MARIAH E=MC² l Watch TMB & Migrate @ SNL P.25

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Promo Photo



Release Date: April 15th

Tracklist l Writers & Producers :

• "Touch My Body" (C. Tricky Stewart, The-Dream)
• "Migrate" ft. T-Pain (Danja)
• "Heat" (Will.I.Am)
• "For Real, For Real" (Bryan Michael Cox, Taurian "Adonis" Shropshire)
• "That Chick" (Johnta Austin, Stargate)
• "Cruise Control" ft. Damien Marley
• "O.O.C" (Swizz Beats)
• "Bye Bye" (Johnta Austin, Stargate)
• "Love Story" (JD)
• "Loving You Long Time" (DJ Toomp)
• "Thanx for Nothin'" (Jermaine Dupri)
• "For the Record" (Bryan Michael Cox, Taurian "Adonis" Shropshire)
• "Last Kiss" (JD)
• "Side Effects" (Scott Stroch)
• "I Wish You Well" (James Poyser)

Executive Producers: Mariah Carey and Antonio "LA" Reid

WATCH TOUCH MY BODY VIDEO




HQ link

http://link.brightcove.co...1433966199


VH1 Previews E=MC²

Yesterday, Island/Def Jam honcho L.A. Reid hosted a few journalists in his office for a special preview of Mariah Carey's upcoming E=MC² album, tentatively due April 15. While Reid looked on, Mariah's A&R man and long-rumored beau Mark Sudack played 12 of the album's cuts from his laptop, often passionately (and adorably!) singing along. On the album, there was drama, there was death, there was disco. What follows is a track-by-track breakdown of our impressions of the album. Note that this isn't the final track sequence, that L.A. ticked off the producers list to us but it is by no means etched in stone and the tracks that we heard weren't always mastered.

One final note: so much of this album is sung in Mariah's chest voice. The vocal gymnastics and whistle notes, while there ('cause, duh, it's Mariah!), take a backseat to clear, purposeful singing, and Mariah sounds better for it. Oh yeah, Mimi's back.

1. "Migrate" (co-produced by Danja) -- After announcing itself with Mariah's patented whistle notes, this club track gets to bangin' and it takes that task really seriously. It's about as meta as a banger gets, with Mariah explaining during the chorus how her night goes: "From the car to the club / We migrate / From the bar to the V.I.P. / We migrate." And so it goes, from the party to the after party, from the after party to the hotel. There's a slight autotune effect on Mariah's voice on the last "migrate" of each chorus, which I assume is to put her on equal ground with the man she shares the mic with here. T-Pain, mercifully shows up for just a guest verse -- this is not a full-blown duet. It's a feisty track, with tough Storch-esque beats that Mariah's bravado attempts to match: "If you're inked up thuggin', that's what I like," she says. See, I always thought she went for the pretty boys. Already we're learning stuff!

2. "Touch My Body" (co-produced with Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and The-Dream) -- There isn't much to say about this ultra-femme track that wasn't said when it leaked. Hard to believe that that was only a little more than week ago -- in the time since, it's become so ubiquitous that it's kind of hard to imagine what radio was like before it. Even L.A. seemed taken aback by how quickly it has caught on -- he described the track's out-of-the-gate success as virtually accidental.

3. "Last Kiss" (co-produced by Jermaine Dupri) -- One of the album's many declarations of eternal love, this one is "We Belong Together, Part 35." It's nice but extremely safe. One thing that's very much in its favor are Mariah's vocals, which are nimble as they are in "We Belong Together" (she changes up her flow more times than I could count) and maybe more robust than they've sounded in over a decade. There's a nice little duet at the end of this one between Mariah's full chest voice and her higher register. Of course, if she didn't show off that stellar natural resource, this wouldn't be a Mariah Carey album.

4. "Lovin' You Long Time" (co-produced by DJ Toomp) -- Pure and utter joy is this one, which is most reminiscent of the lovely Mimi outtake "When I Feel It." Except this one's, like, 10 times better. The chorus of DeBarge's "Stay With Me" is the foundation of this track (as opposed to the verses, which provided the foundation for the single remix of Biggie's "One More Chance" and Ashanti's "Foolish," among tracks). However, the sample sounds more weathered, and overall, the track comes off as a '60s throwback rather than an '80s one. One hundred percent feel-good and packing in a killer breakdown and conclusion that's a wall of Mariah voices, this was the first song that felt like the work of unstoppable pop genius.

5. "Thanx for Nothin'" (co-produced by Jermaine Durpri) -- A mid-tempo ballad that sports a beat rougher than anything Jermaine Dupri has laid down for Mariah and a guitar line not unlike Mimi's "So Lonely" (though this track is more sassy and less dour than that), "Thanx" suggests that Mariah and Jermaine aren't sentenced to live in the shadow of their former glory and can actually make relatively new sounds together. Lyrically, this break-up track is a cross between the self-deprecating "Mine Again" ("I never knew enough about you, babe / And I guess I only have myself to blame") and the streetwise posturing of "Get Your Number" ("Seems like all I do is think about your pseudo-romance / While you're somewhere burnin' diesel in the streets, havin' laughs"). Mariah packs in so many lyrics that she barely has time to sing them, and sort of just growls them. It's not nearly as ridiculous as that description might make it sound.

6. "That Chick" (co-produced by Stargate) -- Instant. Classic. An absolutely brilliant disco track that plays on Mariah's strengths and sexiness without ever crossing the line into indulgence. It's slick, it's chic (and Chic, with its slap-you-on-the-ass bass line), it's silly ("La da da a oooh wee-wee" goes the bit between the chorus and the verses) and it carries a killer middle 8 that's as exhilarating as the one in Michael Jackson's "P.Y.T." (you know, the best part of one of the best songs ever that goes, "Don't you know nowwwww / Is the perfect time..."?). Mariah makes references to 2Pac and Biggie, compares herself to ice cream and the lottery and maybe even references the long-lost track from the Charmbracelet sessions "Touch the Sky." Oh, and also she delivers the most her line of her career, complete with a 10-cent word: "I brings that levity." Maybe one day they'll bottle the essence of Mariah, but until then, we have "That Chick" and I seriously am counting down the days till I can hear this track again. This needs to be a single, like, now, and Mariah needs to dust off those "Heartbreaker" remix roller skates for the video, pronto.

7. "Cruise Control" (co-produced by Jermaine Dupri) -- Another J.D. track that deviates from what could have been a detrimental pattern, this is a reggae-lite extended car metaphor ("I need a caddy wit some cruise control," belts Mariah). The chorus consists of her spelling out, "C-R-U-I-S-E control" and the second verse finds Mariah adopting a Jamaican affect for kicks: "When da door open I de gals pon de block / They be hop-on, to rob the clock / Me say no mam / Step up step up / Bottle broken / Tink I'm jokin'." Seriously, she says that. Damien Marley gets a guest verse, and I have to say, his shtick is a little more convincing.

8. "Side Effects" (co-produced by Scott Storch) -- You know how sometimes Southern rap almost has a heavy metal feel? Mariah and Storch exploit that by turning out a Southern-fried power ballad that's a thinly veiled portrait of her time under Tommy Mottola's reign ("Hell we built, and I dealt with it…Kept my tears inside ‘cause I knew if I started, I'd keep cryin' for the rest of my life with you / I finally built up the strength to walk away / Don't regret it…"). For someone as guarded as Mariah is publicly, it's shockingly frank (she alludes to "violent times") and really naked (the titular side effects refer to the toll the relationship has taken on her: she's "still a little depressed inside" and "still a little defensive thinkin' folks be tryin' to run my life"). This is another highlight, and having a rapper so associated with drugs (Jeezy) on a track called "Side Effects" that isn't about drugs at all, only makes things cleverer.

9. "Love Story" (co-produced by Jermaine Dupri) -- Anther ode to endless love ("This ain't no fairy tale or fiction / This is truly ours for eternity"), this ballad is more of the baby-making ilk. It's like Prince-lite with a synthesized beat a la "The Beautiful Ones," but not as effects-laden (i.e. the beat doesn't have the backwards sound). The melody is reminiscent of Mimi's "Joyride," and that should give you an indication of how sweet this track is.

10. "OOC" (co-produced by Swizz Beatz) -- This one has a pummeling thump so pronounced, it's somewhat surprising that it's not the work of Stargate or Tricky. "OOC" stands for "out of control," and while the track isn't exactly wild, it's a fun mix of The-Dream's "Ditch That N…" with a melody like Blu Cantrell's "Hit ‘Em Up Style." Besides the hypnotic refrain of "Forever and ever," the track is most notable for including the word motherf***er. As in, "I know y'all motherf***ers feel like we / When you're messin' with the one true lova / That makes you OOC." Hardcore!

11. "Bye Bye" (co-produced by Stargate) -- When Mariah first started promoting Mimi, she described "We Belong Together" as a cross between "Breakdown" and "One Sweet Day." That description is infinitely more appropriate for "Bye Bye," a song about death that's "for my people who just lost somebody," "for my people who lost their grandmothers" and seemingly for Mariah's departed father, Alfred Roy ("You never got to see me back at No. 1"). It's nice that Mariah's on a confessional kick, although a track with the "We Belong Together" sonic template and lyrics tailored appeal to everyone on such a basic level seems like too easy of a combination for someone as established as Mimi. This one's like insurance -- in case nothing else is a hit, here's a sure-shot. But ultimately, it turns out that the album is too good for that.

12. "I Wish You Well" (co-produced by James Poyser) -- We were told that this was hot off the presses and a very rough version of the song, but even in its unpolished state, it was a stunner. A piano ballad that features Mariah, some gospel-tinged backing vocals, a piano and that's it, this track is a throwback to the fan-favorite "Vanishing" from her 1990 debut. Part feisty ("You can't manipulate me like before") and totally spiritual (Mariah name-checks a bible verse in the chorus, although I couldn't catch exactly what it was, and she ends the song repeating, "The Lord is my salvation / I will trust in him"), "I Wish You Well" will have fans wetting themselves. It's gorgeous and in its simplistic way, the type of risk that Mariah should take more often.

The risky moments on the album ("Lovin' You Long Time," "That Chick," "Side Effects" and "I Wish You Well") bode well for the future. Though E=MC² feels extremely safe, there's enough variation to signify some artistic growth. She's cranking out hits and that's fine because that's what she's always done (hitmaking is her medium), but when she goes out of the Top 40 comfort zone, the album truly soars. Over 10 years after she first sang about it, it's only now that Mariah has worked up the courage to really spread her wings. The next question is: how high can they take her?

Source: VH1


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Roger Friedman Previews Mariah's New Album

Yesterday I spent more than an hour up at Island/DefJam Records previewing the new CDs from Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey. Each is highly anticipated, and with good reason. They're pretty damn good.

Carey's CD, called E=MC², is probably the more anticipated if only because her prior release, Emancipation of Mimi, was such a phenomenal success. Buoyed by several hits including "We Belong Together," "Don't Forget About Us," Emancipation spent months on the charts and won a number of Grammys. It re-established Mariah as a superstar after her failed Glitter project and subsequent Charmbracelet.

E=MC² (a play on the previous album's title) should have a pretty big impact when it hits the world on April 15th. Already the single, "Touch My Body," with its refrain "I will hunt you down" has taken off at radio. It doesn't hurt that it bears a resemblance to "We Belong Together." But the new single is catchy in its own right, and has an independent hook designed to be addictive.

I heard eight other tracks yesterday, but since the album isn't sequenced yet I can't tell you where they fall in order. In the order I enjoyed them came first "Bye, Bye" a powerful ballad that should be a single and will probably close the album. It's a natural singalong in concert, too, which could make it not only wildly popular but a possible Grammy contender next year. Look out.

The next most commercial number is "Thanks For Nothing," a witty and rueful tune with another great melody courtesy of Jermaine Dupri and Carey. As on "Bye Bye," Carey's vocals are superb. Her infamous eight octave range has suffered a little wear and tear over the years, but Carey can still flutter from great highs to mellow lows like no one else.

Some other highlights I heard included "Cruise Control," featuring Damian Marley with a driving reggae subtext; "Migrate" with T Pain, which should be a single and perhaps the album's kick off track; "Last Kiss," with Dupri on vocals; a breathy disco dance hit called "I'm That Chick," and an out and out pop song, "Loving You a Long Time," which samples DeBarge's "Stay with Me" and recalls the melodic riff of the "Hill Street Blues" theme music.

The one thing I kept thinking from track to track is that Carey and her crew have put a lot of work into making E=MC² not just a hit, but a sustainable success. There's enough in the package that it will last as long as "Emancipation," spinning off singles, remixes, and videos.

Source: Roger Friedman - Fox News
[Edited 2/15/08 7:33am]

Amazingly exciting review:

That Chick Out of Control!


Mariah's new album, tentatively titled That Chick, saw collaborations with T Pain, Young Jeezy and Damien Marley[/b] with production by her long time friend and producer Jermaine Dupri, Will I Am, Rodney Jerkins and The Dream.

The new music with catchier hooks and melodies than ever, even sees Mariah taking on an exciting new musical adventure where she sings in Jamaican patois on her Damien Marley duet "Cruise Control" where she references "dramas" and "baby mamas" and like your favorite rap star Mariah throws down a new Mariahism ("you love yourself some me!") soon as the album gets into the public domain.

Urban music lovers in the house were really excited about that track as well as hip-hop banger "Heat" produced by Will I Am, "For Real,For Real", and "Migrate" where 2007's hit man T Pain hooks up with Mariah but it was the title track "That Chick" with its double entendres which includes a tip of the hat to Michael Jackson with references to his "Of The Wall Classics" that had pop chart taste makers excited claiming it was the number 1 track on the album closely followed by likely international pop hit "Love You Long Time".

In typical Mariah fashion there were the legendary ballads "Love Story" and tear jerker "Bye Bye" (an ode to people who have passed away) that will have reality pop contestants singing away for decades to come!

One track titled "O.O.C" summed up the night and the return of Mariah - once the albums out it's gonna be "Out Of Control!".

To recap, here are the confirmed tracks from the new, tentatively-titled Mariah Carey album, That Chick:

• "Touch My Body"
• "Migrate" ft. T-Pain
• "Heat"
• "For Real, For Real"
• "That Chick"
• "Cruise Control" ft. Damien Marley
• "O.O.C"
• "Bye Bye"
• "Love Story"
• "Love You Long Time"
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Cool cover, but I thought she was sitting on the chair when I first saw it, lol.

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE from MARIAHCAREY.COM

MARIAH CAREY ANNOUNCES E=MC² !! NEW ALBUM IN STORES APRIL 15th - FOLLOWS-UP WORLDWIDE 10 MILLION-SELLING, MULTI-GRAMMY WINNING THE EMANCIPATION OF MIMI

"Touch My Body" first single hits radio February 12th, written and produced by Mariah Carey, C. "Tricky" Stewart and The-Dream- video directed by Brett Ratner, premiere to be announced (February 12, 2008 - New York, NY) Performer and songwriter Mariah Carey has set April 15th as the in-store date for the most eagerly anticipated album of the year, E=MC². The 11th studio album of her career, E=MC² is the follow-up to The Emancipation Of Mimi, Mariah's worldwide 10 million selling #1 album, which generated three Grammy awards (including Best Contemporary R&B Album), 2 #1 singles and countless more industry honors during its 18-month stay on the charts.

The first single from E=MC² is "Touch My Body," written and produced by Mariah Carey, C. "Tricky" Stewart, and The-Dream, and blasting out worldwide on February 12th. The video for "Touch My Body" was directed by feature filmmaker Brett Ratner - internet, cable and network premieres for the video will be announced in the weeks ahead. In addition to C. "Tricky" Stewart and The-Dream, other guest producers joining Mariah on E=MC² will include Jermaine Dupri, DJ Toomp, Stargate, Will I Am, Bryan Michael Cox, Nate "Danjahandz" Hills and James Poyser. E=MC² is executive produced by Mariah Carey and Antonio "LA" Reid, Chairman, Island Def Jam Music Group.

The Emancipation Of Mimi, released April 12, 2005, was an industry phenomenon for the mega-platinum award-winning superstar - Soundscan's biggest-selling album of the year, bringing total sales of Mariah's albums, singles and videos to more than 160 million worldwide, making her the most successful female recording artist in history. Mimi featured "We Belong Together" (winner of the Best Female R&B Vocal and Best R&B Song Grammys) and "Don't Forget About Us," Mariah's 16th and 17th #1 career singles respectively. They tied one of the most enduring chart records in Billboard Hot 100 history, Elvis Presley's 17 #1's. Mariah is now positioned as the only active recording artist in the 48 years of the Hot 100 (which began in 1958) with the potential to surpass the Beatles' all-time high of 20 #1 hits.
[Edited 2/22/08 13:29pm]

Billboard Reviews Touch My Body

Oh, Mariah, where have you been? It's been four long years since your triumphant return with "We Belong Together," and three since last hit "Don't Forget About Us." Granted, you disillusioned once or twice, tip-toeing into hip-hop-but you've long been forgiven for the likes of "Boy (I Need You)" with Cam'ron and "I Know What You Want" with Busta Rhymes. "Touch My Body," the first single from 11th studio album "E=MC2" (April 15), is a No. 1 just waiting to pounce the Billboard Hot 100. Written by Carey with The-Dream-who penned Grammy Award-winning radio staple "Umbrella" for Rihanna-this sensual jam is 100% Mariah, packed with satisfying harmonic layers and hooky background "oh's," supersonic verses and a chorus as catchy as a winter sniffle. According to mariahdaily.com, 65 stations played the song five hours after its digital release to radio. Smells like a smash and looks like 2008=MC's 18th year of chart-toppers. -Chuck Taylor
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I'm afraid. Very afraid.

I'm looking forward to "This Can't Be Good"... I was relating to Janet's short description of it (in the sticky somewhere)

JackieBlue said:

Thanks for the great news!

I love Janet's cover....

I really dont like 'That Chick' as MC's album title if that is indeed true. I just think it's so juvenile for a 38 year old woman to call her album 'That Chick' especially if 'chick' is referring to herself. That's kind of a let down considering the grandiose title of 'The Emancipation of Mimi' that created the feeling that this was not just another album but an event. To follow 'Mimi' with 'That Chick' would be a bad bad idea...the rumored 'Sweet Soul Odyssey' was a much better title....like she's gonna take us on a trip or something....

just my 2 cents!

I'm still excited for both albums..

peace

i was rooting for that Odyssy title too but damn i lost all focus the 2nd i saw that cover and got HIT by the fact that the project is near

i'm wondering though why write a Grandmother song now?

not that it's too deep but just thinking

Timmy84 said:

Cinnie said:

Timmy84 said:

Cinnie said:

well, what's behind her leg? it looks like a chair

LOL, it could be a chair, but the way it looks like, it's like she's bending over.

PricelessHo said:

i was rooting for that Odyssy title too but damn i lost all focus the 2nd i saw that cover and got HIT by the fact that the project is near

PricelessHo said:

Timmy84 said:

LOL, it could be a chair, but the way it looks like, it's like she's bending over.

is it me or does that hat shadow also look like a nipple

PricelessHo said:

i'm wondering though why write a Grandmother song now?

not that it's too deep but just thinking

Cinnie said:

PricelessHo said:

i was rooting for that Odyssy title too but damn i lost all focus the 2nd i saw that cover and got HIT by the fact that the project is near

Remind me, when are these supposed to be released?

PricelessHo said:

JackieBlue said:

Stop it!

Love the hat. She should be wearing but then I guess we'd see more than a nipple.

I think the Mariah cover would be a whole lot better if she were wearing a simple dress or something elegant. Instead of a hat.

"That Chick" is a truly bad title, and it sounds like she is taking a big step backward after the promise of Mimi. T-Pain???

wait wait WAIT:


Label boss Reid seemed very excited about both of them, although that is his job, and mentioned plans for six singles from Mariah's That Chick, which hits the stores in April.

!!!!!

PricelessHo said:

VoicesCarry said:

Cinnie said:

PricelessHo said:

Cinnie said:

Why can't she be in a dress?

age is a bitch, cinnie

in between

Cinnie said: