Yesterday was supposed to bring with it the release of Mariah Carey‘s fourteenth studio album ‘The Art Of Letting Go’. However, as reported, the premium diva has yet master the art – instead pushing back the project to ensure it’s “just right”.
This, though, hasn’t halted her hustle when it comes to the LP’s lead single ‘#Beautiful’. A moderate hit (which peaked at #15 on the Billboard Hot 100), the track easily serves as Mimi’s biggest success in years; a fact which likely explains why she’s milking it for all its worth.
In new audio update for fans (recorded on the day ‘Letting Go’ was supposed to hit stores), the mother of two explains that not only is she still hard at work on the album, she’s gearing up to debuted even more remixes of its breezy first offering (she’s already released more than five).
Listen to Ms. Carey-Cannon’s message after the jump…
Oh Mariah.
Granted we just about understand her rationale for scrapping the LP’s initial release (key word “understand”, not “agree)”, the continued pushing of ‘#Beautiful’ not only doesn’t make sense, it’s beginning to grate.
For, while it was indeed a “hit”, there are a few points that shouldn’t be swept under the rug. The first being that it was essentially a manufactured “hit” launched (and arguably sustained) by a costly radio deal. Then, of course, there’s the fact that the remixes are doing all of nothing chart-wise. Above all, though, response to the track – while generally favourable – was by no means “overwhelming”. Put simply, it’s in no way a ‘We Belong Together’ – commercially nor critically. A fact which makes the overt pushing come off somewhat desperate.
Surely, Team Mimi would’ve have been better off serving up something else in the window created by the album’s delay to tide folk over; something different for the fans not necessarily “wowed” by ‘#Beautiful’. To be fair, it’s clear that what’s they’re trying to do with this song and its one million remixes, yet -in putting it bluntly-the track feels totally undeserving.
Whether Team MC’s “shove it down your throat ’til you love it” approach proves worth it come album release will be interesting to see. Especially given that a multitude of mega-sellers are prepping new LP’s for the same window as Mimi (see: Lady GaGa, Katy Perry, Britney Spears). Then, of course, there’s Ariana Grande, but hey that’s a conversation for another day…