Messageboard

About RJJ12 from USA: A fan since 1990. Favorite Mariah quotes, "It doesn't matter how I look, if I'm singin..." & "I can't even know what to say." I love R&B and Hip Hop, but I listen to any genre of music as long as the song is great. Love saaaanger/songwriters. I'm not a "yes" fan but I do give credit when its due.

Music video (40,706) by RJJ12 from USA Mariah may be filming in Puerto Rico with Indrani. Anyone familiar with their work? I would be interested to see in case it is true. (Wednesday 22 January 2014; 8:05)

Possible covers (40,705) by RJJ12 from USA I hope one of the covers ends up being Lullaby Of Birdland. I need a jazz album from Mariah, or at least a few tracks. The only Whitney song I would be interested in hearing Mariah sing is I Will Always Love You, just to hear how she would sound on it and what direction she would take. I do like the idea someone had of having it be another duet with them two, maybe Mariah replacing one of Whitney’s verses and chorus. Maybe Exhale? If I had my choice, I would like Mariah to redo Lyeoka Simply Falling. I think it's cool that the UK fans are getting together. I wonder if there is a gathering for fans in Chicago? (Wednesday 22 January 2014; 8:00)

New game (40,613) by RJJ12 from USA Thank you Clueey23 for the new game suggestion. I have a suggestion myself while we are waiting for new MC music. I'm always interested in hearing new good music. How about we all post songs/artists that we are listening to. Then select another individual's list to listen to and if you like it, respond as to why you liked it. With so many fans from around the world, we are bound to hear some new interesting songs we may have never had a chance to get exposed to. Here are some of my recommendations: Snoh Aalegra - Burning Bridges Chrisette Michele - Charades Lianne La Havas - Lost and Found Jojo - Thinking Out Loud, Can't Handle The Truth, Take the Canyon Maxwell - Fist Full of Tears, Bad Habits Miguel - Gravity Teedra Moses - Special, No More Tears Verse Simmonds - I Wanna See You Hal Linton - Mind Control K'Jon - On The Ocean Blu Cantrell - Sleep in the Middle Toni Braxton - Clockwork Frank Ocean - We All Try, Thinking Bout You, Pink Matter Dawn Richard - Vibrate Erykah Badu -Gone Baby Don't Be Long More to come, just some of my favs in my iPod. (Friday 17 January 2014; 4:32)

Single strategy (40,611) by RJJ12 from USA In regards to single strategy, I believe that MC should make sure she has a weekly event/promotional opportunity for the first six to eight weeks that the single is released. What I noticed with Beautiful is that each time she performed the song, released the video, the song would launch back up the iTunes chart. She could follow a similar method that Miley Cyrus did with her Wrecking Ball video which helped her earn a number one. Since video streams count towards chart position, she could release the song and video simultaneously to launch the song and then have a performance each week via late night shows or even a internet streamed mini live acoustic concert with a few fans a la Jimmy Fallon to showcase her vocals. If she could somehow make the performance of the single a YouTube video that stream on Facebook it could really rocket the song in conjunction with the single release. (Friday 17 January 2014; 3:38)

Independent / Charmbracelet / Memoirs (40,512) by RJJ12 from USA I'm sorry, but going independent is a horrible idea. Mariah is a big name and needs a machine behind her who will properly promote her. So many big artists have gone the independent route only to fail miserably. The very least is a distribution deal with a major labor. The only reason why her last couple albums didn't work is because she failed to promote them herself. There was only one performance of Obsessed and one of that horrid follow up single in the US, her main market. After E=MC2 was released, she disappeared until the summer time and by then everyone lost interest. If I Stay In Love wouldn't have been the second single, she would have had a smash album again. Charmbracelet had some of her best and personal writing to date but was missing the crucial ingredient: vocals. She whispered me to sleep. Had she sang like she was Mariah and not you know who, it would have had a change. You Got Me and Clown were missed single opportunities. Memoirs was a lot more interesting and had better melodies. Angels Cry, It's A Wrap, and Betcha Gon Know were screaming singles. Betcha was completely different than anything she has ever done. My point is, if she doesn't chose the right single and promote like she used to, even an album full of great songs will go nowhere. I want her to just drop the album ala Beyoncé and promote the heck out of it. It had been years that an album dropped and I had no idea what it sounded like. (Sunday 12 January 2014; 1:48)

Favs from each album (40,503) by RJJ12 from USA Mariah Carey - Love Takes Time, Vanishing, All Alone in Love Emotions - Love Takes Time, Till The End of Time, The Wind Music Box - Anytime You Need A Friend, I've Been Thinking About you Merry Christmas - Miss You Most Daydream - Melt Away, Underneath The Stars Butterfly - My All, The Roof, Outside Rainbow - Babydoll, Did I Do That, Heartbreaker Glitter - Reflections, Loverboy Charmbracelet - Subtle Invitation, You Had Your Chance, Lullaby Emancipation - We Belong Together, Your Girl, Fly Like Bird E=MC2 - I Stay In Love, Ill Be Loving You Long Time Memoirs - Betcha Gon Know, Its A Wrap, Languishing MCIIY - Christmas Time Is In The Air Again, When Christmas Comes. Unreleased - Slipping Away, Do You Think of Me, I Feel It, 4Real4Real (Saturday 11 January 2014; 5:28)

Edward / Maxwell (40,419) by RJJ12 from USA Edward, I'm shocked, you don't know who Maxwell is? You have to listen to his last album BLACKsummernights. Fist Full Of Tears and Bad Habits especially. I can hear Mariah belting to Fist Full Of Tears, it's the style I want Mariah to go in balladwise. Maxwell has been teasing a follow up to his three part series called blackSUMMERnights. It was supposed to be released last year if I'm not mistaken. Anyone that is a fan of real soul/r&b music should listen to his last album. (Monday 6 January 2014; 5:12)

New album (40,378) by RJJ12 from USA I am excited that she is finally releasing her new album and we are getting a new song on V day, hopefully a love song/ballad. I'm hoping we are going to get jazz/soul styled ballads and hip/hop uptempos. I can't wait to see if she covered Lullaby Of Birdland, if her impromptu performance at Bemelmans Bar in 2012 is any indication, she is going to bring it! She took her time and even took advantage of the time her injury granted her and added three new songs. I'm positive this album is going to satisfy what I've been waiting for a long time. I'm sure it will be worth the wait. (Friday 3 January 2014; 2:05)

Performances (40,274) by RJJ12 from USA A lot of folk on here were catching feelings about that DC performance talking about her voice is gone, over one bad performance. Lol. You know what I loved about that performance? It was live. No pre-recorded vocals in sight to sing the falsetto notes for her. It was an honest performance. So many of us, me included, were begging for her to give up the semi lipped performances for an honest performance and we got it. Does that mean she shouldn't be on her A game at all times? No. Will she be on her A game at all times? No. She worked that Buble special out and I love how she is incorporating those jazz/gospel/Kim Burrell runs now. So fluid. I want her to pull a Beyoncé and just drop the album. No single, no promotion, no prior warning. Just drop it with videos to go with each song and then promote the heck out of it. Why do I get the feeling MC is releasing a double album? One of ballads and another of Hip/Hop club cuts. Just saw a picture of her in the studio. Still? Interesting. (Saturday 21 December 2013; 21:10)

Star on Walk Of Fame (39,961) by RJJ12 from USA The reason why MC doesn't have a star is because she doesn't want one. She was going to get one previously which I believe was going to be used as part of her promotion for the E=MC2, but never followed through. You have to pay for your star, 30,000 to be exact. You also have to apply and be approved. They don't just give you one. So she might have already been approved to receive one but not followed through with the rest of the process. Here is the link to all of steps to getting one. The article is called How to Get a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in case you want to read it. (Friday 22 November 2013; 23:52)

Mariah Carey should have never said anything - article (39,960) by RJJ12 from USA The author of this article is an idiot. He misquoted her stating she said she was led to believe she was the first signed on. When she actually said she was led to believe it was a three person panel. Mariah didn't complain the whole time she was on the show and she is no longer under contract with them so why can't she be honest and say it was bad experience. Just because they paid her a lot of money, doesn't mean she can't express how bad the experience was. Did this author not watch the season? Nicki called her a bitch within the first 10 minutes of the show for millions to see. Then he went on to say why she would prefer to introduce some of the contestants to producers because even though they were talented, they weren't put through because of politics (aka: you are not tv worthy-beautiful, dramatic, comedic, or some other feature that would bring in ratings). I know plenty of talented people who were not put through and were flat out told, you have a great voice, but you don't fit the mold for this show. Then watch the pretty girl with an average voice get through. The judges don't actually put anyone through, the producer sits behind the camera and signals the judges to say yes or no. This is what she meant by politics. Then the author goes on to say that they have her We Belong Together album? People need to actually do some research on the subject matter they are writing about if they actually want to be considered "credible" journalists. (Friday 22 November 2013; 23:42)

Billy (39,895) by RJJ12 from USA I can see you feeling that TAOLG is better than I Stay In Love or Angels Cry, but the main difference between those two songs and TAOLG is that they sound complete/finished where TAOLG sounds like a demo. If you notice, the three singles that Mariah has released in relation to this album all sound unfinished. Triumphant only had a hook and a bridge, Beautiful (the best of the bunch IMO) had no bridge and ends abruptly, and TAOLG has lyrics that I like to call "fillers" to occupy space until you think of something better with no real chorus. To me, it sounds like she is still working on the song. I thought she was going to pull a Miguel like he did with Adorn and release a full version of Beautiful (including a bridge), but it never happened. If finished/re-worked, it has the chance of standing next to When Christmas Comes or Christmas Time Is In The Air Again. I believe she released it to give fans something to listen to until a finished product is ready. Key word, finished. I believe she may eye the new year for an actual single to capitalize on Valentine's day. This album will have a jazz/soul throwback sound and I for once can wait to hear it when it is actually done. You can't rush greatness. (Monday 18 November 2013; 23:38)

Impromptu performance (39,891) by RJJ12 from USA This is what I'm talking about! She needs to do this more often. All live, great vocals with an intimate setting of fans that take her for who she is. She needs to show the new generation who she is. Everyone who is a casual fan that watched the video has been praising her. The gospel runs during 30-40 seconds were so smooth. The impromptu lyrics shows she can do anything on the spot. I loved how when she was singing in full voice at 3:30 and almost went flat on the thirrd "letting go" and saved it by effortlessly switching to her whistle register. I hope she does more of these performances to promote this album and the rawness of the ballads she is working on. Just her, the piano, and her voice. Old school, just like they did when they promoted the Mariah Carey album. No flashy lights, no dancers or big performance numbers, no wind machines. You strip that away and Mariah is one of the few that can have you holding on to every note with just a piano accompanying her. None of today's pop artists can do that. She needs to capitalize on that fact and do these types of performances. They want to call you a diva, then give them diva in the true sense of the word. (Monday 18 November 2013; 21:05)

TAOLG / interviews (39,890) by RJJ12 from USA I'm glad this is not released to radio as I do not yet believe it is a true single. I believe Mariah's team is testing the waters and slowly introducing her back into the scene. I like the throwback style and the fact that she is finally singing a complete song in full voice (no whispers in sight) with minimal layering, but the lyrics are lackluster and seemed rushed, squeezing too many words into a line where she has to rush through it. No chorus. I don't get how people on here are saying this is her best song in a decade. Did we forget MC2, songs like When Christmas Comes, Christmas Is In The Air Again, how about Angels Cry, Languishing (which moved me with its lyrics!), I Stay In Love? These are all great ballads that are signature MC that are superior to this song as a whole. My explanation to her seeming off in her interviews? She aint got no sleep. She has been working hard around the clock trying to get the album done. No need to worry. I get loopy like that when I haven't slept in days. (Monday 18 November 2013; 20:53)

TAOLG (39,723) by RJJ12 from USA It is my b-day tomorrow so thanks Mimi for the gift. The good: She is singing in full voice, with minimal layering. Her voice sounds great. I don't care what genre she sings as long as she is singing. And singing she is. There is some noticeable production to her voice, but it is not enough to take away from the song. The old school/retro sound is the direction I have been begging her to take for a while now. The bad: The wordy/rap-sung intro, and lack of melody in the verses, and non-existent hook from the hook queen herself is alarming. The song seems unfinished, just like Beautiful did. I keep getting the feeling that all these records are unfinished when I listen to them. Like they were too excited with the demo version and decided to release it instead of crafting it to perfection. The lyrics are a little lackluster, because of the excessive word usage. All in all, it is a path in the right direction, miles above the bland Almost Home and uninspired laziness of Triumphant. MC, if the rest of the records sound unfinished like this, much like the Nas record you said is still being worked on, keep working on it and don't release it until it is done. I will wait for your perfection, because I know it will be well worth it. I give the song a B-/C+. (Monday 11 November 2013; 22:23)

Art Of Letting Go promo (39,556) by RJJ12 from USA I am loving all this promo JD has MC doing. He has always used social media to promote his own projects and I'm loving that he is doing the same for M. She has done a lot of press in one day. That TAOLG teaser is great. If the strings played in the background are any indication of how the song sounds like, I'm so on board. I had a feeling she was going to create an album of throwback music. Seems like Mariah is playing no games this time, come on 11/11/13! (Friday 25 October 2013; 3:24)

Walter A interview (39,469) by RJJ12 from USA I watched it but I didn't really learn much else that I didn't already know. These two "hosts" were the worst interviewers in the world. Each time they asked him a question they interrupted him and ventured off into another topic. Walter seemed interested in going into detail but they kept adding their two cents. I do agree that Butterfly sounded unfinished. A lot of the ballads were very sparse, and initially the album was a let down for me even though I know it is a lamb favorite. He was even going to talk about their rumored reunion, but those hosts interrupted again. It's like we are finally going to get all these questions answered and they kept butting in. So frustrating. I love how he stated how prolific of a writer she is and how he has so much respect for songwriters. (Sunday 13 October 2013; 20:02)

Art Of Letting Go / the new clone (39,410) by RJJ12 from USA She better keep that as the album title. When I heard it might be one of the songs of the album, I thought to myself, wouldn't it be great if that was the album title. I don't see any new music coming out this year either. She will wait untill first quarter to drop an uptempo and then release a ballad in time for prom season. I don't know what all the hype is about the new Mariah clone. The only reason why they are saying she is the new Mariah is because they are marketing her that way and her production team admitted to ripping of Mariah's mid 90s sound for her. I heard the album, it's kiddie, no great vocals. She may have have range but she sounds like a little girl, not a woman in her 20s. "Honestly, there have been so many, 'This is the new her,' and I'm like, OK, show me the new her. Can she come and work for me and be my double?" - Mariah. (Sunday 6 October 2013; 2:10)

New album / signature song (39,374) by RJJ12 from USA I agree with everything you said Nikki regarding the new album. This is their second go around re-working the album. Even though she got injured, I believe the time off is going to benefit the album because she was rushing to get it done and wasn't promoting Beautiful since she was still in the studio. Had the album been done when she released Beautiful and promoted it properly, I believe it would have went to number one. Now I also agree with Rashidi, We Belong Together is Mariah's signature song. That will be the song she is remembered by. I remember reading Rolling Stone's review on Glitter stating that Whitney has I Will Always Love You, Celine has My Heart Will Go On, but Mariah still did not have her signature song. They indicated that would it be funny if even after all the success, she might one day release such a song. Well, that day came. (Wednesday 2 October 2013; 6:12)

New album discussion (39,364) by RJJ12 from USA "Too many rappers and too much hip hop." Do we really think she will release an album full of hip hop? Look at her past albums. There was no hip hop on Memoirs, it was contemporary r&b. She has learned from the weak reception to Triumphant that we want her to sing regardless of the genre she chooses and not fade into the background. The album was never released and instead re-worked. Did people forget that Nick said she was looking at her first two albums for inspiration? Also, he does not run her career and her family (Nick is her husband and the father of her children) and is not to blame. There are many stars who have successful careers with a family, so why can't she be allowed to have a life? Also, you may get a dance remix but she will not be following the already dying EDM trend. "Having to follow trends is not what's fun about making music" - Mariah. Was anyone listening to the clips of music played on the Barbara Walters special? It will be retro/jazz inspired ballads and probably some hip hop uptempos. The TEOM album was like that as well however, only the contemporary r&b/hip hop inspired tracks were released as singles when the album cuts were actually late 70's soul, which is Mariah's true calling. EMC2 was merely an album filled with TEOM singles (contemporary r&b hip hop singles). It will come out when her hand is healed because you know she will not be photographed with a sling while promoting the new era. (Tuesday 1 October 2013; 3:48)

Kelly Price tweet (39,319) by RJJ12 from USA @Obscure Opulence. Considering that Whitney attended Kelly's pre-Grammy party before her death, that would be a solid no. There seems to be a falling out between MC and KP as Kelly threw some shade at her on that LA Divas show when describing Chante Moore's whistle register. "She started hitting those high notes, you know, those notes that people seem to think that only Mariah Carey can do." When Wendy Williams asked her how her discontinuing working with Mariah went, Kelly said Mariah wasn't ready to let her go and then went on to say that was all she was going to discuss on that topic. Regarding the tweet, some say she may have been talking about Christina Aguilera who performed on some award show. Who knows, but what I do know is that something went wrong between the both of them. Kelly has grown an ugly ego and stated that some people did not like that she was now their equal/peer in the business but neglected to say who. (Wednesday 25 September 2013; 5:30)

Clip of possible new song (39,201) by RJJ12 from USA Did anyone else catch a new song Mariah was singing on the Barbara Walters special. It wasn't Bring It On Home. It's just a short clip of her in the studio. It plays during the 2:10-2:17 mark of the interview. From the short clip, its sounds like a great song. Mature, jazzy influenced, sung in full voice. If she has more material like that on the album, its really going to be a winner. If it happens to be true that she will be re-making Lullaby Of Birdland, which is an old jazz standard sung by greats like Sarah V, Ella F, and even most recently Amy W, it sounds like she is taking a mature, jazz influenced approach that she injected into her Merry Christmas II You album. If this is the case, I believe we will have a winner on our hands. I attached the link to the interview to see if anyone hears what I heard. (Wednesday 4 September 2013; 5:00)

Randy (39,188) by RJJ12 from USA I would have to respectfully disagree. During the early years she wasn't respected because there was a fair amount of hate from journalists that felt she was to in your face with her voice and couldn't face the fact that she sang so well, wrote, and produced. The almost too perfect artist who they felt rose to fame too soon without paying her dues. They felt she got better treatment because of who she was connected to personally and professionally. Her sales aren't due to multiple fan purchases. I grew up during that time and she was always on the radio and everyone had her records. Her later hits are fairly unknown because her label didn't promote them and they usually rose to the top due to price cuts during their airplay peak as well as cleverly releasing remixes that (for the r&b and dance charts) helped boost her chart positions. They would only sit at the top for a couple weeks. I have several of those cd singles because they always included so many versions of the singles. The reason they don't respect her now is because she presents herself as "eternally 12". BTW anyone heard the song she is singing at the 2:10 mark of the Barbara interview called Mariah's new role? It sounds incredible. (Tuesday 3 September 2013; 7:41)

Favorite song on least favorite album (39,114) by RJJ12 from USA Rainbow and Glitter are my least favorite albums, however, Thank God I Found You/Make It Last Forever Remix is her best remix imo. Genius. On Glitter, I loved Loverboy and the video. I also really identified with the lyrics on Reflections - Care Enough as Mariah calls it. My least favorite vocals were on Charmbracelet, I felt it was full of album cuts, however the writing on that album was one of her best. I always said it would have been 10x better if sung in full voice. Subtle Invitation - jazzy, Clown - classic diss record, You Had Your Chance - great lyrics to an ex whose "someday" came. Lullaby, to that one whom will always hold a place in your heart. I didn't care much for Butterfly, but my fav song is on that one, "The Roof" is a lyrical masterpiece. (Tuesday 27 August 2013; 6:00)