September 27, 2013
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Mariah Carey is showing signs that her oft-delayed album, The Art of Letting Go, may include contributions from one of hip-hop's best lyricists.

Two weeks ago after Mariah teased an Instagram picture of herself in the studio with Jermaine Dupri and Mike WiLL Made It, she's now revealed that she's logged studio time with Nas.

The pair were snapped together alongside JD during a late-night session into early Friday morning to work on the follow-up to Carey's 2009 effort, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel. The accompanying caption reads, "This album.......!"

The pair previously collaborated on the 2000 remix to "Thank God I Found You."

There's still no confirmed launch date for The Art of Letting Go, which was initially slated to hit stores last July.

Another album with half of the rap industry on it.

I'm a big Mariah fan but not getting my hopes up about this album We know she's a perfectionist but it's never a good sign when an album's release is pushed back, especially to a big name like her. I have a feeling she has recorded at least 100 tracks and keeps throwing them out

How was the album officially scheduled to be released in July if she still keeps recording?!

And was it seriously delayed because Mariah/her label were afraid it wasn't "strong" enough so they add different songs to ensure success? I really hope Mariah does not expect this album to get much attention, her previous one 4 years ago barely went Gold...

Nas? Jermaine Dupri? This album seems like it's gonna be business as usual Every other track will feature a rapper....there will be a hip-hop sound throughout....and I'm sure she''ll do the obligatory remake of a big 80s rock ballad.

LiveToTell86 said:

How was the album officially scheduled to be released in July if she still keeps recording?!

And was it seriously delayed because Mariah/her label were afraid it wasn't "strong" enough so they add different songs to ensure success? I really hope Mariah does not expect this album to get much attention, her previous one 4 years ago barely went Gold...

It keeps getting delayed because the first two singles ("Trumphant" and "Beautiful") didn't exactly set the world on fire.Either she or her record company are afraid to release it without a strong lead-off hit single.So,back to the drawing board

^It is practically impossible for her to score a bigger hit than "#Beautiful" now, she was on one of the biggest tv shows at that time, now she lacks that hype as well. She's already 44 and she won't be as played and downloaded as Katy Perry or Miley Cyrus. She should not mistreat the fans with delays and false promises because she cannot accept her lack of relevancy.

SoulAlive said:

LiveToTell86 said:

How was the album officially scheduled to be released in July if she still keeps recording?!

And was it seriously delayed because Mariah/her label were afraid it wasn't "strong" enough so they add different songs to ensure success? I really hope Mariah does not expect this album to get much attention, her previous one 4 years ago barely went Gold...

It keeps getting delayed because the first two singles ("Trumphant" and "Beautiful") didn't exactly set the world on fire.Either she or her record company are afraid to release it without a strong lead-off hit single.So,back to the drawing board

I really liked beautiful, should have been a bigger hit. Her vocals were strong and not over the top, Miguel and her are a good combination.....

SoulAlive said:

and I'm sure she''ll do the obligatory remake of a big 80s rock ballad.

Well, now these days I hope so.. it's one of the only times she might indulge in a few notes outside of her commercial register.

Honestly with Mariah its basically this, she is chasing something that does not exist anymore. She needs people around her that tell her NO your days of radio play and charts are done, people dont even get it, the charts now are a whole new ballgame, radio play, age, everything, you know when she had her last BIG hit with MIMI she was a 36 year old woman and that was pushing it, BUT make no mistake that album was a fluke, it was struggling and its first single was not a big success, it wasnt till the second single that the thing took off, but that day is gone. Lets face that if you take away MIMI, Mariahs sales have dropped way off, and so have everyones, thats reality, I think she needs to just make a solid record, forget chasing the hit single that to be honest are so forgettable from her, her last few releases have offered nothing, the last few singles are barely even her on them, which shows lack of confidence in her music. Her best bet now, to be honest would be NOT RECORD for awhile or put together some sort of tour, but something like a residency, maybe LA or NY or Vegas somethng to get her back out there then work in some new stuff, but lose the rap a month club shit, the 90's are almost 30 years ago at this point, its done.

Shard said:

I'm a big Mariah fan but not getting my hopes up about this album We know she's a perfectionist but it's never a good sign when an album's release is pushed back, especially to a big name like her. I have a feeling she has recorded at least 100 tracks and keeps throwing them out

I feel the same about Anita and Chaka. Anita's album has been delayed for a year now. Chaka's album was supposed to be released in July along with Mimi's album and Chaka's has yet to surface and she's not saying why. Chakaholics are not happy because there is still not even a tenative release date and she's not giving us any updates. Chaka's last album was delayed for like a couple of years. She had collabs with Jill Scott and Charlie Wilson, along with songs she was working on with other producers that all ended up in the can.

Both C.K. and Anita claim that the albums are done. I'm not sure what they story is behind Anita's mutiple delays since she is signed to a label (the first single was released almost a year ago!) but I think Chaka's problem may be she can't find anyone who's going to give her a lucrative distribution deal. In March, she said the album was finished but, because she's not with a label, she was shopping it around for distribution. Same with Jody Watley. Hasn't her album been delayed for like a year now?

Veteran artists (except Charlie Wilson) are really sufferring because either they can't find decent distribution deals or they are under too much pressure to release "contemporary-sounding" music, which they really have no business being pressured to do if they are over the age of 40. Mariah is lucky. Contemporary or not, ner new releases are guaranteed to at least crack the Top Ten on the Billboard Albums charts. Many of her peers are releasing albums that are either charting moderately, low or aren't charting at all. I wish her the best.

[Edited 9/29/13 9:15am]

All I know is Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel was 4 years ago. I know someone that started school and already graduated in that time. We had a Christmas album in 2010 to tide us over, but she didn't tour with that one either.

I know she started a family in 2011 and Nick Cannon had a health scare in 2012, but it's almost 2014.

I can't believe she didn't follow up "Beautiful" (ft. Miguel) with an album this year! I wonder what Def Jam Music Group is telling her.

robertlove said:

SoulAlive said:

It keeps getting delayed because the first two singles ("Trumphant" and "Beautiful") didn't exactly set the world on fire.Either she or her record company are afraid to release it without a strong lead-off hit single.So,back to the drawing board

I really liked beautiful, should have been a bigger hit. Her vocals were strong and not over the top, Miguel and her are a good combination.....

I liked "#Beautiful" as well, and it was a moderate hit. I think what stopped it from being bigger was her flubbed performances. For whatever reason, she had a couple of REALLY bad days. That GMA performance was the worst I had ever seen/heard her. Her whistle register notes were always on point in any live performance (it was her belting notes she's had trouble with in the last 10 years) but that day nothing was working for her.

kitbradley said:

Shard said:

I'm a big Mariah fan but not getting my hopes up about this album We know she's a perfectionist but it's never a good sign when an album's release is pushed back, especially to a big name like her. I have a feeling she has recorded at least 100 tracks and keeps throwing them out

I feel the same about Anita and Chaka. Anita's album has been delayed for a year now. Chaka's album was supposed to be released in July along with Mimi's album and Chaka's has yet to surface and she's not saying why. Chakaholics are not happy because there is still not even a tenative release date and she's not giving us any updates. Chaka's last album was delayed for like a couple of years. She had collabs with Jill Scott and Charlie Wilson, along with songs she was working on with other producers that all ended up in the can.

Both C.K. and Anita claim that the albums are done. I'm not sure what they story is behind Anita's mutiple delays since she is signed to a label (the first single was released almost a year ago!) but I think Chaka's problem may be she can't find anyone who's going to give her a lucrative distribution deal. In March, she said the album was finished but, because she's not with a label, she was shopping it around for distribution. Same with Jody Watley. Hasn't her album been delayed for like a year now?

Veteran artists (except Charlie Wilson) are really sufferring because either they can't find decent distribution deals or they are under too much pressure to release "contemporary-sounding" music, which they really have no business being pressured to do if they are over the age of 40. Mariah is lucky. Contemporary or not, ner new releases are guaranteed to at least crack the Top Ten on the Billboard Albums charts. Many of her peers are releasing albums that are either charting moderately, low or aren't charting at all. I wish her the best.

[Edited 9/29/13 9:15am]

I agree about Chaka, Anita and Charlie. Mariah isn't quite as old as them so it should be still possible for her to get at least 1 more hit. Her album should sell reasonably well too. Hell, JLo went to #3 with "On The Floor" when she was on American Idol and she was around 40 years old then.

kitbradley said:

Chaka's album was supposed to be released in July along with Mimi's album and Chaka's has yet to surface and she's not saying why. Chakaholics are not happy because there is still not even a tenative release date and she's not giving us any updates. Chaka's last album was delayed for like a couple of years. She had collabs with Jill Scott and Charlie Wilson, along with songs she was working on with other producers that all ended up in the can.

I think Chaka's problem may be she can't find anyone who's going to give her a lucrative distribution deal. In March, she said the album was finished but, because she's not with a label, she was shopping it around for distribution.

It's a shame,because I thought this was gonna be a big year for Chaka She mentioned that the I-Khan project would actually consist of several new albums of different genres.We did get a first single,but it really wasn't all that great.I hope she can still salvage this project and release it before the end of the year.

raffi said:

SoulAlive said: LiveToTell86 said: How was the album officially scheduled to be released in July if she still keeps recording?! And was it seriously delayed because Mariah/her label were afraid it wasn't "strong" enough so they add different songs to ensure success? I really hope Mariah does not expect this album to get much attention, her previous one 4 years ago barely went Gold... It keeps getting delayed because the first two singles ("Trumphant" and "Beautiful") didn't exactly set the world on fire.Either she or her record company are afraid to release it without a strong lead-off hit single.So,back to the drawing board Umm, Beautiful went platinum. And, because the million sold was through Itunes you can't shout that it was shipped or reduced in price. Lord knows, it sold more than Gimme All Your Luvin. You are right about her last album barely going gold. Too bad she can't do that that ticket bundling thing Madonna did to inflate her sales. And, I know you're not getting on Mariah for using rappers when Madonna had two on her first single.

Yeah,but Madonna's albums don't feature rappers on every other track.Mariah just makes the same album over and over.You can't say that about Madonna.

lastdecember said:

Honestly with Mariah its basically this, she is chasing something that does not exist anymore. She needs people around her that tell her NO your days of radio play and charts are done, people dont even get it, the charts now are a whole new ballgame, radio play, age, everything, you know when she had her last BIG hit with MIMI she was a 36 year old woman and that was pushing it, BUT make no mistake that album was a fluke, it was struggling and its first single was not a big success, it wasnt till the second single that the thing took off, but that day is gone. Lets face that if you take away MIMI, Mariahs sales have dropped way off, and so have everyones, thats reality, I think she needs to just make a solid record, forget chasing the hit single that to be honest are so forgettable from her, her last few releases have offered nothing, the last few singles are barely even her on them, which shows lack of confidence in her music. Her best bet now, to be honest would be NOT RECORD for awhile or put together some sort of tour, but something like a residency, maybe LA or NY or Vegas somethng to get her back out there then work in some new stuff, but lose the rap a month club shit, the 90's are almost 30 years ago at this point, its done.

Totally

[Edited 9/30/13 8:09am]

Am I the only one who likes the rap features on Mariah's albums?

raffi said:

SoulAlive said: raffi said: SoulAlive said: LiveToTell86 said: How was the album officially scheduled to be released in July if she still keeps recording?! And was it seriously delayed because Mariah/her label were afraid it wasn't "strong" enough so they add different songs to ensure success? I really hope Mariah does not expect this album to get much attention, her previous one 4 years ago barely went Gold... It keeps getting delayed because the first two singles ("Trumphant" and "Beautiful") didn't exactly set the world on fire.Either she or her record company are afraid to release it without a strong lead-off hit single.So,back to the drawing board Umm, Beautiful went platinum. And, because the million sold was through Itunes you can't shout that it was shipped or reduced in price. Lord knows, it sold more than Gimme All Your Luvin. You are right about her last album barely going gold. Too bad she can't do that that ticket bundling thing Madonna did to inflate her sales. And, I know you're not getting on Mariah for using rappers when Madonna had two on her first single. Yeah,but Madonna's albums don't feature rappers on every other track.Mariah just makes the same album over and over.You can't say that about Madonna. Yeah, Memoirs her last album had NO RAPPERS on it at all. So, you don't even know what you're talking about. Madonna actually had more rappers on her last album than Mariah did. You're right about Mariah making the same album over and over again. Lord knows, Butterfly sounds exactly like Emotions. You're just another Madonna fan that only hates Mariah because she wouldn't let Madonna bitch her down. Next!

[Edited 9/30/13 8:09am]

No one is going back that far in comparing Mariah's material because that's when

she she was still at her peak artistically. People are generally comparing all her

work dating back to Mimi as being similar with the slew of the latest rappers. No she

didn't have any rappers appearing on the Memoirs album physically but she's using

the same producers that lace her songs with the same lame hip hop beats on much

of the material. I haven't bought a Mariah album since MiMi and even that one has

a slew of rap artists on it paticularly the Deluxe Edition which i have and that album

is marginally decent based on a few tracks.

raffi said:

SoulAlive said: raffi said: SoulAlive said: LiveToTell86 said: How was the album officially scheduled to be released in July if she still keeps recording?! And was it seriously delayed because Mariah/her label were afraid it wasn't "strong" enough so they add different songs to ensure success? I really hope Mariah does not expect this album to get much attention, her previous one 4 years ago barely went Gold... It keeps getting delayed because the first two singles ("Trumphant" and "Beautiful") didn't exactly set the world on fire.Either she or her record company are afraid to release it without a strong lead-off hit single.So,back to the drawing board Umm, Beautiful went platinum. And, because the million sold was through Itunes you can't shout that it was shipped or reduced in price. Lord knows, it sold more than Gimme All Your Luvin. You are right about her last album barely going gold. Too bad she can't do that that ticket bundling thing Madonna did to inflate her sales. And, I know you're not getting on Mariah for using rappers when Madonna had two on her first single. Yeah,but Madonna's albums don't feature rappers on every other track.Mariah just makes the same album over and over.You can't say that about Madonna. Yeah, Memoirs her last album had NO RAPPERS on it at all. So, you don't even know what you're talking about. Madonna actually had more rappers on her last album than Mariah did. You're right about Mariah making the same album over and over again. Lord knows, Butterfly sounds exactly like Emotions. You're just another Madonna fan that only hates Mariah because she wouldn't let Madonna bitch her down. Next!

LOL...I don't even "hate" Mariah.I think she's very talented.I just think she's on auto-pilot when it comes to making music these days.She's become artistically lazy...afraid to take chances.

I'd like to see her cover compositions written by Ellington, Berlin, and Porter, reunite with producer Walter Afanasieff or embark on a

hits tour. At this juncture, I'd take everything over what's she's doing now, which is guest rapper muck.

[Edited 9/30/13 9:36am]

lastdecember said:

Honestly with Mariah its basically this, she is chasing something that does not exist anymore. She needs people around her that tell her NO your days of radio play and charts are done, people dont even get it, the charts now are a whole new ballgame, radio play, age, everything, you know when she had her last BIG hit with MIMI she was a 36 year old woman and that was pushing it, BUT make no mistake that album was a fluke, it was struggling and its first single was not a big success, it wasnt till the second single that the thing took off, but that day is gone. Lets face that if you take away MIMI, Mariahs sales have dropped way off, and so have everyones, thats reality, I think she needs to just make a solid record, forget chasing the hit single that to be honest are so forgettable from her, her last few releases have offered nothing, the last few singles are barely even her on them, which shows lack of confidence in her music. Her best bet now, to be honest would be NOT RECORD for awhile or put together some sort of tour, but something like a residency, maybe LA or NY or Vegas somethng to get her back out there then work in some new stuff, but lose the rap a month club shit, the 90's are almost 30 years ago at this point, its done.

Agree!

I really hate to see artists of her calibar revert to things like this but with Mariah its almost like a broken record with what her problem is I personally feel she should just stop recording all together since her heart is obviously not in it. She should just take a couple of years off, re group and maybe think about taking up residency in Vegas. I just dont understand how people who call themselves artists, come out with the same uninspired crap. Mariah has nothing to prove... she has the voice, she has the album sales, the classics, the critical acclaim etc. So not sure why she feels she has to chase the radio for quick hits that just water down her legacy. She comes off very insecure artistically...

WatchThemFall said:

Am I the only one who likes the rap features on Mariah's albums?

yes you are

WatchThemFall said:

Am I the only one who likes the rap features on Mariah's albums?

I think Mimi's problem is, as far as the guest rappers are concerned, sometimes she has them where they are not even necessary (Mary J. sometimes suffers from the same problem). There have been some songs where I actually didn't mind the rappers. But, you should never allow a guest performer (rapper or vocalist) to over-shadow you on your own songs (i.e., "Triumphant").

"Merry Christmas II You" proved that Mimi has absolutely NO problem holding her own as a vocalist without any assistance from guest performers. Unfortunately, her later secular albums too often times appear to find her chasing trends. But, unlike a lot of her peers, these are trends I feel she is not being forced into chasing. Remember, Hip-Hop R&B is the type of music she wanted to do since Day #1. Mottola was forcing her into doing the more Adult R&B/Pop music during the initial stages of her career. Mimi is a Legend. She's 43 years old. She's one of the best-selling female artists of all time, so, since she has achieved this status, she can pretty much record the type of music she wants to and not be overly-concerned about huge sales anymore.