Mariah is in a league of her own. Even if Bey was out as early as Mariah i still don't think that she would have pulled that type of massive success. That is just rare. Irregardless of the era Mariah's "TEOM" came out after Beyonce's first album and still outsold Beyonce's first solo album. 6 million sold, since that album no other r&b female artist has matched that. This is not to slight Beyonce because her albums have been and are successful as well.Why don't people just appreciate each artist for their own success instead of bringing up other artists. But Beyonce did pose like that, not saying Rihanna copied her but it is very similar.