From The Vault: Mariah Carey – ‘Loverboy’

Published: Sunday 16th Feb 2014 by Joe

Over a decade before current effort ‘You’re Mine (Eternal)’ blasted on to airwaves, Mariah Carey released one of her most underrated singles. This week’s From The Vault is 2001’s ‘Loverboy’.

Taken from the ill-fated and criminally overlooked ‘Glitter’, the easy-breezy track served as the launching single of the album, Mimi’s first release under her new and (then)record-breaking contract with Virgin Records.

Helmed by Carey alongside producer Clark Kent and built around a sample of wedding-anthem ‘Candy’ by Cameo – who’s lead singer is featured on one of the two versions that were released – ‘Boy’ was a US #2 hit for the diva. Unfortunately, it never matched this success overseas, making it one of the singer’s lowest charting singles abroad. Since then, a number her releases have had a similar fate. But we digress.

Sidenote: this very song is considered the reason behind the alleged feud between Mariah and Jennifer Lopez. Lambily, see you in the comments section to explain why.

**********

The ‘Loverboy’ videos, directed by “the” David Lachapelle displayed a blonder Mariah than the world was used to, with shorter shorts and a now-infamous double-handkerchief bra.

Of course, in an era of visuals such ‘Blurred Lines’,’ Pour It Up’, ‘Partition’, and much of Mimi’s 00’s output, the clip’s raunch seems tame. Yet, at the time it caused quite a stir for being too racy with critics blasting Carey for trying too hard to compete with younger starlets such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera… and Jennifer Lopez.

Thankfully, gone are the days where the ‘Never Too Far’ songstress was an outright laughing stock. Indeed through stellar music, performances, and carefully constructed reminders of past achievements, Ms. Carey-Cannon is widely regarded as one of the most gifted talents of all-time.

Do we think she overdoes her “sexy” these days to conceal/compensate for shortcomings elsewhere? Perhaps. What is certain, though, is that if she’s able to keep the hits a’coming, her adamance to share her “particulars” wouldn’t bother us.

Peep the video for the ‘Loverboy’ remix – featuring Cameo, Da Brat, and Ludacris – below…

Your thoughts?

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  1. Super Cisus February 16, 2014

    Who remembers this generic song kii

  2. Queen of shade February 16, 2014

    That song was just a hot mess flop and the music video was horrible
    Thank god she recover and got up and made the emancipation of Mimi
    And slay the charts she needs get inspired and do that again! ThIs new single ain’t doing for
    Me and apperantly for no one

  3. BITCHPLEASEEEEE February 16, 2014

    THIS IS MY JAM RIGHT THERE. I STILL BANG IT ALL DAY AND SHAME IT WAS SO UNDER RATED >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

  4. christinastherealtalent February 16, 2014

    I think its a crappy deal with how women who are 30+ in this industry are treated, even if they do still exude lots of s** appeal.

  5. Micks February 16, 2014

    The struggle! Mariah has 0 s** appeal which is why she flops most of time when she tries hard to be s***

  6. Matthew Charlery-Smith February 16, 2014

    I can see this with different eyes now being around the same age she was when she made this song. When I saw it back in ’01 I was turned off by how she was cheapening her talent with overtly sexual imagery and attention-seeking desperation. She was definitely trying too hard and it took the fun out the video. However, this song goes to show how much of a legend she is. I don’t know any singer who could sing this song like her nowadays.

    This video also is the decline of her mental state and her persona now. The attention-seeking, desperada, s**-kitten, lost in Rainbowville persona stuck here and has never left. Shame really, it’s around this time that the 40+ year old women in my family began to turn off her.

    The album was criminally under-rated but /Mariah was not alone in the “Has-beens” club. Around the same time Michael Jckson released “Invincible” and Whitney released “Just Whitney” all three are stellar albums featuring some of the best singing, songwriting, production of their careers and certainly Pop/R&B music but it wasn’t enough. The press trashed all three projects, probably hoping that Aguilera/Timberlake/N’Sync/Britney would be suitable replacements and yet here we are a decade later and most of the aforementioned are has-beens themselves while these 3 legends are still household names…and two of them are dead!

    Mariah can no longer sing like this and even here her voice was quite different to her debut. She needs to somehow be fun again, not a fool or she’ll continue to have people like Deborah Wilson clown her.

    http://youtu.be/rWy4I1ak_8o

  7. Rihanna Lately February 16, 2014

    Hot ass messy flop

  8. SLAYRIAH CAREY (TOUR DE FORCE) February 16, 2014

    Like music of the sun? ^

  9. QUEEN MARIAH > YOU H** February 16, 2014

    MARIAH TRIVIA: Loverboy was the best selling single of 2001

    ICONIC

    Rihanna stole Mariah’s iconic bra for WFL video too

    QUEEN

  10. Skyfall February 16, 2014

    Wasn’t Loverboy the highest selling single of 2001

  11. Memoirs of a Lipsynching p** February 16, 2014

    Don’t remember this song. Flop

  12. Skyfall February 16, 2014

    The media came for Mariah hard during the early 2000s. But at the end of the day Mariah
    Slayed for 11 years straight, and the album and movie would of been better had she not had her
    Breakdown where she couldn’t promote and 9/11 never happened I mean who was trying to go the
    Movies and watch Glitter after hearing about 9/11.

  13. SLAYRIAH CAREY (TOUR DE FORCE) February 16, 2014

    I think Sam is still pressed about Mimi not knowing Drunk in Love so he launched some troll usernames to throw shade. lol #PressedBum

  14. S****** Blonde February 16, 2014

    I’m too high for this s***, dope life

  15. Rihanna Lately February 16, 2014

    Biitch stop trying to compete with the younger generation nicki,rih etc. You’re not s*** and you will never be s***. Just do an Adele type of look maybe you might sell

  16. Rihanna Lately February 16, 2014

    Rihanna has a $100M+ tour I don’t know about Moo.
    Don’t let me drag the s*** out of the fatty p** you stan for

  17. Memoirs of a Lipsynching p** February 16, 2014

    Mariah crackrey is so insecure fat and ugly. Have you seen the left side of her face? Hideous dahling!!!

  18. SLAYRIAH CAREY (TOUR DE FORCE) February 16, 2014

    10 million after 7 albums and several re-releases. you’re dismissed.

  19. Memoirs of a Lipsynching p** February 16, 2014

    Rihanna, Beyonce, Ciara and others would have big sales if Tommy motolla bought their albums. Notice her sales dipped after the divorce lmao

    • Anonymous August 4, 2016

      Thats a lie. MC and Tommy divorrd in…98 I believe yet Rainbow opened in 99 with sales of 329,000 (her highest debut sales week ever at the time) and was one of her most consistent albums saleswise around that era.

  20. Rihanna Lately February 16, 2014

    How can a box shaped h** sell s**? I mean that’s why this whoore will never be respected

  21. SLAYRIAH CAREY (TOUR DE FORCE) February 16, 2014

    But it was that same tour that her fans were throwing objects at her and begging Beyonce to take the stage? lmao have a seat bxtch. You are a crazy h** and probably not even a real Rihanna fan. How dare you go around wishing death on people? sick twisted bxtch

  22. SLAYRIAH CAREY (TOUR DE FORCE) February 16, 2014

    Mariah was still selling big after her divorce so get your facts straight. her #1s album became the best selling international album in Japan with sales over 2 million (R**** can’t even see those sales in the US) #TryAgain.

  23. DRB February 16, 2014

    The MJ Cole remix

  24. Memoirs of a Lipsynching p** February 16, 2014

    F*** Rihanna I stan for real talent Ciara

  25. Skyfall February 16, 2014

    Rainbow outsell every Rihanna album worldwide

  26. Rihanna Lately February 16, 2014

    Rihanna is consistent she isn’t much of an album seller whatsoever. Rihanna is bigger than moo wishes she was in europe. The UK gp choose Rih over her.
    Africa chooses Rih anytime
    South America chooses Rih
    Australia chooses Rih
    Basically the world is her for Rih.
    This whoore you stan for is a local local musician. Even whitney has much bigger audience WW.

    Mariah Carey isn’t special she’s special to her box shaped stans

  27. Memoirs of a Lipsynching p** February 16, 2014

    Inflationriah is the biggest joke in the industry

  28. Memoirs of a Lipsynching p** February 16, 2014

    Rihanna is a flop w****

  29. SLAYRIAH CAREY (TOUR DE FORCE) February 16, 2014

    Then if you stan for Ciara, why are you dedicating your username to Mariah? LOL @ this pressed irrelevant creature.

  30. Skyfall February 16, 2014

    So Mariah stop selling after Tommy’s divorce.
    Butterfly came out after the divorce was filled she spun two #1 singles
    One of which became her second single to debut atop the Bb hot 100 and the album
    Has since sold over 10 million copies world wide, or rainbow which she got another
    Two number #1s and the album has since sold over 9 million copies world wide.
    And let’s not even bring up The Emancipation of Mimi era

  31. Rihanna Lately February 16, 2014

    Rihanna will finish moos records with those bought #1s..
    Rihanna makes WW music not local music. My biitch charts in iceland, russia etc where mariah is unknown.
    I see why yall mad Rih is gonna outsell mariah soon she’s already sold 170M+ records and she’s gonna outsell her soon.

  32. SLAYRIAH CAREY (TOUR DE FORCE) February 16, 2014

    If Rihanna is such a huge superstar then why can’t any of her albums sell over 10 million worldwide? MAriah is the biggest artist in Japan and she has diamond album in France and Mexico. You tried talking about local.

  33. Memoirs of a Lipsynching p** February 16, 2014

    Mariah is ugly as f*** and Beyonce is prettier

  34. SLAYRIAH CAREY (TOUR DE FORCE) February 16, 2014

    Mariah is Rihanna’s idol. Rihanna can keep all those basic generic #1s because Mariah reigns supreme with album sales. All I want For Christmas is You sold more than any R****** single and MAriah has like 6 or 7 albums that sold more than Rih’s highest selling album. #sit

  35. SLAYRIAH CAREY (TOUR DE FORCE) February 16, 2014

    IF anyone is inflating it is the Nazis. Rihanna barely sold 30 million albums yet her fans want us to believe she sold 170 million records? On which planet? maybe Jupiter cause no one believes that shitt on Earth.

  36. Christobal26 February 16, 2014

    Wrong version Sam! Trying to start drama but can’t get his facts straight. This isn’t the version that caused the JLo controversy. It was the remix version with Da Brat. She rapped over the same sample JLo used for I’m Real that Mariah originally wanted to use. This version is HORRIBLE!

  37. Skyfall February 16, 2014

    Mariah Carey sold over 30,000,000 million copies WW with one album
    It took Rihanna 7 albums to sell 30,000,000 WW

  38. Just Here for the Music February 16, 2014

    Hey guys I know this is off topic, but I didn’t really know where to post it.
    I found this chic from Sweden who just released 1 or 2 singles. She has a great voice and pretty damn good production. Give her a listen and let me know what you think.

    http://youtu.be/cDUC70KUzYo

  39. Rihanna Lately February 16, 2014

    @ 25 Rihanna has a $100M+ tour, she has endorsements, she’s critically acclaimed, has 13 #1s, selling out stadiums, she’s bigger than any musician right now @ the age of 25 tho. What about moo @ the age of 25? What are her achievements? I’m not here for inflated album sales that tommy bought

  40. Rihanna Lately February 16, 2014

    Rihanna has outsold Whitney Houston and is about to outsell Mariah Carey still @ her 20s. I see why you mad mooriah stan with stale inflated 90s sales.

  41. SLAYRIAH CAREY (TOUR DE FORCE) February 16, 2014

    @ the age of 25 Mariah became the first female to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100 (only second to MJ). One Sweet Day became the longest running #1 single of all time (second best selling female single in 1995 only after her own song Fantasy). @ 25 she received universal acclaim for her album Daydream which sold well over 20 million worldwide. She sold out Japan’s Tokyo Dome three times for her Daydream tour and was the fastest selling show in the stadium’s history. @ 25 MAriah had already sold well over 30 million albums in the US. @ 25 Mariah had an iconic Christmas album and Christmas single and are among the best selling holiday releases of all time.

  42. ANDIE February 16, 2014

    WHO?

  43. SLAYRIAH CAREY (TOUR DE FORCE) February 16, 2014

    Rih has not outsold Whitney. DEATH @ the delusions.

  44. Rihanna Lately February 16, 2014

    Mariah stans are pathetic

  45. SLAYRIAH CAREY (TOUR DE FORCE) February 16, 2014

    I’ll leave it @ that.

    *exits*

  46. Rihanna Lately February 16, 2014

    Rihanna will even outsell madonna bookmark me.

  47. Rosie February 16, 2014

    Mooriah can’t even get her own post without her stan starting s*** for nothing, sad life it lives.

    Lana’s shade towards Lorde on Twitter last night was epic. Too bad she un-faved the tweet. Not to mention those US dates she’s doing out west near Coachella all sold out within five minutes.

  48. JOSE February 16, 2014

    Lip synching fraud, Whitney Elizabeth the voice would never

  49. Stephy February 16, 2014

    This post is to start drama. Sam is mad about Mariah Carey not having herd Beyonce’s new song “Drunk In Love”…

    Why else is Sam posting articles about Mariah Carey’s past albums. If he was gonna post about Mimi’s past albums why could he not choose one of her 10 multiplatinum albums but instead he chooses her worst selling album.

    With that being said, Mariah Carey’s Glitter era was a hot mess. This song was not horrible but her vocals were terrible! This is aroung the time she started straining her vocals with that stupid mumbling/whispering singing insteed of just belting out the song. The Emancipation Of Mimi was a recover due to the fact that Mariah actually SANGED on that album instead of whispering. The album also had great R&B songs mixed with melodicly driven songs.

    Anyways, Mariah Carey did this to herself. She should’ve taken better care of her voice knowing the fact that she had nodules but she didn’t and now she is paying the price.

    Lucky she has already sold 200+ albums & 50 million singles around the world. Her royalty checks & net worth will be more than enough money to keep her multiple bank accounts full.

    One good thing about Glitter era is she was nice & skinny & beautiful. LOL

    In closing, Sam you need to get over yourself. Mariah Carey was not shadding that woman you praise as your God so get over yourself.

    Ps. Rihanna is NOWHERE near outselling Mariah Carey. Nor is she no where near out wealthing Mariah Carey.

    Rihanna: Sold 150,000,000+ Albums, Singles & Videos – Globaly

    Not 170,000,000+

    Goodbye.

  50. fatusankoh February 16, 2014

    You hatemongers live bey out of hatters mouth MC is know for her shadding ways and Sam always puts post that people want to see thanks Sam posting it I reamber it like is yesterday it was bad

  51. Theman February 16, 2014

    Beyonce has had many many flops, every song isn’t a hit. Lol @ Sam being this bitter because MC didnt hear “DIL” man up Sam.. This was still a huge hit in the US, he tried to use this as a way to be vindictive. What a hater.. This site is bottom of the barrel..

  52. Theman February 16, 2014

    Also, JLO is not youn ger than MC, what does all this have to do with this song.. This is a very poor article.. It’s a hate article.. Try again….

  53. YourMineEternal Mariah’s 19th #1 February 16, 2014

    I just wanna say im here for #SlayriahCarey (Tour De Force) U represent the lambily very well dahhhhhhhhhling!!! Mariah carey is the Grand diva of all time Rihanna is the Microwave diva of today that chick aint making classics records LIKE MIMI has and still is i cant understand how she keeps getting compared to mimi uggggh and to all yall hating on #YourMineEternal THE LAMBILY WILL MEET U ON THE HOT 100 this week no further comment!!

  54. Just sayin February 16, 2014

    I don’t see Beyonces name mentioned in the article. Lambs are obsessed with her. Doesn’t change the fact this song was a major fail.

  55. Common Sense February 16, 2014

    @Just Sayin Best selling single of 2001 was a major fail? Lol…

  56. Absolved February 16, 2014

    This song was a complete and utter flop. It was “the best selling single of 2001” simply because it was one of the very few songs commercially released in 2001. Back then singles were largely radio-only…or were given a very limited release before quickly being taken out of print.

    Radio play for this song was extremely poor and stations started deleting it from their playlist in the second week. The only reason this shot to #2 on the charts is because Virgin Records desperately priced the CD single at 49cents. However, Sony was able to vindictively block it from topping the charts by releasing…

    ::: drumroll :::

    “Bootylicious” by you know who! 😀

  57. My Gums Tho(aka Teacher) February 16, 2014

    Mariah’s a fat h** and her two kids are ugly af! Fat b****! BYE!

  58. Skyfall February 16, 2014

    Isn’t Rihanna being sued for her S&M video

  59. BEYONCE F****** BARAK OBAMA February 16, 2014

    Come on nobody can touch MARIAH i mean how dare u sam.

    Oh and #beyoncef****ourpresident.

  60. The Boy Toy February 16, 2014

    Lmao Mariah posts can never stay on topic.
    #ThatRihannaJuice
    #ThatBeyonceJuice

  61. My Gums Tho(aka Teacher) February 16, 2014

    Isn’t Adele still fat w/ 3 chins?

  62. Skyfall February 16, 2014

    Isn’t it true that Adele has sold more albums WW than Rihanna with 2 albums.
    Oppose to Rihanna’s 7, I love Rihanna so I hate to drag her but trying to shade
    Adele when you Stan for Rihanna, haha you b****** will never win.

  63. h2o February 16, 2014

    Wow, the song sucks sh*t. And MooRIP has officially (one of) the worst vocals of all time.

    Thank God I never heard of it before, much like all but probably 5 or 6 Moo songs. What a torture!

  64. My Gums Tho(aka Teacher) February 16, 2014

    Her 3 chins weigh more than Rihanna too! dont forget that! and her baby ugly too!

  65. YONCE AKA BEYONSLAY February 16, 2014

    ANOTHER ONE OF HER FORGETTABLE SINGLES!!! NO ONE REMEMBERS OR CARES ABOUT THIS SONG. #BOOTYLICIOUSSLAYEDIT

  66. IStanForYourFav February 16, 2014

    As a former Lamb I remember seeing this and thinking how beautiful she looked. I wanted an American flag bra, but I was 11 with no tits lol.

    Smh. Let’s just start out by saying Bootylicious (which got DC sued for stealing) didn’t slay anything. I remember buying and losing the single a week later and didn’t even give the slightest f***. They had better songs that year. What a lot of people don’t know is the music industry in 2001 wasn’t all that Glitters (see what I did there) with rainbows and butterflies. (See what I did there again) In 2001 so much changed music. Aaliyah passed two weeks before 9/11, and Invincible, Glitter, and a bunch more didn’t do the slayage that it was hyped up to do. (Even though I still listen to Im A S**** 4 U & All For You) So many iconic artists declined heavily. 2002 wasn’t that much better with Left Eye dying and the Just Whitney album. The media turned against all of those artists which is why MJ was sick of Sony and Mariah came crying to him on more than one occassion. It’s a sick industry, and instead of bashing these people, you would think one would be happy that they are still alive making music. Toni Braxton, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, and so many more deserve more than what you all give them & tjat includes this shady article.

    I’ll end saying this to Sam and every other “person” on this site… They don’t hate on you because you’re weak, they hate on you because you’re strong.

  67. ASBEENISH (IS IT ME OR IS U THIRST N****) February 16, 2014

    It wasn’t underrated it was just a s*** song song b****

  68. Toto February 16, 2014

    I saw in a previous Mariah post, TGJ called Mariah tacky… TGJ is a Beyonce fan and they’re calling someone else tacky?!?!?? LMAO Beyonce is an ignorant tacky mess and her fans prove that. They are as illiterate as she is. The illiterate trash queen.

  69. RUSTIC February 16, 2014

    This Mariah Carey music video was soft-p*** at best but I love it anyway.

  70. dont believe the hype February 16, 2014

    The lambs..smh..well the lambs up here. Most one’s I run into aren’t as mean. The REAL reason why this single was #1 seller of 2001

    “After the song’s release in the United States, “Loverboy” stalled on the Billboard Hot 100, leading Virgin to reduce the price to 49 cents. After the price cut, the song reached a peak of number two on the Hot 100, though failing top the chart due to weak radio airplay. Though finishing as the best-selling song of 2001 in the United States, “Loverboy” became Carey’s first lead single to not reach number one. Internationally, the song failed to garner strong charting, reaching the top-ten in Australia and Canada, and the top-twenty in Italy and the United Kingdom.

    THAT MEANS SHE CHEATED(LIKE SHE NORMALLY DOES)TO GET THAT RECOGNITION AND THAT TITLE AND STILL ONLY MANAGED TO ONLY GO GOLD. DONT GO THERE LAMBS I WAS OLD ENOUGH TO REMEMBER WHY NO ONE TAKES MARIAH CAREY SERIOUSLY! COME AT THESE TEENS ALL YOU WANT BUT LETS NOT EVEN GET INTO HER BEING BROUGHT OUT OF HER VIRGIN CONTRACT DUE TO VIRGIN RECORDS WANTING TO LET HER KEEP THE LAST SHRED OF DIGNITY SHE HAD AND NOT DROP HER,STRIPPING ON TRL,METAL BREAKDOWNS.IF THIS SONG WAS SUCH A HUGE HIT WHY DID IT END UP BEING #80 ON THE YEAR END HOT 100 CHARTS…EXACTLY! MARIAH CAREY IS A FRAUD! JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER POP STARLET AND MAJOR HIP-HOP/RAP ARTIST POST 1990.

  71. theman February 16, 2014

    No one takes u seriously ^^^^…. Take that bs novel else way !!!

  72. theman February 16, 2014

    Where* Releasing a single for cheaper pricing isn’t cheating. Plenty of artists do it.. No one is forcing u to purchase anything.. U basically rewrote what Sam did, nothing new. Both are failed points of view though..

  73. I’m that chick you like!!! February 17, 2014

    I actually loved this song I think her layers are brilliant in this!!! and stephy are you kidding me Mariah had some of her best vocals in that glitter album even the critics said that example- lead the way. tbh glitter is actually a good album compared to some albums released today.

  74. XoMoDe February 17, 2014

    This was hardly the first time Mariah attempted to manipulate the charts with a $.49 sales tag. She was FAMOUS for it in the 90’s. That’s how she got 1/2 her #1 singles. The first time I remember seeing that ridiculous price on one of her singles, it was on “One Sweet Day,” but I’m sure it was happening before that.

    At Sam Goody/Music Land, FYE/Record Town, etc., etc. there used to be Mariah single displays at the sales register with a big ass $.49 sticker on the cover of each CD/cassette. Virgin just copied Sony’s strategy when they saw that this song was sinking. I bet Mariah would salivate to use this tactic now, but with iTunes as the main retailer for singles these days she can’t.

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