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About TR from USA: L4L

Nick on Mariah's mental state (46,308) by TR from USA Some of what he said, we've all discussed here (that she seems to surround herself with "yes men" and she is becoming more and more unrelatable/detached). So while I'm not taking sides, I can absolutely understand why he might be concerned. Does that give him a rig to say this publicly? Definitely not. He's never been able to control his tongue and loves being in the headlines. Her name emasculated him, and this is the only way he can recover the beating his pride has probably taken over the past few years. Plus, I read somewhere that he mentioned she'd always use the fact that she gave birth to twins as leverage. As a man, while I'd certainly bow to a woman as a queen who birthed any number of my children, if I feel that's being used as a psychological weapon, whipped out at my expense, I'd get tired of it. On the other side of that, he talks entirely too much, and Mariah said all over this album that all she needed was to know that he really loved her (another "yes man"?), the money doesn't mean anything (side eye: she took the Idol gig for $18 kabillion). For however that sounds, Nick should not have gone to the front page with details about their sex life, and I'm sure he knew up front that she didn't want a lot of babies, and that her career was bigger than his. He married his idol, and got what he should have expected, plus bragging rights which he exploited, and surely that won't have emotional ramifications on the kids. (Saturday 23 August 2014; 18:41)

But that big old tattoo on Nick's back though (46,214) by TR from USA I feel bad for the babies, but hopefully the divorce (if true) can be amicable and they can be friends. But MC always says she's Mary Poppins and hates when her sex life is discussed, so when Nick came out of his mouth with those revelations, we all knew it wasn't going to sit well. And nothing was the same after that. He can't control his tongue at all, and I mean that's something no husband should disclose about their marriage and whatnot. And it looks like he's still hitting the press with news that is nobody's business but their family's. This guy is immature and thirsty, and a cornball to boot. Otherwise, from what I've seen/read he seems like a really good and grounded father, so I sincerely hope he stays prevalent in Roc and Roe's lives. (For their sake, because I think he'd really enforce that they put education first and not live the "entitled" life thinking they have to be famous because of who their mother is like poor delusional Bobbi Kris. I said it.) (Friday 22 August 2014; 5:19)

Re: H.A.T.E.U (45,963) by TR from USA Agreed. This is one of my favorite ballads of hers of all time. It's up there for me with Lead The Way. My favorite part is the desperation with which she delivers the "I miss you baby baby baby" in the bridge, and how she flows in and out of whisper/belt after that with "I'm tired of trying to fake through but there's nothing I can do, boy I can't wait to hate you". Plus, I just love that the tile is an acronym for having a typical emotional upset, and the whole send up to Minnie Ripperton with the high notes. The production and execution of this record was flawless. In terms of Memoirs as a whole, I don't have a problem with it. Sure there weren't any other real standouts, and I didn't really feel like it was "classic Mariah" as they promised it would be, but looking back at it, I guess it was close enough. I love that she recreated old photoshoots and went back to just using one producer on each track (I think it was just The Dream, no?), and that there were no rap collaborations. I didn't have a problem with More Than Just Friends or Standing O, though I do wish the album had been a bit more adult contemp if she was going for "classic Mariah". It's a solid, if forgettable, album. Definitely better to me than Charmbracelet, which I only have a soft spot for because it is the soundtrack to a very special time in my life. (Saturday 9 August 2014; 6:45)

Re: fave covers (45,751) by TR from USA In no particular order (because it would take me a whole day to figure it out): - Endless Love - Without You - I'll Be There - Bringing On the Heartbreak - Open Arms - The Beautiful Ones (Saturday 2 August 2014; 20:51)

Re: the heartbeat on OMT (45,477) by TR from USA I always thought the significance of the heartbeat was more like trepidation or nervousness. The song is about the hesitance of giving love another try, so I thought she was referencing Nick (song is preceded by Money, quite obviously about him). She's saying she's been through a lot of hurt and the people she thought she loved ended up basically just teaching her about heartbreak ("Teacher, there are things that I still have to learn, and the last one I had made me cry"). Given how Memoirs ended with IWTKWLI, I thought this was an appropriate 80s cover-sequel to that song. She's nervous about putting her heart on the line again, and if he's just going to hurt her, he should "just let her go" because she can't handle going through that level of hurt again. So the heartbeat identifies how we all feel when we're anxious about starting something all over again, particularly if we've had bad experiences in the past. You're nervous, you're cautious, you're fragile, you're scared. Your heartbeat is the only thing you can hear sometimes, and it's so loud to you that you think everybody must be able to hear it. The brilliance here is that it's very faint at the end of the song, so it's almost as if she's conveying this exact message: "My vulnerability here is not as loud and obvious to you as it is to me." It's the most effective part of that song for me because the vocal just isn't doing it in my opinion (it almost doesn't sound like her at all). (Monday 21 July 2014; 21:25)

Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel (45,464) by TR from USA Continuing. When all those ballads came out of E=MC2 and failed to garner the attention WBT had, it pushed her back to where she was during the Charmbracelet era. Nobody was playing her. She came back solid with Obsessed, which could have led to a duplication of the TEOM era had she thrown herself behind H.A.T.E.U like she should have (instead of doing half a video and 2 performances, looked like she (or they, whoever you choose to blame) aborted that single too, and it's a shame because it was MOAIA's best vocal/chance at a #1). The rest of MOAIA to me sounds like a middle schooler's soundtrack (Obsessed, MTJF, UOMF, CB, Inseparable, lyrically The Impossible). It was nowhere near as "adult" as TEOM, as much as I hate to keep comparing, but we all do that. By contrast to E=MC2, I think her ballads on MOAIA were far, far superior to the uptempos, which makes it interesting to consider what would have happened if she took the best of both albums and just gave us one during 2008-10. I believe we'd have 22 #1s by now, and MIAM would have been released in 2012 while #Beautiful was making a run for the record of being her 23rd. Triumphant might have never happened, and Almost Home would have made a much bigger splash. And I feel either Thirsty or YDKWTD would have been the second official single with video. And maybe TAOLG would have made the final tracklist. No deluxe edition necessary, or at least it'd have 3 fresh tracks. Perhaps one being With You I'm Born Again. (Monday 21 July 2014; 5:31)

E=MC2 (45,463) by TR from USA I agree that ballads on E=MC2 all sounded the same, and tried to be WBT sequels (even DFAU was WBT part 2). She got caught up trying to reproduce that moment, when I think the success of WBT was primarily timing. Yes, the vocals, production, and interpolations were remarkable, but there was nothing else really like that on radio during that time. Plus it had a moderately successful lead in single with ILT, which only got as much airplay because of the success of IKWYW. But back to E=MC2. The ballads in my opinion were weak. ISIL, LS, and LK are some of my least favorite tracks in MCs entire catalogue (minus the ending of ISIL, which is crazy epic). Bye Bye was trying to be another OSD. However Thanx 4 Nothin was, in my opinion, amazing, and sounded like a true outtake from TEOM. IWYW was another gem. But the uptempos on E=MC2 is what made this album. Namely Cruise Control, TMB, Migrate, ITC, IBLYLT. You could tell she had fun. The problem after TMB was that she ran off and got married on the sly in the middle of promoting the album, and it all went dead from there. Bye Bye didn't stand a chance in her 2-month unexplained absence. Migrate should have been the lead, gone to #1, and followed up with TMB. Somehow I feel with the strength of those two singles back to back, it would have broken the "drop the next WBT" movement she thought people expected. Thus we ended up with a string of similar ballads from an album whose sweet spot was its mid and uptempos. (Monday 21 July 2014; 5:02)

The silence of the lambs (45,403) by TR from USA Saw that line on a meme somewhere and thought it was funny and sad at the same time. There's not much else the fans can do without MC's help in terms of promoting this album. I mean I do my best to use MILG or Cry to convince friends of mine who are former fans that she's still cranking them out, and the response I get is usually "It's good. Let me hear it again. The harmonica is giving me life. Etc." Nothing like "This is phenomenal." But nothing like "it's trash" either. It's lukewarm to former fans, and I don't know why because if they want a taste of current but 90s Mariah, this is friggin' it. (Tuesday 15 July 2014; 14:52)

Fav / least fav videos (45,277) by TR from USA I'll do the top three for both. Most favorites: O Holy Night - She nailed it, and she knew she nailed it. Crybaby - Visual candy. Heartbreaker - Good story, nice chick fight, and I didn't even mind much her "rhythm" during the dances. The Rainbow era videos were amazing. I'll put Always Be My Baby, Breakdown, and Miss You Most At Christmas Time for honorable mentions. Least favorites: Auld Lang Syne - She could have and should have kept that. Looked like somebody's 5th grade science project. I Stay In Love - Tried to be Breakdown and it wasn't. Bye Bye - Because it was the beginning of the end. Who hired Nick Cannon to be in it? You're Mine - Uninspired to say the least. And please put a top on, ma'am. Is this what you want Monroe to emulate when she gets older? (Tuesday 8 July 2014; 19:22)

Candace, Amber, and Kree from AI (45,157) by TR from USA Didn't MC have them record background vocals on a song for her "new album" last year? All that hype, and it doesn't make the cut? Or did I miss something? (Sunday 29 June 2014; 16:56)

Cry lyrics (45,156) by TR from USA I'm not completely convinced she says "bless out soul" at that point in the song because it's kind of disconnected, like a throwaway afterthought. I actually think it could be read and interpreted likewise: "Imprudently, I left every cell in me so naked somewhere at the core of you" (without considering the consequences, I bared myself completely open and emotionally raw, and I never realized that I let you take control of that). So essentially I think she's basically saying that he still owns parts of her heart/soul than she can bring herself to admit. (Sunday 29 June 2014; 16:51)

Cry-ing for Derek (Elena) (45,132) by TR from USA Wow, thanks for pointing that out because I was trying to tie that song to Luis. I guess it really doesn't matter, but it's definitely cool to be able to assign certain lyrics to a certain person. Gives us a better glimpse of who she is emotionally, even though she says she tries to be vague lyrically so anyone can put themselves in the song. That's fine. But I really appreciate it when I can experience her personal journey and get her emotions and perspective on a relationship (Side Effects, Sunflowers, Through The Rain). Btw, I really do wonder how Nick feels about her making these emotions public. I mean we all know she's not talking about him on the long-lost love songs on MIAM. I don't know how I'd feel if my girl were singing about how much she misses a former flame and we've got two babies, eighty dogs, and a house is not a home. Anyway, I'd be interested in your theories about who some of the other songs on MIAM are about. Particularly Make It Look Good, Thirsty (if it's not Damizza), You're Mine, and YDKWTD. (Friday 27 June 2014; 18:14)

Hasn't te-sung vocals since WBT? (to Carlos) (45,092) by TR from USA Uhm. She re-sang the vocals for the HATEU remix, two of the #Beautiful remixes, and at least one of the Triumphant remixes. Also, she is constantly resinging vocals for AIWFCIY. She pretty much re-releases a new version of that song every year. I'm actually surprised she didn't issue the Jimmy Fallon version to radio lol. I think the copying/pasting thing with BGK and IAW (and Angels Cry for that matter) is probably because of busy schedules, where one or both of them aren't in the same spot long enough to really get it done. Weak excuse, I know, but I honestly don't feel it's because the landscape of radio nowadays won't help. So what if it sounds like a different song, that's what makes it a great remix. ISB had some of the best remixes of her entire career. She did at least five versions all resung and none of them sounded alike. Same with My All and Make It Last, and folks still go crazy over them. I feel like she always picks and chooses which remixes are resung because then it's not overdone to the point where she's always issuing two or three different versions. It's great when it's a surprise. (Tuesday 24 June 2014; 20:49)

Carlos and Nova (44,985) by TR from USA Uhh Carlos, did you say "99.9% of white people talk proper English"? Have you never been to the south? And let's please stop referring to "talking White", or inferring that non-whites can't or don't speak properly. It's racist. Knowing how to speak Standard English or proper English is determined by education, not race. With regards to Mariah's lyrics, I think it's quite clear that she's using slang and thugging up her lyrical grammar for relevance or because she thinks it's cute (sometimes it is, i.e. "gooder" - I mean we know not to take that seriously). She speaks properly, albeit oftentimes incoherently, in interviews. Pre-Butterfly, her lyrical grammar was adult contemporary (Hallmark). Post-Butterfly, she got more street/urban, so her lyrical grammar needed to reflect that, otherwise the songs would be called "Go Away From My Vicinity, Sir", "Honestly, Honestly", "I'm The Girl", "I'll Love You For A Long Time", "I'm Sure You Are Going to Know", and "You Have Me". Hahahaha. (Saturday 21 June 2014; 21:51)

Re linguist (44,912) by TR from USA Ehh sometimes I can take her thug verbiage and sometimes it's like she's trying to be that other overhyped, undereducated individual with a "hive" stans. I digress. I think it's it wresting when you compare the regression of her writing style over the years. In some cases it works very well (I love "gooder" and "oh you a G now?"). In other cases it does come across that she's trying too hard to be 20 and clearly the world knows she's not, so it hammers home the fact that she's washed up. Who wants to hear anyone their mom's age saying "up out my face boy". Uhh. (Thursday 19 June 2014; 23:41)

Re Monroe (44,910) by TR from USA Believe me I'm not calling that adorable kid a brat by any means lol. I don't know them. I'm just saying if someone I know personally has a daughter that age as is going around explaining her behavior as "she's such a diva", my first thought would be that the baby gets whatever she wants and is prone to tantrums if they're not delivered, since divas are notoriously difficult and demanding. I'm jut saying it's not cute to term your toddler a diva all over the place. Once or twice is funny, but in response to every mention of dembabies - when it's not even the question? (Hahaha, that was shade, lol. Sorry. She's my Mimi and I love her but when someone asks her about her album and she answers with something like "it was so hard to stay focused because I have like eighty dogs running around my house and their names are..."). I'm like . (Thursday 19 June 2014; 23:33)

Daley (re Carlos) (44,898) by TR from USA Yes. Daley is saving R&B right now, and he is a Mariah fan to boot, so you already know he has certain inflections in his delivery. If you don't look up any other song of his, check out his live acoustic cover of Climax. Usher is no longer allowed to perform it. Stolen, repackaged, and sold. Daley slayed it. His album Days And Nights is 14 unskippable tracks of perfection. Also, you have to check out Allen Stone, this hippie kid from like Out Of Nowhere, Oregon. I'm not going to say this lightly: He gives me all kinds of Stevie Wonder. And his falsetto is absolutely nasty. Look up any of his live performances of You And I or I Can't Make You Love Me. (Thursday 19 June 2014; 17:31)

Re Andrew and this_is_qhm (44,897) by TR from USA Andrew, I'm sure MC is trying to convey how "cute" it is that Roe is a diva, and it actually is cute whenever she describes the ultrasound image haha. But somewhere after age 1, it stops being cute and turns into a "the poor nanny" situation. I'm with you on not telling anyone how to raise their kids, but I'd hope they both have or get a handle on this before it's too late. If she wants Roe to have a career in music (another thing I don't understand, remember back when she was pregnant and was so against imposing an identity on the babies that she'd hardly even put them in blue/pink outfits? Two months after they were born, aside from naming them basically rock-n-roll, she declared they were both going to be musicians and had "RockStar" on the drums and Miss Monroe was a diva who doesn't even know what the word means) she should consider how the general public feels about the humility of the celebs they lift up to that level. Otherwise, she's setting them both up for mockery and failure. To this_is_qhm, I 100% agree with your lowlights on MIAM. That drum kick on Heavenly (and OMT for that matter) makes my ears hurt. I also agree that the laugh after "Oh you a G now" is a highlight. It's just a ridiculously hot laugh. Plus, "@-ing me constantly", brilliant. And the climax of Supernatural is one of the top three most amazing moments on this album ("you make the beat go on and on and onnnnnnnn"). That note was delivered by grace and sponsored by 1997. (Thursday 19 June 2014; 17:22)

Cry (44,882) by TR from USA I really love this song - the melody and the vocals more than anything. It's truly one of my favorites on the album. I just find it so difficult to understand lyrically though. Is it just me? I get that she's in a state of regret, she gave up on a relationship too soon before realizing she had a good thing. I keep trying to imagine who she's singing to (it always ends up Luis Miguel) to try to put it into context, but even then, why would you want to hold each other until you're both crying? Are you crying that you can't get that back anymore? And secondly, this entire album has got to be a blow to Nick's self-esteem. It's a love letter to every other man in her life but him, unless MILG was for him since he's a "bad boy"? And Money seems to address his insecurities, if it's about him. Besides that, she said this album is a snapshot of her life from where she last left off with Memoirs to now, so yeah, I'm super suspicious about her love life hahaha. (Wednesday 18 June 2014; 22:40)

Dembabies (44,881) by TR from USA I never thought I'd say this, but I really have hope that Nick Cannon is keeping Roc and Roe grounded. Remember during the BW interview after they were born and NC and MC kinda went back and forth when he said he wanted them to go through school and be doctors or teachers or something and MC was like "they're gonna be in music..." or something to that effect. Here it is, three years later, and every time I hear Mariah refer to Monroe as a diva, I cringe. I'm sorry, but any child (let alone a toddler) being called a diva at whatever age, I equate that with being a brat. They're the parents, and my opinion means nothing, but I sincerely hope they're not letting these kids think they're super privileged, because we've all seen where that expressway leads, and it's not cute. Check just about any child star from the 90s/00s. (Wednesday 18 June 2014; 21:58)

Re selling out (44,713) by TR from USA I won't say she's selling out, but MC is being a tad hypocritical. I distinctly remember her saying after Virgin dropped her that she'd never do anything for a "monetary moment" again, and that's not only what happened with Idol, I feel like it's whats going on with this "beverage" (or maybe not - nothing about this move makes sense to me). I, too, am not happy about the neglect (for whatever reason) of this album. She spent all this time "slow cooking" and going back into the studio for finishing touches, and doesn't even give us the lyrics? She did more promo pre-release on Instagram than she's done post-release. I'm not at all convinced that what's going on there is her fault. I lay the blame on Def Jam. And I need Jermaine to get off twitter with these open letters and write a frigging promo schedule. Do that. We need to see something pronto. Also, the dahlings and ultradivaness have been on my nerves since 2008. She's ostracizing whatever's left of her straight male fanbase. Like everybody else is saying, she's too unrelatable and is starting to walk the way of Michael Jackson with the regressed maturity. And it's just not as funny as she thinks it is. It's long past time to put that and "being insecure" to rest. Hire a writer to script you some scenes as a legendary talent and grown woman with 24-years of business savvy. We know how much you love to act. Lastly, I'm all the way on board with the #JusticeForMeIAmMariah hashtag movement. (Friday 13 June 2014; 3:47)

Bill / Lee / Darryle - Make It Look Good chorus lyrics (44,366) by TR from USA I think I figured it out: "Around you I know I ain't suppose to be, acting like I know you notice me. Fantasize about the way you lick your lips, fingertips on my hips as we dip. Oh boy make it look good." (Saturday 31 May 2014; 21:14)

Houston KPRC (44,341) by TR from USA Hi. Uhm I might be in theinorotu here but I do feel the UNCF might be a bit more important than an MC special that you will probably be able to find online the next day. I'm sorry of that sounds harsh but the UNCF is a charity organization. I'm sure Mimi would agree. (Saturday 31 May 2014; 2:43)

Speaking of vocals and Make It Look Good (44,332) by TR from USA Are you all as obsessed with her adlibs at the end of MILG? I mean the whole song is incredible and her "harmonicanizing" with Stevie is out of this world. But when she goes soft and bluesy at the very end right after her high note and she says something like "Fantasize about the way you lick your lips. Oh it's gooder than them other guys?" (No idea Mimi, I need your lyrics babe.) (Saturday 31 May 2014; 1:48)

Cry is giving me Vision Of Love more than anything (44,331) by TR from USA Especially the run she does on "break" and "and" at the end. I love when she stretches herself to pull out something different vocally. The way she sings "might" in "might as well tell the truth about the matter" sounds just like a note she'd hit on Emotions. And I've never heard her wring emotion out of a word like "tonight" in "but tonight I just wanna hold you til we...". Closest thing would be the climax "to where we used to be" in I Don't Wanna Cry. This entire vocal is like listening to water cascade in a brook. It's smooth, soft, powerful, and ragged in all the right places, and it just cuts its way through you more and more with each listen. It's on par with Lead The Way in my book. And LTW is always in my top 5 MC songs. (Saturday 31 May 2014; 1:38)

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