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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.

JLo can't sing lamb interview (97,872) by RJJ12 from USA This was a really good interview with an interesting back story and behind the scenes details. I love how she takes her infamy with a grain of salt and owns her 15 minutes of fame. I really like their discussion regarding other toxic lambs within this sub culture and how people should learn to get along because we all gather together to discuss our love for MCs music. If you no longer love her music or hate the artist, maybe start up another board on your own and invite like minded folks who revel in negativity. (Wednesday 21 April 2021; 19:36)

The mixes (97,658) by RJJ12 from USA Nice mixes of deeper cuts on her albums along with new takes on some old hits. (Monday 22 March 2021; 01:46)

Re: Favorite Mariah album? (97,319) (97,335) by RJJ12 from USA Stacey it's my favorite album as well. I love the pic. Wish it would be used as an updated pic to the 25th anniversary to her perfect album with Slipping Away attached as a bonus. That era and the music was perfection. (Tuesday 9 February 2021; 17:58)

Re: Cool On You (97,332) (97,334) by RJJ12 from USA Yeah I do not care for One Night sans the intro. I thought it was cheesy. I've let it play a couple times and it's tolerable but glad it didn't make the cut. I prefer Slipping Away to be added in a 25th anniversary edition of my favorite album Daydream. (Tuesday 9 February 2021; 17:56)

Re: E=MC2 (97,312) (97,323) by RJJ12 from USA I love I Stay In Love and it should have been the second single over Bye Bye. It might be in the save vein as WBT but it's still good and one of the few vocal moments in the album. It would have been a number 1 record because that's what the public wanted from her at the time. The only problem with E=MC2 is that she stays in her mid range with no real vocal moments versus all the singing she was doing on the Mimi album and people weren't really feeling that. Plus she disappeared from all promo as Bye Bye was released and right before the album and didn't come back to promote until July. By then, the public was no longer interested in the album or single. (Monday 8 February 2021; 16:09)

Re: 4Real4Real (97,305) (97,322) by RJJ12 from USA I always loved this song from first listen. The melody is super catchy. I know the some of the lyrics are questionable (hotter than cable tv?) but the melody is so good and the repetition of 4real at the end is just super catchy. (Monday 8 February 2021; 15:59)

Re: Cool On You (97,313) (97,321) by RJJ12 from USA I love Cool On You from the first listen. It's classic uptempo sassy Mariah. I agree that the production sounds sparse and unfinished. I also wouldn't have minded some more vocal at the end of the song. I would have liked it as a single. I would have probably replace Bye Bye or OOC. They aren't bad songs but they don't really do anything for me. (Monday 8 February 2021; 15:50)

Re: I don't care if Mariah gets another #1 record (97,240) (97,268) by RJJ12 from USA I never said it with an attitude, I said it with a fact. I've seen Eric tell people on their posts that he loathes when people do that when he takes time out of his day to update the news section. Also, I disproved your original post about Mariah not having anything to prove (not a fact when she re-signed to Epic), not using current artists when she's been doing it since 95. I easily dismantled your original post and you had nothing to comeback on so instead you focused on one thing that came from a "gossip" article without posting any evidence of otherwise. You were put in your place for being a crazy lamb coming for sweet Mimi L who loves Mariah and is a realist and isn't living on Bleak Ave with the rest of the delusional lambs that say Caution was a success or give excuses when she sounds bad live or better yet claim her voice hasn't changed. You services were never needed so you are dismissed. Now check that. (Tuesday 2 February 2021; 04:17)

Re: Melissa (97,264) (97,266) by RJJ12 from USA I believe that Mariah's management contract is with RocNation and not Melissa exclusively so she wouldn't have been able to leave with her. It will be interesting to see who RocNation assigns to Mariah. (Monday 1 February 2021; 18:29)

Re: Mimi L. (97,254) (97,257) by RJJ12 from USA Mimi L I've missed you beautiful. So glad you are back. You know I had to have your back, your post was valid and I can't have people come if for you. Glad you are posting again, we need more of your prospective. Hope you are well and congrats on your wedding. (Saturday 30 January 2021; 22:20)

Re: I don't care if Mariah gets another #1 record (97,227) (97,229) by RJJ12 from USA You asked and I provided the source which was an article in this site. It's still irrelevant to the topic at hand. As long as Mariah continues to sign record deals she must obtain success = revenue for the advance she is given and then some so that she isn't in debt going into the next project depending on how many albums she signed for. The whole Mariah has nothing to prove to the record company is not a factual statement. Mariah even said herself when she criticized the marketing of Caution. My fans don't want instant grats, they want to see the record do well. Or are you now going to say Mariah isn't a credible source (listen to the Questlove podcast interview). Mariah has only complained about the marketing of her projects when they fail, example: Glitter, Charmbracelet, and Caution or pretends they don't exist MIAM. If the record company won't give her the budget, she should use her own funds to make the project take off and then renegotiate her deal to be compensated for her financial contribution. (Thursday 28 January 2021; 16:45)

Re: I don't care if Mariah gets another #1 record (97,222) (97,225) by RJJ12 from USA The article was posted here by the webmaster. He's going to direct you to the news section as it's one of his pet peeves to post articles he has already posted in the news section. I was under the same impression until I read the article, so who know for sure. But my original point still stands, if you are under contract, you must make the company revenue or pay back your advance. Mariah can't tell Epic, I'm not paying you back a dime because I already made you billions of dollars and I have nothing else to prove. (Thursday 28 January 2021; 03:38)

Re: I don't care if Mariah gets another #1 record (97,220) (97,221) by RJJ12 from USA This has nothing to do with "Mariah has nothing else to prove". You do realize that Mariah is still under contract. Having success and creating enough revenue for the record company to recoup cost for producers, marketing, writers, videos, and the initial advance that an artist gets prior to the release of an album to live off of (an advance is a loan with the assumption that the record company is going to make that money back and then some). Caution was a rude awakening for Mariah. She did not get the advance she is used to. Marketing was limited, there was only 10 tracks, and the videos were very budget conscious. The most alarming things about the last era was that both singles (spaced 4 months apart which is death to any project) were only sent to two minor radio formats. As a legacy artist, Mariah has to be played on all major formats in order to obtain success. She had no real radio budget and the label wouldn't pay for Cardi yet JLo got her on a failed single while on the same label. Without a radio budget and a hot feature all future projects are DOA. When signed to a major, if you don't make them money, you get dropped and/or if you are lucky enough to get another deal, it will be based on the success of the last project and we all know where that will land her. Had she not had her Christmas success she would probably still be in debt with the label for the Caution era if the tour wasn't part of her contract to where the label gets a chunk of the earnings. They will only re-sign her to release 100 more versions of compilations of her greatest hits. You won't be hearing more new music from her. I didn't think she cared either until she complained about the marketing and execution of Caution. And when has Mariah not included a hot feature of current chart toppers. B2M in 95, Jay Z in 99, Jay S and Camron in 2002 (which failed), Nelly, Snoop and Twista in 05. I could go on. I read in an article that she invested 4 million into her Apple special. She needs to do the same for her future projects and pay hot producers and major radio formats. She needs to call radio station heads and set up deals where they will play her next single with a hot artist in exchange for exclusive interviews, contests, and concerts. When you are signed, you have to make the label money. Mariah is not immune to this. She needs to put in the work like a new artist and use her own finances to get her projects off the ground. Gone are the days where she had label heads who were throwing money into her projects to ensure success (Tommy, LA Ried). She needs a project full of uptempos with some chart titans with great songs. She doesn't even need a lot of features. Drake and Ariana would be enough. Ballads and mid tempo records don't sell especially for aging artists. Why not do something different and make an album full of up tempo records with a mixture of genres, pop, hip hop, r&b, dance etc. Her discography and future endeavors sorely need it. (Wednesday 27 January 2021; 21:17)

Re: Butterfly era unreleased (97,068) (97,081) by RJJ12 from USA Someone asked her that in reference to The Rarities and she said she used everything she worked on for that album. (Saturday 2 January 2021; 02:57)

Vocal talk through - Oh Santa (96,992) by RJJ12 from USA I enjoyed this vocal talk through of the Ph Santa Remix vocal arrangement. Mariah went on to explain in the Apple interview that she vocally produced the remix so it was great to hear someone talk through the arrangement of three very different voices. (Sunday 20 December 2020; 02:18)

Re: Daley - My All (96,987) (96,991) by RJJ12 from USA Glad you are doing better Edward. I need to dig into Daley again. I kind of forgot about him but I finally stopped being cheap and have a Spotify membership so I've been searching for all kinds of music and favoriting them. I'll have to look up time travel. I've been on a reggaeton kick lately and finding some "Spanish" r&b which I didn't really know existed but it can be exhausting going through playlists to find what I like. (Saturday 19 December 2020; 18:17)

Mariah Carey Apple interview (96,990) by RJJ12 from USA Such a good interview. I love that the interviewer sticks to discussing her musicality which leads to some interesting discussion and pushes Mariah to elaborate. These are the type of interviews that I missed from back in the day. You can tell the interviewer studied up and did some research. There seems to be a new big male artist that is chummy with now and is going to collaborate with in the future. Not sure if it's Drake or The Weekend. I know she mentioned to big male artists she was looking to collaborate with on an album last December but wasn't sure who it might have been. I wonder if she will fund the features herself since her label isn't investing any major dollars in her projects anymore. I'm hoping she at least pushes the label to send out her singles to all radio formats or pulls a LLoyd and goes to the stations herself and offer exclusive interviews in exchange to be added to their playlists. (Saturday 19 December 2020; 18:11)

Daley - My All (96,979) by RJJ12 from USA Such a good cover. Love that he did his own rendition. Mariah is one of the few artists that have songs so difficult that it's hard to duplicate the original vocals. Love it when artists put their own spin on it. Daley is a very underrated artist. (Friday 18 December 2020; 16:36)

Tori Kelly - AIWFCIY (96,978) by RJJ12 from USA I would say this is the best original cover next to Shania Twain's cover back in the 90s. I love that she made it her own instead of trying the impossible by attempting to duplicate the original. Love this girl's riffs. You can tell she went to the school of Jazmine Sullivan and Kim Burrell. Love that Mariah gave her the rights to cover it. (Friday 18 December 2020; 16:03)

1995 Chart battle (96,977) by RJJ12 from USA 95 was a crazy chart battle of the divas. Mariah came out swinging with a monster album. I didn't know how bad their labels were using them to compete with each other for chart dominance and bragging rights. For Janet to come out first and hit #1, only to be dethroned by Mariah with Fantasy for the #1 spot, only for Mariah to be knocked off the top spot by Whitney, and then for Whitney to be knocked off the top spot by Mariah and Boyz II Men. This MTV link from that year provides a nice overview. (Friday 18 December 2020; 15:54)

Sleigh Ride (96,893) by RJJ12 from USA This was probably my favorite part of the special, probably because it's a mew song. She sounds so good. I love when she sings in her full mid voice and avoids whispers. No need for belts when your tone in full voice is so buttery. She adds a few slight inflections to pepper the delivery and throws in some whistles to add that wow factor. I love that when she gets off the sleigh the camera angle is no loner just on her "good side" Mariah never stares into the camera and moves around naturally and not once does she try to give a sexy look or pose. It's perfect. I love this fan made video. (Wednesday 9 December 2020; 20:03)

Re: Signal to MC (96,836) (96,842) by RJJ12 from USA Mariah is well aware that working with artists of the day will help her chart. Anyone with a brain knows this. What people have failed to notice is, unless it's a Christmas project, the label ain't paying for an A list top tier artist to appear on her albums. They wouldn't pay for Cardi to jump on A No No. if you notice, Epic has only put money into anything Christmas related. They pull out all the stops and pour money and marketing into it because they have proven, guaranteed monetary returns. Caution was the first album that Mariah got an embarrassing low amount of support from the label and their budget for radio was restricted to AC stations only (no other radio formats were sent With You to even have the option to play) or Urban AC for A No No months after the project was released and already lost any kind of possible momentum. Had they put the money in and sent GTFO to all formats it would have made a splash and peaked interested because it was quite shocking to hear Mariah use a cuss word in a chorus and yet sound so good. I have a sneaking suspicion that either A, Ariana was a second choice to Kelly Clarkson who may have pulled out because of scheduling conflicts or B, because attaching her to a Christmas song was the only way the label would cough up money to pay for both Ariana and JHud and also get Apple TV to fund the video/performance. Not sure if this is a strategy for Mariah to prove to the label that if they pay for top tier collaborations, that they will make a nice profit in return. I'm hoping she gets success off this collaboration so that the label starts giving her the budget she needs for her next project, especially when it comes to radio promo and marketing. Mariah is not a streaming artist and needs to be played and pushed on major radio formats to see any type of future success along with a high profile feature. All she needs is one hit to get the funding and backing from the label that she deserves. (Saturday 5 December 2020; 23:58)

Re: Heroes / Hero / Joy To The World medley (96,781) (96,788) by RJJ12 from USA I liked the new [Joy to the world] arrangement she did for that legendary intro. She's been singing it the same since 94 so I welcome the few little changes to it. We all know she pre-records (in caps) everything but not a big fan of the overuse of melodyne lately. Her tone sounds unnatural. Just do multiple takes Mariah and cut and paste your vocals. I'm fine with that. Full voice Mariah is always what I prefer then that airy whispery approach to took for the whole Hero part. (Friday 4 December 2020; 05:00)

Naomi Campbell interview (96,723) by RJJ12 from USA This was good. I learned some new things I hadn't heard before and I love their friendship. I have a feeling the collaboration she is referring to is Drake but I wonder what song from the book he wants to sample? Here is the link. (Wednesday 25 November 2020; 06:19)

Re: Oh Santa! fun Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson (96,676) (96,678) by RJJ12 from USA Hi Edward. She indicated in [Watch What Happens] live that she recorded a scratch demo and then had Mary Ann do one and send that out to Faith as she never sends out her own scratch demos. A fan had asked about the song and that was her answer. (Thursday 19 November 2020; 18:42)

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