Sunday Swim Presented By The Lake Review, Episode 6: Mariah Carey, “The Emancipation of Mimi”
Sunday Swim is a weekly guest column written by The Lake Review for Sound Over Time, covering classic records that you need to hear if you haven’t already. Follow the Lake Review on Instagram @thelakereview.
Many artists have always been apart of my life no matter what was my main genre at the time. Mariah Carey has been one who’s released countless classic songs that have highlighted her incredible voice and her ability to keep up with the times no matter the switch up.
The Emancipation of Mimi was an album that had one of the best rollouts I can vividly remember. Preceded by two incredible singles, It’s Like That and We Belong Together, the latter being one that was completely inescapable. For so long, in the ringtone era, many people had that song coming from their cell phones. Combined with radio play and an incredible rollout of promotion, the album would go on to sell over 404,000 in its first week and become the best selling album of 2005.
Wanting it to be more of a personal and intimate album, Carey opted to use her personal nickname Mimi in the title. An album centered around independence and lack of restraint and considered by many to be her comeback album, it is a project that can be played from front to back and not find a bad song. With producers like Jermaine Dupri, Bryan-Michael Cox, James Poyser, Kanye West, Neptune’s, Carey herself and more, this album is a certified classic that has stood the test of time and has many gems that can still be appreciated today.
Mariah continued to shine through the late 2000s with her E=MC2 album which continued to show her ability to work with new producers (The Dream, DJ Toomp, StarGate, etc) and still make an incredible album and singles that continued to be atop the Billboard. Though, not as great as Emancipation of Mimi, it is still an excellent follow up to possibly her best project.
With the lack of many great r&b acts nowadays, it’s no wonder a lot of people are still drawn to the classics released throughout the 90s and 2000s. With her latest official album, Caution, showing her working with artists like Blood Orange, Gunna, Ty Dolla Sign and more, Mariah continues to show why she is one of the greats and deserves to be respected as such.
Follow Sound Over Time on Instagram @soundover.time and on Twitter @soundover_time. Sign up for our Weekly Newsletter at https://soundovertime.substack.com .
