Raiff Celebrates Mariah's 20 Years in Music: 2005

Posted by Raiff on Sunday, 30-May-2010, 12:01PM EDT

As 2005 rolled in, Mariah was hard at work, putting the finishing touches on her next album, The Emancipation of Mimi. With two songs having already leaked, it was time for the release of the official first single. "It's Like That," featuring Jermaine Dupri and Fatman Scoop, hit radio stations at the beginning of January and was enthusiastically received by listeners. The song was a hit across the board at Pop, Urban and Rhythmic formats, and became her biggest solo radio hit since "Heartbreaker," peaking at #14 on the airplay charts. Mariah filmed a video for the song with Brett Ratner, who had previously directed her in "Heartbreaker." Set in a Las Vegas casino, the video was the subject of an MTV "Making The Video" special. Mariah and Brett explained that the video was "part one of two," with the video's storyline being continued in the video for the next single.

With all the buzz surrounding Mariah's hot new single and video, people around the globe were waiting to hear what was next, and anticipation was building for The Emancipation of Mimi. Mariah called in to radio stations in major markets around the country, including New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, to talk about her new music. Television programs such as Access Hollywood showcased the making of the new music videos. Press releases were issued around the world hyping up the new album, revealing the song titles and the artists and producers who contributed to the final tracklisting. Guest artists included Twista ("One and Only") and Nelly ("To The Floor") while producers included James Poyser ("Mine Again"), Big Jim Wright ("Circles," "I Wish You Knew," "Fly Like A Bird") and Mahogany ("When I Feel It"). "When I Feel It" was scrapped after the tracklist announcement and replaced with "Joy Ride" when Island/Def Jam was unable to obtain sample clearance for one of the tracks sampled in the song.

The promotional slogan for The Emancipation Of Mimi was "The Return Of The Voice." Island/Def Jam had big expectations for the album, and so far they weren't disappointed. "It's Like That" was burning up the charts, eventually peaking at #16 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Hot Dance Music chart, thanks to a new remix by David Morales.

Mariah spent much of the month of March globe-hopping, appearing everywhere from Germany's Wetten Dass..? and Echo Awards to France's Tout Le Monde En Parle, to the UK's Top of the Pops and Japan's Music Station. Mariah was performing "It's Like That" and "We Belong Together," which was announced as the second single.

Soon it was April, and it was almost time for the emancipation. The music video for "We Belong Together," which was directed by Brett Ratner and featured Mariah in her original Vera Wang wedding dress that she was married in in 1993, premiered worldwide. Mariah returned to the United States, where she had a full schedule ahead of her. She filmed an appearance in New York for VH1's "Save The Music" benefit concert, in which she performed "It's Like That" and duetted with John Legend on the classic "With You I'm Born Again." On April 12, Mariah shut down Times Square for an album-release day concert for Good Morning America. Later that day, she also appeared on Live With Regis & Kelly and MTV's TRL. Other appearances that month included The Late Show With David Letterman and the BET Blueprint special.

In May, Mariah appeared on Oprah, where she performed "We Belong Together" and then watched Paul Robbins, a 12 year old boy from Hawaii, perform an original Mariah song entitled "I Pray." Paul was a winner of Oprah's "Wildest Dreams Contest" and in addition to singing Mariah's song on national television, he also had the chance to meet her.

Throughout the year, Mariah graced the cover of many major publications, including Billboard, Glamour, FHM, Allure, america, Cosmo Girl and Blender.

Reviews for The Emancipation of Mimi were, for the most part, in Mariah's favor:

Billboard "Carey's emancipation is drenched in hip-hop and old-school R&B ballads, and it smartly focuses on her strengths... 'Mimi' deftly showcases her still-considerable pipes with strong lyrics and slick production."

Entertainment Weekly: "Every song on Emancipation showcases Carey's undeniable vocal strengths. Heavy on ballads and midtempo love songs, it always keep at least one foot (more often both feet) planted firmly in comforting old-school diva soul. This is an R&B record for folks who think there hasn't been any good R&B record since Minnie Riperton died."

People: "It's her best disc in years, a first-rate R&B-pop collection that should restore her to pre-Glitter glory."

The Emancipation of Mimi had an astounding opening week. According to Soundscan, the album moved 404,000 copies, shattering Mariah's previous first-week sales record of 323,000 units (set by Rainbow in 1999). This was more than double the sales of the #2 record that week, Mudvayne's Lost and Found. Mariah secured the #1 spot on the Billboard chart, making The Emancipation of Mimi her first #1 album since Butterfly. The album went on to spend 23 consecutive weeks in the top ten.

"We Belong Together" was the song that cemented Mariah's resurgence as a dominant force in music. Billboard raved that it was "a return-to-form R&B groove ballad" and that "Radio and fans have been asking for a classic Carey ballad for a long time. 'We Belong Together' is the kind of track that makes the wait worth it." The song took off quickly on radio and music video outlets. It became her first #1 airplay hit (16 consecutive weeks) since "One Sweet Day." A re-sung remix featuring Jadakiss and Styles P was released to digital outlets. Digital single sales were also successful and helped secure Mariah 14 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. With that said, "We Belong Together" became the #1 single of 2005 and the longest running #1 single of the decade. (This meant that Mariah was the only artist to achieve that feat in two consecutive decades.) The song was unescapable, often playing on multiple stations simultaneously in the same market. Mariah performed it everywhere from The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The View and The Ellen DeGeneres Show to the BET Awards and the MTV Movie Awards. Internationally, "We Belong Together" was a major hit, reaching the top 10/20 in every major market worldwide.

In June, Mariah made surprise appearances on Good Morning America and BET's 106 & Park to thank the fans for making "We Belong Together" her 16th #1 single.

As spring turned into summer, The Emancipation Of Mimi's mammoth success showed no signs of slowing down, and neither did Mariah. She headlined a 4th of July special onboard a yacht from New York's Chelsea Piers, where she performed "America The Beautiful" in addition to "It's Like That" and "We Belong Together." Just before the 4th of July holiday, she traveled to London to perform at "Live 8: The Long Walk To Justice," a charity concert aimed at fighting poverty. During the show, she performed "Make It Happen" and "Hero" with the Children's Choir of Africa and "We Belong Together."

Mariah remained in Europe through much of July, making appearances and giving radio interviews in several countries. She also gave two special concerts: One in Karlsruhe, Germany and another in Copenhagen, Denmark. During those shows, she sang three of the new Mimi songs and a selection of hits, including "Vision of Love," "Close My Eyes" and "Without You."

Even though "We Belong Together" was still at #1, Island/Def Jam and Mariah didn't skip a beat, moving forward with "Shake It Off" as the next single. "Shake It Off" couldn't have been released at a better time. With its bouncy beats, it was the perfect summer song. It took off immediately at radio. Eventually, "Shake It Off" and "We Belong Together" were competing with each other on the airplay chart and the Hot 100. For one week in August, "We Belong Together" was #1 on the Hot 100, while "Shake It Off" was #2. While this meant Mariah had the top two songs in the country, it also meant that she prevented her own song from hitting #1. Overseas, "Get Your Number" was promoted as a single right along with "Shake It Off," and a music video was filmed, directed by Jake Nava.

With the huge success of The Emancipation of Mimi, Mariah was a fixture on the awards show scene. In Japan, she was presented with the International Video Icon Award at the MTV Video Music Awards. She had a big night at the World Music Awards, where she performed "Shake It Off" and took home four honors, including Female Entertainer of the Year and Most Played Single ("We Belong Together"). She would also triumph at the Teen Choice Awards, Lady of Soul Awards, and finally at the Billboard Music Awards, where she won five trophies, including Female Billboard 200 Album Artist of the Year and Hot 100 Song of the Year ("We Belong Together"). Mariah was also nominated for two MTV Video Music Awards: Best Female Video and Best R&B Video for "We Belong Together." Although she did not win, she performed on the show for the first time since 1991.

September saw increased promotion, as Mariah returned to Europe to promote "Shake It Off" and "Get Your Number." She performed the songs at shows such as Paul O'Grady, CD:UK, Des & Mel in the UK; and Star Academy in France. She had also made an appearance on another charity concert called "Shelter From The Storm," to benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina, where she performed "Fly Like A Bird."

With a #1 album and 3 hit singles, Mariah was on top of the world. What was next? More new music!

Two 'new' discs would be released before the end of the year. The first was a re-issue of The Emancipation Of Mimi. This would include the Mimi CD plus four new tracks: "We Belong Together" Remix with Jadakiss and Styles P, "So Lonely (One & Only Part 2)" with Twista, and two new Jermaine Dupri tracks: "Makin' It Last All Night (What It Do)" and "Don't Forget About Us." A deluxe version included a DVD of the Mimi music videos.

Continuing Mariah and Jermaine Dupri's winning streak, "Don't Forget About Us" was issued as the next single from the album. Paul Hunter, who had directed Mariah in the "Honey" video, directed the music video for the song. Mariah is seen in present-day and in flashbacks with a former beau, portrayed by Dolce & Gabbana model Christian Monzon. Mariah again paid homage to Marilyn Monroe (who she had dressed up as in "I Still Believe") by emulating a shot from Monroe's movie Something's Got To Give where she's in a pool with her leg protruding out of the water.

"Don't Forget About Us" was all but forgotten. It gave Mariah her 17th #1 hit, tying her with Elvis Presley for the most #1 hits in the rock era, behind only the Beatles. It was also her third consecutive top 3 airplay hit. Mariah performed "Don't Forget About Us" for the first time in November at the American Music Awards, where she won Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist.

Also released in late 2005 was a re-release of Mariah's epic album Merry Christmas. Sony Music released a dual-disc edition of the CD. The CD portion included the original album, plus "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (previously unreleased in the U.S.) and a brand-new remix of "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town." The flip-side was a DVD with all of the music videos, including a claymation video for the new version of "Santa Claus," plus "O Holy Night," "Miss You Most (At Christmastime)" and a live version of "Joy to the World" from the Cathedral of St. John The Divine.

2005 was a phenomenal year for Mariah Carey. The Emancipation of Mimi was the #1 selling album in the U.S. (a feat a female artist hadn't accomplished in 9 years) and the #2 selling album worldwide, with sales of over 5 million in the US and nearly 8 million worldwide. It had also given Mariah her first #1 singles in over five years.

In December, Mariah was honored for outstanding achievements by the Recording Academy (NY Chapter), and also with a Bambi Award in Germany for Pop International Artist. She celebrated all of this success with a performance at Dick Clark's Rockin Eve in Times Square on New Years' Eve. In front of thousands of New Year's Eve revelers, she performed a medley of "It's Like That," "We Belong Together" and "Shake It Off." Even though she never went anywhere, one truly got the feeling that Mariah Carey was back.

MARIAH QUOTES

"I've never felt so free making a record, though I was worried about even putting the lyrics, 'This is Mimi's emancipation' in there. I worried that it was too corny. Now it's the album title." Newsweek

"I am so grateful I went to Atlanta. And I have to say, we wrote some of my favorite songs on the album. I'm so proud of Jermaine - he's so focused, and he knew what had to be done. You can never write off talent." MTV News

"The voice has been here all along. Even if you listen to the oh-so-dissed 'Glitter' [soundtrack], there is a song called 'Lead the Way,' which is one of my best vocal performances ever. People who only heard certain singles would be like, 'Why is she singing so breathy?' Some people are of the opinion that if you have a big voice you should use it all the time." Billboard

"I know that my hardcore fans will have the ballads they can cling to, but people who haven't been fans in the past will be able to pick out songs they like as well. It's not formulaic. I'm not one of those people who likes to stay with what's familiar, but what was cool with this project was stretching." Entertainment Weekly

"I know I'll always be an optimistic, eternal 12-year-old at heart, very much all about having fun. Nothing has ever broken that side of my spirit. Things may have gotten me down for a minute, but I've never really fully lost that side of myself. After everything I've been through, I'm in a really great place with my career right now, and really happy as a person." Jet

"I've idolized Marilyn Monroe since I was 6, and I've always tried to do some of the things she evoked in photos. She mainly featured her curves. Marilyn could go into that complete sex-diva world, but she seemed most comfortable as the ultra-feminine, almost childlike, ethereal sex goddess. Sweetness always came through, and I try to do that too." FHM

"I didn't feel worthy of happiness. One day, I looked around and thought, 'Why did I ever expect that if I had this success, I would have happiness too?'" Parade

"You know, I've always had a poor girl's mentality, which is keep it in the bank. That kind of comes from when you don't grow up with money you want to feel safe, although we all know that it's not safe." Financial Times

COLLEAGUES' QUOTES

Mariah Carey by Jermaine Dupri
Mariah Carey, Teen People's "Artist of the Year"

"I first met Mariah Carey years ago, when we were both on Columbia Records and I was this hot little producer. She was more talkative than I was; I was kind of nervous being around her. What impressed me about her was that she knew exactly what she wanted and how she wanted to do it. She's still like that. Vocally, she knows exactly where she's going. She's like a Jedi master - we have yet to hear all the octaves Mariah can sing!

When I was in the studio with Mariah working on The Emancipation of Mimi, everybody asked me how [I could get her to] compete with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. And I was like, 'Why are we even having this conversation?" They can't compete with her because they look up to her! The original is back! She put songstress divas on the map. And 'We Belong Together' [which Jermaine coproduced] is the biggest record of my life, and it only took a day to do, start to finish. To do a record that big, that quickly, says a lot about Mariah.

This year, she came back and picked up her crown. She's a great, loving person with a really warm heart. She's always concerned about other people's feelings, even when she shouldn't be. And she's the diva of all divas - although she's not what you'd call [an ordinary] person, she is very cool and down-to-earth. A year or two ago, people were calling me asking, 'Is Mariah crazy? How do you feel about her losing her mind?' And all those people who said bad things about Mariah, well, they're trying to get an interview with her now! I was sick of people dissing my friend, so I'm really happy to be talking about her now as one of the Artists of the Year."

Antonio "LA" Reid: "The honors of the Recording Academy Honors, she so deserves it. She's the greatest artist of all time and I'm so lucky to work with her. And we're also lucky to be in a room with her. Stand up for Mariah Carey."

Steve Bartels, Island President: "There is a level of comfort with Mariah and these songs. She is digging deep into her soul."

Snoop Dogg: "I always tell her this story: When I was locked up in jail, that song 'Vision of Love' was the hottest song in the world. I used to always say, 'Man, if I could meet her!' So I worked with her, then Pharrell hooked it up for me to work with her again this time."

Da Brat: "She can do whatever she wants, she can date whomever she wants. She can say what she wants - she makes her own decisions. She walks in like, 'What up? Mariah is in the building. What's popping?' She's happy and content and making the music she wants."

TV APPEARANCES