts such as The Beatles and Elvis Presley, both of which are long gone now, were even close to being able to attain.

Through Mimi’s musical command of the entire ’90s era- with hits such as “Fantasy,” “Honey,” and “My All”- she faded the boundaries between musical genres and racial subgroups to transcend to a level of global success and superstardom that saw her taking over charts throughout the world.

Once the turn of the decade arrived in the early 2000s, so did Carey’s Glitter — the autobiographical movie and soundtrack effort that slacked in what the Queen of Pop was accustomed- success. In the aftermath of her infamous MTV TRL appearance in which she popped up at the live music video countdown show’s studio in Times Square to pass out frozen pops to the audience while wearing only a sleep tee and high heels. It was at this moment- fans, critics, and the haters argued that her career was over. That could not be further from the truth. This was Mariah’s first chance to show the world that you cannot keep a true legend down.

The diva would prove the entire globe wrong with the release of what is arguably her most successful album of all time, The Emancipation of Mimi. Mariah Carey has produced more number one singles than any other musical artist, ever -- a whopping 18. Mariah’s iconic level of success set the bar high long before there was a bar to even set; she is the diva that the likes of Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Britney Spears each inspired to become and the successes they aimed to achieve in their own perspective musical careers, with each personally naming Mariah Carey as their inspiration. With Carey being arguably the most successful female musician of all time, it really is Mariah’s World, and she knows it.

Mariah Carey: From a Vision of Love to Emotions

Music video by Mariah Carey performing Emotions. / Via axs.com

Mariah Carey has often fought with the matter of her race. She has publicly shared the challenges of being a biracial child, born to a black Venezuelan-American father, Alfred Roy Carey, and an Irish-American mother, Patricia Hickey, on Long Island, New York. Patricia was a professional opera singer, thus sharing the talent with her youngest of three children, Mariah. Mariah has shared that her mother named her Mariah Carey as a stage friendly name, being taught early on how to sing in multiple languages and displaying the ability to achieve perfect pitch- Mimi was destined for stardom.

However, Mariah was not always accustomed to the glitz and glamour; growing up as in a poor, mixed race family presented a many struggle for her to endure. It has been reported that Carey moved with her family more than 13 times due to economic hardships. In the hit “Make It Happen”, she attested “no proper shoes upon my feet, sometimes I couldn’t even eat; I often cried myself to sleep.” When she landed a record deal with Columbia Records at 19, after being discovered and signed by CEO Tommy Mottola in 1989, the record company took every effort to capitalize on her racially ambiguous girl-next-door look, and it paid off for her. The rest became history, and her money problems were no more.

With “Vision of Love” being chosen as the first single off her 1990 self-titled debut album Mariah Carey, a definitive, microphone-focused video was shot that helped take the debut track straight to No. 1 around the world, thus beginning the Queen’s reign as pop royalty. This brand of the ‘super voice’ led to recurrent comparisons to the other singing diva of the times, Whitney Houston- allegedly leading to tension developing between the divas.

In 1991, Carey followed her debut album with a sophomore hit album, Emotions.

Mariah Carey: Opening the Music Box to a Daydream

Music video by Mariah Carey performing Fantasy. / Via axs.com

Mariah Carey became a bonafide pop superstar after the massive success of her third album, 1993’s Music Box. Her star power was steadily growing and never ceased to stop. Mariah’s 1995 “Fantasy” remix with Ol’ Dirty Bastard — produced by Sean “Puffy” Combs — is arguably the first of what would be called a “collaboration”. This track help set the tone for the Daydream album era.

What was most interesting is that Mariah never exploited hip-hop for shock value like Madonna, instead, Mariah used her girl-next-door looks to amiably present hip-hop to “white America”. Here is where the infamous Ol’ Dirty Bastard’ line “Me and Mariah / Go back like babies and pacifiers” became a part of daily vernacular.

Mariah’s song “One Sweet Day”, a collaboration with legendary R&B group Boyz II Men, sat atop the Billboard Hot 10 charts for fourteen weeks back in the mid 90’s, spending a record sixteen weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

The track holds the chart record for holding the number one spot for the most weeks still to this day.

Mariah Carey: The Butterfly Honey

Music video by Mariah Carey performing Honey. / Via axs.com

After kicking Tommy Mottola to the curb in a highly publicized divorce in 1997, Mariah Carey was finally free. She was now able to call the shots -- her voice, her image, her life became her own. The release of the Butterfly album that same year was both symbolic for Carey as an artist and for her as a free woman.

After divorcing her controlling husband, she was able to use the discord to produce what was her most lyrical album of her entire catalog. Mariah shook that innocent girl-next-door facade to finally introduce the world to the real MC.

The “Honey” video showcased MC’s new sexy and even more divalicious persona. The video reflected her real life story of the escape from a repressive marriage into the independence of “Agent Honey”. But what took the cake was the cover of her Rainbow album, shot by world-renowned photog David LaChapelle.

The imaging featured an oiled Mariah in virginal white panties and a cropped tee, with a rainbow spray-tagged across her supple chest.

Mariah Carey: The Glitter Devastation

Mariah Carey's Glitter Album Cover. Virgin / Via axs.com

The world tends to think of Glitter as a big, hot mess that deserved to flop. But the whole project makes more sense in retrospect, when regarded as part of Mariah Carey’s ongoing struggle with her public image. While devoted fans, which she lovingly refers to as Lambs, or the Lambily, were able to feel the pain through album cuts like “Looking In,” “Outside,” “Close my Eyes,” and “Petals”. Up until then, Mariah Carey had never made her fight an overt part of a lead single or music video and Glitter was supposed to finally change that.

Though often thought of in the likes of A Star is Born, which was a vehicle for Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand, Glitter was more deeply influenced by Purple Rain, the 1984 musical drama in which Prince plays the conflicted son of a dysfunctional, bi-racial couple and showcased Prince’s trademark sound. Mariah was in hopes Glitter would do the same for her- but it definitely did not.

The challenges surrounding her helplessness to thrust any successes with Glitter were looked at as straight up failure. Even Billboard, having been a long time Mariah Carey enthusiast, was atypically forgiving, but in discussing to the project stated: “the mighty may have fallen here.”

The rest is history; both the soundtrack, but especially the movie, flopped badly. The film grossed only $4.2 million for Virgin Records after being shot on a $22 million budget. Mariah became a laughing stock: “Reports suggest that bin Laden is most likely hiding out somewhere remote and barren, where he will not encounter others. The FBI has begun searching theaters showing the movie Glitter,” Jimmy Fallon poked fun at the flop on SNL.

Mariah lost all control of her own story, unable to shake the Glitter devastation for many years following, but the Queen of Pop did not let this keep her down.

Mariah Carey: The Emancipation of Mimi

Music video by Mariah Carey performing We Belong Together. (C) 2005 The Island Def Jam Music Group / Via axs.com

After the Glitter devastation, Mariah Carey recoiled back into the demure ballad mode with her 2002 album Charmbracelet.

However, it was her 2005 comeback record, The Emancipation of Mimi, that was seen as redemptive: An unapologetic embrace of her blackness and soulful vulnerabilities. This apparent display of genuineness led to the biggest sales since the Daydream era -- more than 6 million albums sold -- and more Grammys to add to her trophy case.

TEOM’s lead single, “We Belong Together,” earned Mimi her 16th number one hit, and has since become quite arguably the most successful release of her entire career, thus accomplishing her emancipation.

With Mariah’s next album in 2008, E=MC², she satirized her diva persona, by revealing and poking fun at herself. While the title alluded to the idea of a sequel or formula in order to ensure major record sales, everything from the cover image of Mariah swathed in white fabric to the lead single “Touch my Body” suggested a return to the imaginative style of the Rainbow era.

In the video for the lead single, Mariah appears in a surreal world playing her celebrity self, literally winking at the camera while walking a unicorn on a leash, reminding everyone that she too is in on the joke. The album went to the top of Billboard charts and “Touch my Body” became her 18th number one single.

Still, this version of Mariah, unembarrassed about, and even winking at, her racial and sexual ambiguities, now seems here to stay.

Mariah Carey: The Songwriter

Mariah Carey's Homecoming Special (NBC) / Via axs.com

When it comes to the conversations of songwriters, Mariah Carey’s name must be included as one of the most successful songwriters across almost every musical genre. With her incomparable multi-octave vocal reach and the incredible ability to ascend it, MC has the gift to show it off in her songwriting.

Mariah Carey has written every one of the songs that shaped her legacy besides her brilliant take on The Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There” and Harry Nilsson’s “Without You.” Mimi has 30 BMI Urban and Pop Award-winning hits such as “Always Be My Baby,” “Hero,” “Fantasy,” “Vision of Love,” “Emotions,” “Shake It Off,” “We Belong Together,” “One Sweet Day,” “I Don’t Wanna Cry,” “Dreamlover,” and “All I Want for Christmas is You.”

In 2012, Mariah Carey was honored as a BMI Icon at the BMI Urban Awards, establishing her star as a songwriter as well as a vocal genius.

The five-time Grammy victor has earned eighteen Hot 100 number one singles, making her the record holder for any solo artist. Mimi has sold over 200 million albums around the globe, solidifying her as “the most successful female artist of all time”.

Mariah Carey: Memoirs of the Elusive Chanteuse

Mariah Carey's Vegas Extravaganza / Via axs.com

17 years after being introduced to the world, Mariah Carey released several albums, including Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel and Me. I am Mariah… The Elusive Chanteuse. The vocal-acrobatic songstress has developed a more ‘soulful and breathy sound’. She has managed to shake the Glitter devastation to become an appreciated actress. Mariah received really respectable accolades from critics for her roles in Academy Award-nominated films Precious and The Butler.

In 2013, Carey joined American Idol's panel of judges as Jennifer Lopez's replacement -- even though Mariah “doesn’t know her.” Mariah only lasted one season, however, and confessed that working alongside hip hop artist Nicki Minaj, “was like going to work every day in hell with Satan," according to People magazine.

Later in 2015, Mimi announced a Las Vegas residency “Mariah #1 to Infinity” at the Colosseum in Caesar’s Palace, which was a live stage show that showcased each and every one of her 18 number one hits.

Mariah Carey: The Queen of Christmas

Mariah Carey's official music video for 'All I Want For Christmas Is You'. / Via axs.com

Out of every person — living or dead, real or fictional — only one should come to mind when thinking about the holiday season: Mariah Carey, the Queen of Christmas.

Carey co-wrote and co-produced the holiday anthem “All I Want for Christmas Is You” in 1994 for her Merry Christmas studio album. “I’m a very festive person and I love the holidays,” Mariah has said. “I’ve sung Christmas songs since I was a little girl. I used to go Christmas caroling. It was definitely a priority for me to write at least a few new songs.” “It’s very retro, kind of ’60s,” she goes on to explain.

The New Yorker called the song “one of the few worthy modern additions to the holiday canon.” It is a nod to the ‘Wall of Sound’ created by producer Phil Spector. In Stylus, Barry Schwartz writes, “To say this song is an instant classic somehow doesn’t capture its ‘amazingicity’; it’s a modern standard: joyous, exhilarating, loud, with even a hint of longing…”

With worldwide sales reaching 15 million copies, “All I Want for Christmas is You” remains MC’s greatest success. In fact, the tract itself, is the eleventh greatest selling single of all time. As of 2016, the holiday staple has earned the diva over $55 million in royalties.

The elusive chanteuse has a New York City-based residency at the Beacon Theatre every year “Mariah Carey: All I Want for Christmas Is You,” and attending the program has become something of a rite of passage for thousands of people- even for other royalty, like Beyoncé. With the annual holiday residency, television appearances, singing at the Rockefeller Christmas tree lighting, and social media posts highlighting an enviable holiday family retreat in Aspen, it is understood, the people have officially made Mariah Carey the Queen of Christmas.

Mariah's World

Official Image for Mariah's World / Via axs.com

Mariah Carey- the diva- has become an exaggeration of her own persona. Her over-the-top conduct have become almost as synonymous to her name as her multi-octave powerhouse voice. In fact, to the millennials, she’s seen as a Prince or Michael Jackson, with more diva tantrums. To her older ‘lambs’, she’s still that delicate vocal butterfly. It is often said, intended as derision, that Mariah Carey lives in her own time, even her own reality. But that is okay, and our culture is finally catching up with her in Mariah’s World.

In 2008, Mariah surprisingly married television personality Nick Cannon and the couple had twins- Monroe “RoeRoe” Cannon and Moroccan “Rocky” Cannon, whom Mariah refers to as “Roc N Roe” or even more infamous, “Dem Babies”. Mariah and Nick ended their romance with a divorce in 2014, since then setting the bar high for co-parenting goals. Now, the musical diva has her ‘Vision of Love’ set on her dancer Bryan Tanaka. This surprising romance comes on the heels of a futile engagement to Australian billionaire investor, James Packer.

Early on in the first episode of Mariah’s World, Mariah’s former creative director addresses her about her audience: “They wanna see ass, they wanna see tits — people never feel like you’re accessible to them.” Mariah cynically replies, “Then they say they want her to be grand! Oh they want her to be accessible! They want her to have glamorous clothes! They don’t want her to have glamorous clothes! Can people make up their minds?”

When questioned about how to watch the show, Mariah fully detailed, “You should have a splash and a morsel. A splash of your favorite drink and a morsel of whatever food you want. And then, maybe, you could also have a comforter, a blanket, and a really nice down pillow behind your head. If possible, somebody should be massaging your feet and/or doing your nails and pedicure at the time so you don’t have to waste time later.”

As Mariah drifts through ‘moments’ on the show, it is clear that she no longer has to prove it, and can pompously embrace the over-the-top ‘moments’ that have become a part of her iconic façade- after all, it’s been earned.

It might be challenging for MC to regain the heights she was once was accustomed, and in most recent light overcome the NYE’s debacle, but perhaps at this point in the “Adventures of Mimi” it is more prolific to ‘Carey’ on the whimsical dance of music and glamour while relishing in her triumphs on her own terms.

Bottom line- the Voice is insane, there’s over 200 million plus album sales, songwriting lyrical genius, solo artist with the most number one hits on the Billboard charts, a jewelry collection to rival Elizabeth Taylor’s, her own euphemisms, slaying the co-parenting game of ‘Dem Babies’, owning the moniker of Queen of Christmas, having her own MAC cosmetics makeup line, leading the Lambily, having the longest charting single in Billboard history, credited with pioneering the hip-hop movement of the 90's, and an iconic musical legacy that has spanned over three decades...

Not having to prove anything to anyone anymore might be the most transcendent form of Mariah Carey maintaining her reign as the Queen of Pop- sitting atop her throne within the sparkly queendom of Mariah’s World.