At a point in time, Mariah Carey prided herself on creating bodies of work.
As such, with industry politics making it harder than ever for acts of her ilk to secure hit singles, one would think Mimi would embrace said approach more than ever.
Wrong.
In a fan Q&A to promote new single ‘I Don’t,’ the star revealed that she’s not focussed on making an album. Instead, she’s veering another way.
Details below…
Per the clip below (which autoplays at the point topic of new music is raised), the 46-year-old says she’ll be channelling her efforts into releasing singles – unattached to a specific project – because it’s “more fun.”
She added that she actually has another song, with a “dear friend”, coming really soon and that a video is about to be shot.
We love us some Mariah, but looking at her recent trajectory on the singles charts, that album could be a long way away – especially if she’s waiting to secure a hit first. Which is exactly what she appears to be doing.
This, along with several other missteps, re-affirms why rooting for her is becoming an increasingly frustrating practice of late. As she seems to be willingly doing the exact opposite of what she could and perhaps should be to revive her career.
Yes she’s a legend, but she clearly seems keen to play in the contemporary space – however her rules and tools are all wrong.
Mariah is one of few active acts that has the clout to drop an album and plug it as a body of work without the stress of promoting singles. Doing so would also be a classy way of bowing out of the singles “rat race” gracefully and relatively on her own terms. She’s earned that status, yet somehow doesn’t seem to understand that nor respect it.
Hearing the Mariah in the clip above was to hear a Mariah that sounds unsure and uninspired. Similarly, that embarrassing video (which it turns out she co-directed with manager Stella Bulochnikov) was equally as disheartening.
For yours truly, Carey would be much better off focussing on her other ventures and doing music when her heart is in it.