Mariah Carey has historically been hailed for her voice. However, recent years have seen said status unravel somewhat after a series of shocking faux pas onstage.
One of the more notable instances came at the start of 2017 during Mimi’s performance at New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.
As widely reported, she effectively threw the towel in and opted not to sing while her pre-recored “backing track” blared from the speakers. Viewers were stunned.
It appears Mariah was too and, in looking to deflect blame, she fired her creative director Anthony Burrell – replacing him with her boyfriend Bryan Tanaka.
In the time since, Burrell (who is renown for his work with Beyonce) has busied himself with other projects. Hence, hasn’t spoken out about the matter.
Until now.
Not holding back, he’s waxing honest about his views on what’s become of Mariah’s live show since his departure.
His words below…
Speaking with Complex, Burrell said…
On Mariah’s Sub-Par Performances Of Late:
“It’s just typical Mariah. Mariah is clear: when she doesn’t wanna do something, she doesn’t do it. She’s performing with lackluster and no fucks given, and it’s taking away her star.”
On How He Tried To Help Her:
“Working with an artist like Mariah, who’s not a mover first, it’s always a challenge to get them to think physically and not just vocally. You always have to keep in mind that they’re a singer first. The priority is not teaching them 100 counts of 8, or endless routines. I wanted to give Mariah a modern push to revamp her, give her a fresher, more modern feel, make her more aware of her body and her lines, and not look like her feet hurt when she’s walking.”
On How Her Team Aren’t Helping Her:
“You’re a legend. But you don’t care, your team doesn’t care. They’re not guiding and directing her. She’s back to where she was before. It’s not like she’s never looked this bad before; I just stepped her game up.
It felt like [her team] were so new at their jobs, and had no direction. When you’re green, you’re playing things by trial and error, and there were a lot of errors. I was very vocal about things that weren’t right. When you try to take a shortcut and you don’t know the clues, you’re bound to get fucked up or screwed, because you don’t have the experience of running a tour or a billion-dollar empire. Some of the dancers her team hired are great dancers, but they’re not choreographers or creative directors.”
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Burrell went on to add that he still feels Mariah is a “world class artist” and all of that obligatory ish. But all in all, we totally see where he’s coming from and in many ways endorse him speaking up. After all, someone has to.
Because maybe just maybe it’ll encourage those steering her ship to help her be her best self.
Believe it or not, friends, we still see much potential left in the skillset Mariah possess in 2017. We just want her to want everyone to see that. But, as we type, it’s becoming apparent to us that that may be the problem in itself. You can’t want something for someone who, by all estimations, seems to “give no f**ks” about wanting it for themselves.
Oh Mariah…