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Re: Tommy the racist (99,764) (99,765) by Geronimo from USA No harm done. I research and teach the stuff so I know how badly the United States school system has prepared students to know our own social history. Not that I'm assuming you are from the United States. Tommy Mottola is definitely a classic US American record industry exploiter. I can't speak to his personal feelings or intentions - which are irrelevant. It's simply the role he positioned himself to play and proceeded to play to the tune of millions of bucks. Anybody seeking to get rich and famous with these major record labels plays one role or another in a race-aesthetic vaudeville circus. But I'm sure Tommy gets along just fine with a certain type of ethnic artist under ideal circum$tance$. (Wednesday 23 February 2022; 18:54)

Re: Tommy the racist (99,763) (99,764) by Dennis from Miami, FL Thank you for the explanation. I had no intention to hurt anyone's feelings by bringing up shoe shining. Definitely, I have misunderstood the reference. I took it quite literally. (Wednesday 23 February 2022; 12:30)

Re: Tommy the racist (99,758) (99,763) by Geronimo from USA Wow, Bill. I get the sense that you didn't mean to but you just offered a great example of how capitalism, sexism, class, and racism informed Mattola's approach to Mariah Carey's early career and continues to shape how many of the "nostalgic ones" still yearn for her most marketable years. Impressive. Personally, I wouldn't argue whether or not doing so makes him a racist. It's obvious enough to those who know and futile for those who don't want to know. Still, understanding racism, accommodating racism, enriching yourself from cultural racism, enriching your company and your multi ethnic spouse through your expertise in managing impressions about racial aesthetics - that's as Amerikan as apple pie. The reference to shining shoes is undoubtedly a US American racial slur tied directly to the history of shoe shining, personal service, zoning and other laws, and social customs in the U.S. that restricted African-Americans to menial labor. Most people, including United States citizens, are not steeped in the cultural heritage of the time from which that racial slur originates so I say the above without any intention to shame. Still, a lot of people (from my country) understand that it is is a racist term but pretend not to know under the assumption that the racist origin of the slur cannot be proven. But any white man of Mottola's generation in the United States of Italian heritage who says that about a black man who is not a shoe shiner is without a doubt attempting to assert their purported racist superiority according to the state of racism in the United States as it existed when a wave of Italian immigrants entered the US and displaced African-American shoe-shining, barbering, and catering businesses in major US cities in the 19th century. Whether or not the shoe fits, Tommy is wearing it. (Wednesday 23 February 2022; 01:52)

Muni Long (99,762) by Bobby A from United States It so hard to believe that Muni Long was Priscilla Renea when she co-wrote Infinity and A No No with MC. Now she has a hit on her hands with Hrs and Hrs. I hope MC flies her to Atlanta and takes advantage of her creative high right now. This woman can write some songs. Muni Long is the one who gave MC the title and chorus for A No No. (Wednesday 23 February 2022; 00:57)

Re: Tommy the racist (99,756) (99,761) by RL from USA Tommy is not racist. I agree he is a businessman that wanted the greatest ROI in his artists. That was his job. Also he married Mariah, and is currently married to Thalia. (Tuesday 22 February 2022; 21:54)

Re: Tommy the racist (99,756) (99,760) by RibbonB from USA Do people really know what racist means? I don't know if he is, was or wants to be, but who one marries, or sleeps with does not absolve one from being a racist. This country was built and profited off of racism and so called "white supremacy" and many of your so called forefathers slept with non white women. Thomas Jefferson, anybody? Get real people. And worst, is that people think racist is the worst thing an allegedly "controlling, money hungry opportunist devil" could be called. That's what Michael Jackson and others have called him. (Tuesday 22 February 2022; 21:46)

Re: Tommy the racist (99,758) (99,759) by MusicfanJ from Germany Yes, he's everything you mentioned but certainly no racist. He wanted big music sales with Mariah and that was what happened. He didn't want her to party and all that stuff. If Mariah would have wanted to party with white rock stars , Tommy wouldn't "allow" that too. Her career was everything he was concentrating on. And that worked very well. Mariah and Tommy are the best and sad example for never mixing business and private life. I always wonder if they hadn't married, how had it changed the "story"? (Tuesday 22 February 2022; 19:50)

Re: Tommy the racist (99,756) (99,758) by Bill from the UK No, I wouldn't say he was racist at all. I mean he married her knowing she was mixed. I see it more that he was a good businessman who knew what played to the biggest demographics and was protecting his investment. Music Box sold twice or three times as many copies as Butterfly, and he wanted for bang for his buck. If you pardon the pun. (Tuesday 22 February 2022; 18:21)

Re: Tommy the racist (99,756) (99,757) by Dennis from Miami, FL Being married to Mariah, an interracial person herself, I don't see Tommy as a racist. He has converted to Judaism, then to Catholic faith in his lifetime. I see him as rather a manipulator. He wanted Mariah to appeal to widest demographic possible at that time. That implied she could not be anything specific (black, white, latina, etc), she had to be an all American girl. Same about him saying that Puffy in few years would shine his shoes. He used an inappropriate metaphor without even realising that. I doubt he was saying that because of the race. Rather he said that because of his obsession with mob culture. For me Tommy is an opportunist, obsessed with power, control and money. I am sure, though I don't have the stats, that Mariah's albums were giving more financial return than let's say Celine's or MJ albums because Mariah didn't work with people like David Foster or Max Martin. Most of here music was produced in-house, her music videos from that era are cute but rather low budget, all of her CDs design eas basic - 1 or 2 photos, fold in leaflet, mediocre paper quality. Janet's, Madonna's CD designs from the same era are superior. I'm sure, she was getting a tiny fraction of what she was earning in 1990-1999. (Tuesday 22 February 2022; 18:09)

Tommy the racist (99,756) by T from USA I know we've heard the story meant [sic] times how controlled Mariah was by Sony and Tommy. And even heard his racist tendencies. Especially the story in her book about him lashing out when she wanted to work with Puffy during the Daydream era. But can I ask if any of that is really true? Or is it just a narrative Mariah wants us to believe? One only needs to look back years before the Puffy incident at the Dreamlover music video. For being under strict control by a person who didn't want her being associated with blackness in any way shape or form, she sure had a lot (only) of male black (shirtless) dancers in the video. How did that go through the control room? I don't doubt that she may have felt he was racist. But he's the same guy who discovered and made careers of many black artists. He may have lead her to be "more white" at the beginning so that she would sell more. But she was a 20 year old women and knew what the game was. She went along with it. I'm not buying that he was this total racist who was controlling to the point of no end. I mean two of his three marriages were with multiracial women. (Tuesday 22 February 2022; 14:48)

Re: Perfume (99,752) (99,755) by Bobby A from United States MC has never taken this long to release an album. It has been 26 months now. (Tuesday 22 February 2022; 13:01)

Re: Sweetheart (99,729) (99,754) by enwar00 from usa Interesting. (Tuesday 22 February 2022; 12:10)

Re: Perfume (99,732) (99,753) by enwar00 from usa My favorite Mariah perfume is Electric Youth. (Tuesday 22 February 2022; 12:03)

Re: Perfume (99,749) (99,752) by Edward from USA Says who? Is the cancel culture coming to the messageboard too? As far as I know, the movie is on streaming services and nobody is complaining about it. We're going to get to a point where people won't be able to joke about anything anymore because somebody's feelings might be getting hurt. Joan Rivers, we really need you! Mariah hurry up! We desperately need some music or something, the board is going crazy here. (Tuesday 22 February 2022; 04:04)

Re: Perfume (99,750) (99,751) by Edward from USA It has aged very well, I can't say the same about Mariah's perfumes. But oh well. To each his cologne. The original perfume comment was said as a light joke, but I guess we've all gotten hypersensitive lately. I can't wait for anything from Mariah, even a fart. Mariah, hurry up, we're drowning here. (Tuesday 22 February 2022; 03:56)

Re: Perfume (99,749) (99,750) by Matty from Vancouver Canada The reference is obvious, but it's also 18 years old and hasn't aged well. (Tuesday 22 February 2022; 01:16)

Re: Perfume (99,748) (99,749) by Jamie from UK I understood the reference alright thanks. But it's not acceptable to say anymore. (Tuesday 22 February 2022; 00:07)

Re: Perfume (99,744) (99,748) by Edward from USA If you didn't understand the reference, you have outgayed yourself. On Wednesday we wear pink, even though we're not in the 90's when gay men started wearing Mariah's perfumes. I guess we're all living in the past. (Monday 21 February 2022; 17:49)

Re: Perfume (99,745) (99,747) by Matty from Vancouver Canada I love Tom Fords as well! Except for the peach too, hahaha, peach never translates well, even as juice. My absolute favourite fragrance right now is Louis Vuitton Nuit de Feu. It's got a Tom Ford essence to it! (Monday 21 February 2022; 16:56)

Re: Perfume (99,743) (99,746) by Matty from Vancouver Canada Aw. Thank you Carlos! "Too Gay to function." I haven't heard that since the '90s. What year are we in? Anyway, we are aware that scent has no gender or sex right, it's simply a scent. Kinda like how pink and blue are simply colours. It's not a tricky concept. Marketing must do a real number on you. (Monday 21 February 2022; 16:37)

Re: Perfume (99,740) (99,745) by Libra Lamb from USA I love to use M as a perfume and I layer it with a cologne and I get the best of both worlds. My favorite perfumes or whatever are the unisex Tom Ford has put out, they're all delicious, except the peach one, they missed the mark on that one. If I could wear all of Mariah's scents I absolutely would. Who says only women can have the nice things. It's 2022 and time to stop thinking trivial things have to be one way or another. (Monday 21 February 2022; 16:03)

Re: Perfume (99,740) (99,744) by Jamie from UK "I know some here are almost too gay to function, but to the point of wearing perfumes?" Is that even acceptable to say? (Monday 21 February 2022; 13:53)

Re: Perfume (99,732) (99,743) by Carlos from Brazil Matty you are a hottie and with a Mariah scent you are even more perfect. (Monday 21 February 2022; 11:53)

Re: Perfume (99,732) (99,742) by RibbonB from USA You actually wear them? Luscious Pink actually stung my wrists. (Monday 21 February 2022; 07:21)

Re: Perfume (99,732) (99,741) by Victoria from USA I like Honey and Ribbon the most. I had M, but it must've been bad. It smelled like bootie. (Monday 21 February 2022; 05:34)

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