She Plays Music |
| Is Mariah Carey Changing Her Style Too Much? Posted: 16 Jun 2009 03:51 PM PDT Mariah Carey is back in the studio and is working on her upcoming album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, which will be released on August 25, 2009. I'm looking forward to hearing all of it because the first single I've been following Mariah's career since I saw her featured as a promising new artist on BET. That was almost twenty years ago and her journey from then until now was mostly smooth until she suffered an emotional breakdown. Her 1990 debut album, Mariah Carey, produced hits like "Vision of Love" and "Someday" and established her as a talented artist with a unique range (those high notes made her instantly recognizable). She followed up the effort with Emotions (1991), an MTV Unplugged Album (1992) and the hugely successful Music Box (1993) and Daydream (1995). During this time, she was being being managed by Columbia Records executive, Tommy Mottola, whom The effects of the split were immediately obvious when Mariah released the video for "Honey" which was the first track off of her 1997 album, Butterfly. She had clearly had plastic surgery (cheeks, breasts, etc…) and the video (featuring Puff Daddy and Mase) was probably her sexiest to date. I won't even go into how sensual and haunting "My All" was/is so, if her goal was to unveil a brand-new Mariah, she succeeded.
Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse for Mariah. Despite all of her success, there were reports that Mariah had suffered a physical and emotional breakdown after an ugly separation from Columbia Records (she ended up signing with EMI’s Virgin Records). It seemed like, all of a sudden, Mariah was complaining about being overworked and started acting strangely. During an infamous appearance on MTV's Total Request Live, she actually started handing out popsicles to the audience and began performing what looked like a strip tease. I don't think anyone was shocked when she checked into a hospital within days. As if fate was looking to kick her while she was down, her semi-autobiographical film, Glitter, basically bombed at the box-office (and with critics) as did the soundtrack. By the time her 2002 album, Charmbracelet, rolled around, I was almost convinced that her career was over. It was so bad that I couldn't even bring myself to buy a copy. I was significantly buoyed, however, by her duet with Busta Rhymes, "I Know What You Want" since I thought it was her best effort in a while. In 2005, she released the The Emancipation of Mimi and I know that it was popular and was her best-selling album in the U.S. since Daydream but I just never liked it. I thought that the songs ("It's Like That," "We Belong Together" and "Shake It Off") were catchy enough but just lacked the power and level of difficulty I had come to associate with Mariah's music. I guess you could say the same thing about her follow-up effort, E=MC2. Seriously, who can't sing "Touch My Body?" It was all so commercial, lazy and gimmicky in my opinion.
It's very different from her last two albums and I like the chord progression. It's still not the powerhouse song I was hoping she'd release and with the addition of autotune it feels like she's singing even less than she has in the past five years. I can't embed the audio clip but you can listen to it here. Come back and tell me what you think! images: Zuma Press/Amazon Post from: She Plays Music |
| Paradiso Girls Ft. Lil Jon and Eve “Patron Tequila” Posted: 16 Jun 2009 01:59 PM PDT The Paradiso Girls have released the music video for "Patron Tequila" featuring Lil Jon and Eve. Before I talk about the song, I thought I'd take a moment to give you a little background on this quintet.
"Patron Tequila" was produced by Polow da Don and is the perfect track for night out at the clubs (even to listen to with your windows down on your way to the club). When you add Lil Jon and Eve to the mix, you've got an anthem in the making. The video is also a lot of fun. By the end of it, I guarantee you'll be singing along to the hook. The lyrics are pretty funny too. Check it out:
image: Total Assault Post from: She Plays Music |
| You are subscribed to email updates from She Plays Music To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
Inbox too full?  | |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
