Billboard single review
After years of underwhelming singles, Mariah Carey finally returns with a certifiably hot track. "It's Like That" is a sparse, bass-heavy, beat-driven cut that is primed for radio and dancefloors. For too long now, Carey's vocals have shifted between breathy near-mumbles ("Boy (I Need You)") and overwrought multilayered wails ("Through the Rain"). With "It's Like That," she goes back to basics.
With a mostly straight-ahead delivery, Carey reminds us why we fell for her pipes in the first place. Granted, the selling point of the track here is the beat and its "let's party" message. Still, we'll take it. The single ends on just the right note: a roof-raising call-and-response chant ("Let's go now, what?!"). Carey's eighth studio album, "The Emancipation of Mimi," is due April 12. (Billboard)
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