Raiff Celebrates Mariah's 20 Years In Music: 2004

Posted by Raiff on Saturday, 29-May-2010, 12:11PM EDT

The Charmbracelet Tour was Mariah's longest and most comprehensive world tour to date, and after five months on the road, she still wasn't done yet. Although she had no current single and her album (released over a year ago) had fallen off the charts, Mariah continued to be seen and heard throughout 2004.

In February, Mariah flew to Guadalajara, Mexico to perform before a crowd of 25,000 at The Extravaganza Convention, a private event for employees of the Omnilife Group. The performance was a condensed version of the tour show, and included songs such as "Heartbreaker," "Without You" and "I Know What You Want."

Later on the month, Mariah travelled to Asia. Her first stop was to Singapore, where she was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the MTV Asia Awards. She also appeared on "Star Academy," the Lebanese version of "Pop Idol, where she talked to some of the contestants. After that, Mariah embarked on the final leg of her world tour, which was dubbed "An Intimate Evening With Mariah Carey: Charmbracelet World Tour 2004." The festivites kicked off on February 13 in Pusan, South Korea. From there, Mariah performed for sold-out crowds in five countries she had never toured in before: Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Lebanon, and United Arab Emirates. She caused quite a stir in Malaysia, where her February 22 concert was re-scheduled for February 20, after protests from Islamic groups that the show was too close in proximity to Muharram, the Muslim New Year. Also under fire was her tour wardrobe, deemed too sexy and skimpy under the country's strict guidelines. As a result, Mariah did not wear any of her usual tour costumes, instead opting for a pair of tight jeans and a pink tank top that she wore throughout the entire show. Nevertheless, the crowds were eager to see Mariah, who expressed her gratitude for their support through the years. With that, The Charmbracelet Tour came to a close. Altogether, Mariah performed 69 shows, spread over seven months in three continents.

Before beginning work on her next album, Mariah took the time for a couple of side projects. Her first new recording of the year was an English translation of the Japanese song "Oborozukiyo," which describes the peaceful Japanese spring's pastoral landscape. The song was called "Misty Moon," and it was used in a commercial for the Coca-Cola Japan blend tea Sokenbicha. "I sang with all my heart so the sound of the song will properly suit the beauty and elegance of Japan's blend tea," Mariah said in a statement. "The song's melody is beautiful and I think it turned out well."

Mariah made a cameo appearance in hip-hop mogul Damon Dash's movie State Property II, in which she played a disgrunted diva. She's very professional," Dash told Daily Insider. "Didn't complain. It's not the biggest movie. She didn't have the biggest trailer. It was cold. She just weathered the elements. She was a real trouper."

In addition to her commercial and movie appearance, Mariah launched her own accessories line called "Automatic Princess." The merchandise was offered by the U.S. chain Claire's.

Next up was a television appearance with Funkmaster Flex, which incidentally had nothing to do with music. Mariah appeared on Flex's show Ride With Funkmaster Flex, and the two spent some time checking out helicopters. In the end, her favorite was one that offered generous space for her legs. "This is more of my style. I like the spaciousness, it's nice, it's big, you can have enough people, you don't feel confined," she commented. As it turned out, this would be the first and last television appearance for helicopter connoisseur, who opted to stick with music and movies.

The summer of 2004 found Mariah collaborating with Jadakiss, who had previously appeared on the Charmbracelet bonus track "Miss You." The song was called "U Make Me Wanna," from Jadakiss' album Kiss Of Death. The inspiration for the collaboration came when Mariah heard a beat that producer Scott Storch had made for the song. "I was just like, 'This is hot tamale. We need to do this together,'" she said. "And then we went into the studio, and basically they had the 'La-La-La' part, and I started singing 'K-i-s-s me' because I was thinking of his name... It's just that it was cute, so I started singing it, and they decided to make it the hook of the song, and then it came to be." Jadakiss and Mariah filmed a video for the song, which spent 15 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #21.

A less successful single release was "What Would You Do," a re-worked version of "If We" produced by Damizza, featuring Mariah with Butch Cassidy and Nate Dogg. The song failed to make the Hot 100. She also appeared on a track called "Friendz" with rapper N.O.R.E. for his fourth solo album, One Fan A Day.

In addition to the Jadakiss track, Mariah spent plenty of time in the studio working on songs for her next record. Early reports had her working with Kanye West, R. Kelly, N.O.R.E., Swizz Beatz, James Poyzer, Randy Jackson, The Neptunes and Snoop Dogg (not all of those folks' work would make the final cut of the album.) Also in the mix was longtime co-producer Jermaine Dupri, who revealed that two of the songs they made were titled "Shake Em Off" and "Can I Get Your Number." When asked about the new album in an interview, Mariah responded "I'm happy with it. We got ballads, we got uptempos, we got a lot of things."

In August, MonarC Records shut its doors after less than two years in operation. Mariah was absorbed into the Island/Def Jam imprint of Universal Music, which would distribute the new album. Although the record was still several months from its release date, Mariah decided on its title early on. Amid news that the title had leaked to the press, she decided to announce it on her website. The title would be The Emancipation of Mimi; Mimi being a nickname that only those people very close to her called her by. "For the first time in my life, I feel free and unashamed to be who I really am," she wrote. "I am celebrating that I've grown into a person and artist who no longer feels imprisoned by my insecurities ... I can now honestly say, 'This is me, the real me, take it or leave it.'"

The Emancipation of Mimi's first single, set for release in November, was slated to be "Say Somethin'," her collaboration with Snoop Dogg and The Neptunes. However, as Mariah headed back into the studio to work on additional songs for the album, the single was pushed back to January of the following year. In the meantime, the song leaked to the internet and radio, along with another track, "To The Floor," featuring Nelly. In December, it was announced that "Say Somethin'" was shelved as the first single, and would be replaced by a new song that Mariah had recently recorded with Jermaine Dupri.

In October, Mariah made a surprise appearance at a Jay-Z concert at Madison Square Garden. Jay-Z was there as part of his "Best Of Both Worlds Tour " with R. Kelly, but Kelly was abruptly taken off the bill the night before. Jay-Z called on some of his friends to take Kelly's place, including P. Diddy, Mary J. Blige, Method Man and Busta Rhymes. Mariah and Busta performed "I Know What You Want," much to the enthusiasm of the crowd.

Also on Mariah's agenda in fall of 2004 was participating in P. Diddy's "Vote Or Die!" campaign, aimed at getting young people to register to vote in the upcoming election. Mariah was photographed in a t-shirt that featured a logo of the campaign's name.

Mariah has long been known for her love of the holidays, and this year she decided to spread holiday cheer to the masses. The season started off with the hosting of a Thanksgiving dinner in Brooklyn, NY through the Fresh Air Fund. Children and their familes were invited to join Mariah in a three hour feast, featuring all the fixings and more.

Mariah ended the year entertaining a much larger crowd by headlining the 21st Annual Walt Disney Christmas Day Parade. With the help of everyone's favorite Disney characters, Mariah took to the stage in front of the castle at the Magic Kingdom. Surrounded by giant toy soldiers and Christmas gifts, she sang "Joy to the World" and her holiday classic, "All I Want For Christmas Is You," which was ranked as a top ten seller and best-selling holiday song at the iTunes store. "It means a lot to me to see the crowd singing a song I wrote over 10 years ago," Mariah told Extra when looking back at her performance.

MARIAH QUOTES

"Mimi is a very personal nickname only used by those closest to me... just one of those little things that I've kept for myself in an attempt to have some delineation between a public persona and a private life. By naming the album The Emancipation of Mimi, I am letting my guard down and inviting my fans to be that much closer to me... Most importantly, I am celebrating the fact that I've grown into a person and artist who no longer feels imprisoned by my insecurities or compelled to try and live up to someone else's vision of 'Mariah Carey.'" The Emancipation of Mimi Press Release

"Obviously music was my love. But I think I worked twice as hard as a lot of people who maybe had the same dreams but they had it a little easier so they weren't as driven." The New York Post

"It's great [to be a star] but takes a lot of work. You really have to love music if you want to be a part of the industry, or else it will wear you down." Star Academy

"I think as I have matured I am able to think more deeply about the songs that I write." Lebanon Daily Star

COLLEAGUES' QUOTES

Damizza: "Mariah always will be my favorite artist to work with because that's one of my best friends. It's not work to us. She either comes to the house, or I go to New York, or we meet in the studio. We wrote 'Crybaby' in my basement. We wrote 'If We' in New York on a boat trip – just in different places across the world. With her, she's given me the opportunity to see the world. Writing in Capri, Italy – there's nothing like it. She really affords me the resources and the possibilities to do whatever I want."

Pharrell Williams: "I always looked up to Mariah. She broke a lot of records — literally. And our records, they feel wonderful. For me, it was a pleasure."

Jay-Z: "[Mariah is] really a regular person... She has a wealth of information about hip-hop."

Jermaine Dupri: "Mariah is singing unlike we've heard her for a while. Sh-- is hot."

Damon Dash: "She's very professional. Didn't complain. It's not the biggest movie [State Property II]. She didn't have the biggest trailer. It was cold. She just weathered the elements. She was a real trouper."

Kathy Griffin: "My stories are always peppered with the good things about (celebrity) and the bad. I like to make fun of Mariah Carey and yet I went to see her in December and I cried like four times during the concert because it was so good. For me it's not one or the other. I can make fun of them and be a fan."

TV APPEARANCES