+ A Cinderella Story of Legend

The details of Mariah Carey's break go something like this: one day she handed her demo tape to Tommy Mottola (president of Sony Music) at a party. After listening to the tape on his way home, he immediately doubled back to the party, promising Mariah a contract on the spot. Her Cinderella story becoming reality, Mariah Carey was able to swiftly debut.

She debuted with the single "Vision of Love." Boldly debuting with a ballad at the height of the popularity of the New Jack Swing and hard rock movements, Mariah grabbed herself a hit single and rocketed to the number one spot on the American charts. Scoring five consecutive number one singles after her debut, Mariah established a record that has yet to be broken. That year she dominated the Grammies and American Music Awards, scoring several Best New Artist awards and essentially achieving the American dream. That was the year 1990, nearly 15 years ago.

There's no need to speak of her work afterward: a string of countless hit songs. Of those, her performance with Boys II Men (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/list_from_code_banner.html?key=154394) on the single "One Sweet Day" led 16 weeks on the charts at number one. She continues to work new sounds into her songs, bringing them to the forefront of whatever era she's in. With her positive lyrics and that endless smile full of affection, Mariah continues to attract fans around the world, leading her lifetime gross album sales to top 150,000,000 albums. Mariah Carey has made her mark as the premier artist of the 90s.

+ A Lull at the Start of the Twenty-first Century

However, not a single Mariah Carey release has reached number one in the twenty-first century. Her string ends with the number one single "Thank God I Found You" in February of 2000, and during the few years since then she's had difficulty breaking into the top ten. Though she can no longer count on her songs becoming hits the moment they break into the charts, it must feel inadequate to the woman who spent the 90s breaking record after record to see the response to her music now.

After marrying and divorcing Tommy Mottola, changing record labels from Sony to Def Jam, failing to move the industry with her first feature film "Glitter," overexposing herself through marketing, and ultimately attempting suicide amidst rumors of her retirement, Mariah Carey finds herself pushed into a critical point in her life as an artist.

+ "The Return of the Voice" . . . The Start of a New Legend

At long last, it is the year 2005 and Mariah has finally made her move with her first new album in two and a half years, "The Emancipation of Mimi." As for Mimi, that's the nickname her close friends gave her. The new album has been met with abnormal enthusiasm because of her choice to include her nickname in the title. "Mimi" is the work that will wipe away all the stories and incidents that have been eating away at Mariah-an album after her own heart. Or perhaps better put, the best album of her career.

At any rate, the album smoothly features a number of songs that take splendid advantage of her most appealing point: her voice. Alongside several of today's top artists (The Neptunes, Kanye West, Jermaine Dupri, and Twista), Mariah Carey herself features heavily in the writing and production credits of all of the songs on the album. I think we could say we are seeing all facets of Mariah Carey. The confidence that pours out from her voice as it pierces throughout this album is nothing if not proof that Mariah Carey has grown as an artist and human being.

With the release of her latest album, "Mimi," Mariah has seen the addition of two new members to her band: Antonio "LA" Reid, who is known for his work with artists like Avril Lavigne and Usher; and Benny Medina, who fostered P. Diddy, Jennifer Lopez, and Will Smith into the music scene. We gathered comments about the following two songs from Mariah's manager.

"It's Like That"
We weren't originally planning to release this song as a single, but it caught fire in America and so we quickly changed our minds. It was originally leaked out of the studio, but it caught on anyway, so I'm glad that happened.

"Shake It Off"
Everyday all sorts of terrible things happen, but isn't it good to get away from it all sometimes? That's what this song is about. The song is trying to tell people to just have fun with their lives.

On the release of her new album, Mariah had the following words to say: "For the first time since birth, I feel free. I feel proud too. That feeling is part of the meaning of the title of this album." Emancipation . . . "Mimi" is the album that laid everything bare and brought Mariah back to her starting point. The day of the comeback of the woman who dominated over the 1990s is near.

+ Roppongi Hills Arena Concert Report!

It's been nearly ten years since I saw Mariah Carey play at Tokyo Dome. Seeing her for the first time in a while, I was glad to see her playing outdoors in such a brilliant red dress, boldly dressed as always! When she played her song "It's Like That," she danced as though the performance was an extension of her music video.　Then she gracefully emoted the song "We Belong Together," attracting the hearts of all her fans. She showed her love for Japan to her Japanese fans by repeatedly saying, "Ai shiteimasu!" ("I love you"). It was a gift the fans just couldn't get enough of.
Though it was only a 20-minute set, I'm glad I could have such a wonderful time with Mariah.

(text by Ohishi)