Mariah Carey Getting Back to Famous High Notes


Thu Jun 24, 2004 1:43 PM ET


By Tamara Conniff


LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The past few years been a roller coaster ride for Mariah Carey (news), who has sold more 150 million albums worldwide since her 1990 debut.


In 2001-02, her film "Glitter" flopped, she had a nervous breakdown, and Virgin Records dropped her. Yet, she received critical acclaim for her role in the indie film "Wisegirls."


Only six months after she left Virgin, Island Records signed her to a multialbum deal and gave Carey her own label, MonarC. While her first album under the Island deal, "Charmbracelet," wasn't the smash many hoped it would be, it did sell more than 1 million copies in the United States, and her 2003 tour in support of the record grossed $6 million-plus.


Now she has re-signed with Creative Artists Agency, where Rob Light, the talent powerhouse's managing partner and head of music, asks the important question, "How do you take Mariah Carey, arguably the most successful female singer in history, and reinvent her for the next stage of her career while staying true to exactly who she is?"


Light, and Carey's manager, Benny Medina, are planning a multipronged approach to remaking her into a multimedia star.


Carey is in the process of writing an illustrated children's book about a biracial orphan girl, which Light says could be turned into an animated series.


"The children's (project) is a very natural step," Light says. "It's something she's worked on without the help of ghostwriters. She has a whole idea based on her biracial heritage; she thinks there is a huge audience."


While Carey is best known for her seven-octave range, she also has penned 15 No. 1 singles. Light says CAA will be looking to utilize her songwriting talent to possibly write for other artists, as well as for jingles, commercials and television.


Carey also is looking at theater opportunities. She is set to star in "The Prince and the Showgirl" early next year in London's West End, and Medina says Andrew Lloyd Webber's office has expressed interest in working with Carey on Broadway.


Says Light: "For everything she's done to this point -- she's been credited as being an incredible vocalist -- but everything else, from acting to songwriting, kind of gets pushed down. Our goal is to just take the lid off that talent and let people know who she is."


Carey's next album, her first with new Island Def Jam chief Antonio "L.A." Reid, is due out this year. Medina says the record will "hit all the marks," from her signature ballads to R&B crossover songs and high-energy dance tracks. She's been working with such A-list producers as Kanye West, Swizz Beats and R. Kelly.


"She's an interesting iconic phenomenon," Light says. "Every time a record comes out, it feels as relevant today as when her first record came out. Very few artists can do that."


Of course, Carey is likely to tour again after the album's release. "She really enjoyed the last touring experience," Light says. "She really felt she put on a show that was her and connected with the audience. We're looking at the big picture. I think touring will be a part of it."




***********




This sounds very interesting. It's almost embarassing to admit it now in 2004 (LOL) but yeah I'm a big fan of Mariah Carey and her music, and the fact that she's supposed to have Kanye West and R. Kelly producing her next album almost guarantees a couple of hits. Can she really make a comeback and be as big as she was in the '90s?


Almost makes you wonder if Puffy wants to produce for her again, since Kanye and Kels are gonna be working with her, and since he's already brought back Mase and is bringing back New Edition. Oh, the music world is so crazy :biggrin:


And about this children's book and animated series about a biracial orphan girl...................sounds interesting and I guess that's what happening now. My little cousins (who are all 11 or younger) like to watch this show on Disney Channel called the Proud Family which I think features a biracial girl as the star. When I was that age (which would've been in the 1990s, basically) they would've never put that on there, too controversial and ahead of its time I guess.
=============
My little cousins (who are all 11 or younger) like to watch this show on Disney Channel called the Proud Family which I think features a biracial girl as the star.

I don't think she is.
=============
huge mariah carey fan here, hope the worst is behind her now.

now there's nowhere to go but up :biggrin:
=============
I don't think she is.





Really? I could've sworn the mama was white, and the little girl is light enough so that you almost can't tell if she's black or white....................and I thought that was the point of their name being "proud"................"proud" of their biracial/multiracial/interracial heritage *shrugs*


And yes KB I've also read it in VIBE magazine that Puffy is signing New Edition and they're making a new album as we speak. Dunno if that includes Bobby Brown though, lol.
=============
I dunno...getting the producers of the month after they've plateaued tends to backfire...you see how the Neptunes are streamlining now, and for good reason. I hope she can get her music to speak for itself, without the need to "make" a "hit" from overloading a disc with needless and expensive celebrity. Might be too late in the game for her to be Alicia Keys all over again, though...

It also ain't hurting that she's still fine enough to make a boy mash his teeth and go nnnnnngggghh....
=============
Really? I could've sworn the mama was white, and the little girl is light enough so that you almost can't tell if she's black or white....................and I thought that was the point of their name being "proud"................"proud" of their biracial/multiracial/interracial heritage *shrugs*

I'm pretty sure Penny's mom is Black and her dad is Black.
=============
I dunno...getting the producers of the month after they've plateaued tends to backfire...you see how the Neptunes are streamlining now, and for good reason. I hope she can get her music to speak for itself, without the need to "make" a "hit" from overloading a disc with needless and expensive celebrity. Might be too late in the game for her to be Alicia Keys all over again, though...

It also ain't hurting that she's still fine enough to make a boy mash his teeth and go nnnnnngggghh....





Yeah I know what you mean.



http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20040624/mdf607179.jpg



I'm pretty sure Penny's mom is Black and her dad is Black.



Well her mom must've been light-skinned, right?

I'll have to go back and watch the show sometime to see why I would've thought that. :confused:

I know I wasn't high or drunk or nothing like that when I was watching the show..............


@ Irezumi -


Maybe not...................but then again, when has it failed? Kanye's been hot for three years now, Kelly's been making albums for over ten years but I don't know how long he's been producing........the Neptunes have cooled down a little bit but then again they did produce "Change Clothes" which was a moderate hit and "Frontin" which was a pretty big hit last summer, 'cept for the fact that "Crazy in Love" pretty much blew everything else out of the water last summer.

Timbaland was also kinda cold for the past couple of years but he did produce most of Brandy's new one, Afrodisiac (though not the new single, I think Kanye did that one). We'll see how that sells. Aaliyah's death and the fact that Missy's been kinda lukewarm for the past few months has really been the thing that's kept Tim quiet IMO.

I hate to say that Mariah isn't as "real" or as "talented" as Alicia Keys...................but I don't know if there's anybody else out there quite like Alicia. Best not to compare the two and just enjoy both of their music.
=============
True...

I just keep cringing when a body becomes the über-producer du jour and then EVERYONE wants his/her ass for a "hit" and then everything in that artist's career tends to ride on just THAT...and that's what I see Kanye quickly becoming...even though I know he deserves to shine now and justly so...but still, he's got his own backlash generating and I'd hate to see him get overexposed just to crash and burn when trying to resussitate someone who vocally doesn't need the latest fashion, like Mariah. I mean, he isn't doing anything with Angie Stone, is he?

I wonder if the mechanix of the industry just keeps greasing those with the pockets to pay for hopeful "hits." the reason I thought of Alicia Keys is that her second album grew on me and now I think it's a thousand times better than her first one...and not even because of the Kanye single. Mariah's put in the years and the hours. Does she really "need" Kanye to get back on top?

gaaah, I dunno...I still remember when she first came out and the scene was TOOOO-tally different back then...I'm still suffering from Color Me Badd shock syndrome!

then again, pop singles have been her fort? so maybe it's a good thing. But can you think of anything that hit your fancy off of Charmbracelet?
=============
True...

I just keep cringing when a body becomes the über-producer du jour and then EVERYONE wants his/her ass for a "hit" and then everything in that artist's career tends to ride on just THAT...and that's what I see Kanye quickly becoming...even though I know he deserves to shine now and justly so...but still, he's got his own backlash generating and I'd hate to see him get overexposed just to crash and burn when trying to resussitate someone who vocally doesn't need the latest fashion, like Mariah. I mean, he isn't doing anything with Angie Stone, is he?

I wonder if the mechanix of the industry just keeps greasing those with the pockets to pay for hopeful "hits." the reason I thought of Alicia Keys is that her second album grew on me and now I think it's a thousand times better than her first one...and not even because of the Kanye single. Mariah's put in the years and the hours. Does she really "need" Kanye to get back on top?

gaaah, I dunno...I still remember when she first came out and the scene was TOOOO-tally different back then...I'm still suffering from Color Me Badd shock syndrome!

then again, pop singles have been her fort? so maybe it's a good thing. But can you think of anything that hit your fancy off of Charmbracelet?



No she doesn't need a so-called "super-producer" for her album, but for her single...........



No matter what, people aren't going to buy your album if they don't like any of the singles off of it.


I wish I knew exactly when this was slated for release, I'm guessing 2005 sometime with a late 2004 release for the first single.

And no, I didn't particularly care for Charmbracelet, it seemed................I dunno. Lame. Empty. Shallow.
=============
vBulletin® v3.7.0, Copyright ©2000-2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.