Mariah Carey sends an uplifting message with the first few words to her latest track, "In the Mix". She sings, "Oh, they keep trying, but they can't stop us. 'Cause we got a love that keeps rising up." Already made you feel better? We thought so.
The newly-released song is actually the theme song to ABC's upcoming series Mixed-ish, which debuts on September 24. The show is a spin-off prequel that follows Tracee Ellis Ross's Black-ish character, Rainbow Johnson (played by Arica Himmel in the new series), as she reminisces about growing up in a mixed-race household in the 1980s. Of course, they picked one of the most famous mixed-race singers in the world to take the reins on the theme song.
"As a biracial woman in the entertainment industry, there was no way I did not want to be a part of Mixed-ish, especially after seeing the pilot, which I loved," Carey said in a statement to The Wrap. "I could not be more honored and proud to be writing and performing 'In the Mix' for show creator Kenya Barris and the show."
"In the mix, life turns around. Round and round it goes. It's a mixed up world, that's for sure," Carey sings in her signature whistle tone over the chorus. "But in the mix, we're gonna get by on our own, side by side. That's all we need to be free. I got you, you got me." Considering the song's music video features an appearance by Carey's twins, Morocco and Monroe, 8, it's a safe bet that's who she's singing to, which is adorable.
Carey has talked about life as a biracial woman many times over the course of her nearly 30-year career, including in an interview with People in which she addressed feeling different and unaccepted due to her race. "I had to go through so much in my childhood just to feel accepted and feel worthy of existing on Earth because I felt so different from everybody else growing up, because I was biracial, because I was so ambiguous-looking and because we didn't have the money to escape whatever the everyday realities of life were."
Similarly, she talked about her biracial identity in an interview with Pitchfork, unpacking the song "Eight Grade" from her 2018 album Caution, and explaining that it is about one of the "lowest points" of her life - a.k.a. middle school.
"The year before, I had dyed my hair orange by mistake. I shaved my eyebrows. I had no clothes. Somebody once said in the hallway to me at school, 'Oh, she got three shirts in rotation.' It was mortifying," Carey said. "But that's because my mom chose to live in predominantly white neighborhoods, where people had more money than us, and I didn't fit in there. Or in an all Black neighborhood when my parents were together; as a mixed couple, they had problems there. So there was not one safe place."
While Carey's new song is catchy and fun, it also is culturally significant. The fact that a mixed-raced artist sings a track for a show that'll show the world what it's like to live at the intersection of multiple identifies will touch the lives of so many, not to mention amplify representation on our TV screens. It's artists like Carey, who is Irish and Afro-Venezuelen, and even Halsey, who is also mixed-race and identifies as a Black woman, that are changing the narrative in the entertainment industry for the better.
The music video for the song features clips from Mixed-ish, as well as footage of Carey and her children in the recording studio. And here are the lyrics, courtesy of Genius.com:
[Intro] Oh ooooh yeah The mix Yaaay us! Yaaay us!
Oh, they keep trying, but they can't stop us 'Cause we got a love That keeps rising up And yeah they fight it but we just proceed To be who we are baby you and me
[Chorus] In the mix, life turns around Round and round it goes Oh, it's a mixed up world And that's for sho' In the mix, we gonna get by (We gonna) On our own, side by side Love's all we need to be free I got you, you got me
Yaaay us! (in the mix) Yaaay us! (in the mix)
We keep it inspiring even though they set limits for us to follow Won't let 'em break us It's all so shadowy Never stop striving and we gonna keep climbing up Nah, we won't cower We stayin' strong now with superpowers
[Chorus] In the mix, life turns around Round and round it goes Oh, it's a mixed up world And that's for sho' In the mix, we gonna get by On our own, side by side Love's all we need to be free I got you, you got me
Yaaay us!
[Guitar Solo]
[Chorus] In the mix, life turns around Round and round it goes Oh, it's a mixed up world And that's for sho' In the mix, we gonna get by On our own, side by side Love's all we need to be free I got you, you got me
Yaaay us! (in the mix) Yaaay us! (in the mix) Yaaay us! (in the mix) Yaaay us! (in the mix)
Something that they can't define It's tough sometimes Just us surviving Here in the mix (in the mix....-ish)
(Oprah Mag)
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