cletta1201's Full Review: The Emancipation of Mimi by Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is the voice of the nineties. The closest thing to contemporary R&B music royalty as America has. And yet, Carey is often relegated to an episode of MTV Cribs, while a career’s worth of accolades are disregarded in lieu of criticisms about her choice of wardrobe.
In an industry that relies on smoke and mirrors, Mariah is the rare entertainer whose voice; golden and effortless, is unrivaled by just about any/everything being offered on radio/tv these days. She is a singer’s singer, often imitated and let’s give credit where credit is due; never duplicated.
The Emancipation Of Mimi is Carey’s tenth studio album, an overwhelmingly solid and safely produced album that gives just about every Mariah fan something that they want. And perhaps therein lies the problem. Make no mistakes, The Emancipation Of Mimi is a great album but there are moments where it feels like Carey is trying to cover all the bases instead of just doing what she feels and or knows is right.
Part of Carey’s allure has been the overwhelmingly autobiographical sentiment that her albums have had. Her albums have all been testaments to whatever place Carey has been in her life. For some time she’s been a mix of heartbroken, looking for love, joyous and contemplative. These same themes run through The Emancipation Of Mimi, but not in a tired heard it all before manner.
Really The Emancipation Of Mimi is nothing groundbreaking in the sense of content. It is what Mariah is good at and has been good at for quite some time. A delicate balance of R&B, Pop & Hip-Hop all blended together with stellar vocals. Carey is a capable songwriter and from the very first single ”It’s Like That” you get the sense that Mariah might just be a woman who wants to sing: ”Cause it's my night /No stress, no fights /I'm leaving it all behind //No tears, no time to cry /Just making the most of life”.
What makes The Emancipation Of Mimi so good is that the vocals, even on tracks that musically are less than stellar (“To The Floor”, “I Wish You Knew”) are better than most singers’ best days. The album’s sound on a whole leans heavily on the R&B of the 70’s and 80’s. We’re not revisiting Glitter here musically, but the album’s mood has an almost vinyl feel to it. ”We Belong Together” and ”Mine Again” are vintage Mariah material. The former is utterly sublime and the latter rich and understated.
”Joy Ride” is a hopeless romantic’s plea and ”Your Girl” would have easily found a place on 80’s radio. Mariah Carey isn’t scared to pull out the big guns either. Producer du-jour Kanye West lends a hand on the throwback ”Stay The Night” which vocally and musically is one of the album’s strongest offerings.
Although Mariah is best on her own, Mimi is not without a handful of guest appearances. Thankfully, within the confines of this album – the only guest appearance that falters is the aforementioned altogether bad ”To The Floor” which features St. Lunatic Nelly. ”One & Only” features speedy rapper Twista whose presence is unnecessary but not annoying. Snoop Dogg guests on the Neptunes produced ”Say Something” which could have easily been a song by Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam. Jermaine Dupri guests (doing his best impression of the Neptunes Pharrell) and produces on ”Get Your Number” which would be an excellent club anthem.
Final Thoughts
Whether or not Mariah Carey is crazy isn’t really the question here. What everyone wants to know is if she’s capable of making a record that anyone wants to listen to. The answer to that question is a resounding yes.
Much has been ballyhooed about money Carey has made, and that this her tenth studio album was going to be the album to kill or give new life to her career. My feeling is that Mariah is here to stay.
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