Mariah Carey is here for all the triumphant and turbulent times on her 16th studio album Here for It All, which dropped on Friday (September 26) via gamma. On her first album in seven years, she turns up the braggadocio on "Mi" and "Type Dangerous", luxuriates in confections on "Sugar Sweet" (featuring Shenseea and Kehlani) and "Confetti and Champagne", and gives glory to the Highest One on "Jesus I Do" (featuring The Clark Sisters) and the closing title track.
Since 2018's Caution, she's kept her finger on the pulse of the hottest singles by hopping on remixes of Latto's "Big Energy" (which flips Tom Tom Club's "Genius of Love", like her own "Fantasy" did), Ariana Grande's Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 "Yes, And?" and Muni Long's "Made For Me". She's also released anniversary editions of past albums on an almost yearly basis, including The Emancipation of Mimi (20th Anniversary Edition) earlier this year. And while she still doesn't subscribe to the passage of time, Carey's latest addition to her legendary catalog showcases a tried-and-true auteur who's not concerned with chasing charting hits or critical praise (because she's had more of both than most artists will get in their entire lifetimes) but rather chasing the high of doing the thing she loves most and is best at.
The elusive chanteuse's new album was preceded by two singles: "Type Dangerous", which samples Eric B. & Rakim's 1986 track "Eric B. Is President", and "Sugar Sweet". And the rollout for Here for It All has run parallel to the separate red carpet that's been rolled out for Carey and the iconic career that's gotten her to this point. In March, she received the Icon Award at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards. Then she performed "Type Dangerous" alongside Rakim and Anderson .Paak at the 2025 BET Awards in June, when she received her first BET Award ever: the Ultimate Icon Award. And earlier this month, she performed "Sugar Sweet" at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards, when she received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.
Carey still has nothing left to prove, but she insists on getting back in the booth and recording another reminder of who she is and why she gets to make such an eclectic, free-wheeling album 35 years in. Read Billboard's preliminary ranking of all 11 songs from MC's Here for It All below.
11. "Mi"
"I don't care about much if it ain't about me. Let the money talk first, conversations ain't free. I'm the D-I-V-A that's MC" is a hell of a way to start the album. The Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee never ceases to find cheeky ways to position herself above the rest. However, the song's subtle drill production and "I like my ice cold, I like my wrist froze" line feel like contrived ways of conforming with the times, much like her appearance on Kai Cenat's stream to promote the parent album. Sonically, "Mi" is a perplexing opener for an LP that spends the rest of its approximately 40-minute runtime paying homage to Philly soul, disco, soft rock and other nostalgic genres.
10. "Confetti and Champagne"
The trap-tinged "Confetti and Champagne" calls for an exquisite celebration but doesn't quite live up to its title. It's not as satiating as the album's second single, "Sugar Sweet". And her trademark whistle tone is awkwardly sprinkled into the second chorus. But her deliciously biting delivery of the "Cheers, cheers, cheers, cheers, cheers to me, not you, just me" line takes the cake.
9. "In Your Feelings"
Carey confronts her reservations with a former flame who acts too hot and cold on "In Your Feelings", which has .Paak's retro touch all over it. Her hasty vocal pacing on the "I think you might be getting a little bit tooooooooo in your feeeeliiiiiiings" hook might throw listeners off. But when she lets her signature belting range rip right before the final chorus, it's one of the few times on the project when MC brings out an old trick from up her sleeve - it just sounds much better on a power ballad like "Here for It All".
8. "Jesus I Do" (feat. The Clark Sisters)
After proudly proclaiming "I was never all alone, the spirit lives in my soul" on "Nothing is Impossible", the spirit takes over Carey and The Clark Sisters on the funky gospel cut "Jesus I Do". You can't help but tap your feet to its thumping bassline or hum along to The Clark Sisters scatting "Jesus I dooooooo-oo-oo-ooo" or "Jesus I-I-I-I do!" Can I get an "Amen"?
7. "My Love"
Carey's sparkle doesn't dull on her cover of Paul McCartney and Wings' 1973 Hot 100 No. 1 "My Love" that McCartney wrote for his wife and bandmate Linda, which Billboard ranked No. 12 on our top 50 love songs of all time list this year. While McCartney's original version is tender, Carey's is robust, her vocals overpowering the track's orchestration before giving way to the sentimental, reworked instrumental solo. As someone who admitted "I just don't like people doing my songs" in her recent GQ interview - but also likes adding covers on her albums, like Carey's version of Prince's "The Beautiful Ones" on 1997's Butterfly - MC strikes a nice balance between paying homage to a time-honored classic and making it her own.
6. "Play This Song" (feat. Anderson .Paak)
When Carey and .Paak first sparked dating rumors at the end of last year while cozying up in Aspen during Christmastime, fans were left scratching their heads. TMZ later reported that the two were working on new music and Carey confirmed in her latest GQ interview that the two have "great musical chemistry" amid working on Here for It All. Paak has credits on "Type Dangerous", "In Your Feelings" and "I Won't Allow It", and is featured on "Play This Song".
Its Philly soul sound makes "Play This Song" sound like a leftover Silk Sonic song, but with MC taking Bruno Mars' mic - and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Carey is right: The two indeed have great musical chemistry (and romantic chemistry, if either of them want to confess to that), as her syrupy, swoon-worthy tone and the warm, raspy texture of .Paak's voice come together in perfect harmony.
5. "Type Dangerous"
The diva's swaggering delivery on the lead single "Type Dangerous" makes her sound right at home on the hip-hop beat, and her penchant for peppering in multisyllabic, 10-dollar words ("I don't have time for the rigamarole") might get the online generation to pick up a dictionary (or rather, ask ChatGPT for the definition). And she's habitually self-referential, from the lyric "Certified diamonds like the songs I wrote" alluding to her RIAA diamond-certified holiday hit "All I Want for Christmas is You" and "Oh, yes, I want someone to rescue me" pointing to the chorus of her 1993 Hot 100-topper "Dream Lover". "Type Dangerous" became Mimi's landmark 50th Hot 100 hit and first No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay in nearly two decades and already won an award for best R&B at this year's VMAs, giving Carey the props she knows she deserves.
4. "Here for It All"
When Carey first teased the album at an Apple Music event in July, she told Ebro Darden, "We got some Mariah ballads." And the Here For It All title track certainly fits the bill. Clocking in at six minutes and 38 seconds, "Here For It All" earnestly lays out how love ain't easy but the difficulties aren't deterring Carey over a stirring piano melody that morphs into a soaring gospel ode that keeps the praise train of the previous track, "Jesus I Do", chugging. "Here for It All" ends the album on a high note, but it doesn't quite carry the emotional weight of "Nothing Is Impossible".
3. "Sugar Sweet" (feat. Shenseea & Kehlani)
Carey gave the Lambs a taste of what's to come on the album this summer with the "Sugar Sweet" single, and it had them licking their fingers. Her "I'ma keep it nice, nice, neat, neat, sugar, sugar, sweet, sweet" hook is sticky, while Kehlani and Shenseea sprinkle in some sensuality ("You make me melt like candy, only you can make it drip that kinda way," the former sings in her verse) and add a dash of dancehall flair to make "Sugar Sweet" a real treat.
2. "I Won't Allow It"
Carey gets her groove back on "I Won't Allow It", a disco kiss-off about a narcissistic ex who tried to gain from her fame. Filled with hilarious one-liners like "Can't obtain any Accutane, should've been more proactiiiiiive", "I Won't Allow It" is perfect for spinning around the roller rink with your new beau as your ex enviously watches from the sidelines.
1. "Nothing Is Impossible"
"Nothing Is Impossible" serves as Carey's ultimate love letter to herself. The downtempo ballad finds Carey at her most vulnerable on the album, reflecting on "long harrowing nights" that haunt her and a "greater dream" that speaks to her indefatigability while the steady drum beat and swelling string arrangement further drive the point home. After she bore it all on her 2020 memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey, and endured more recent trials and tribulations like losing her mother Patricia and sister Alison on the same day last August, she stands firmer than ever in her purpose in this next chapter of her life. And the "I knew deep down inside that I could fly" lyric couldn't capture the Butterfly singer's resilience any better.
(Billboard)
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