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Mariah Carey: "I Stay In Love" video

Mariah Carey [ft. T.I.]: "I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time" video review

In which Mariah Carey rides a dolphin and looks good doing it. The song's laidback beat, syncopated piano, occasional ascending strings, and pleasant T.I. verse make "I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time" a pretty perfect roller rink jam, and that's not even mentioning the fact that Carey hilariously makes a catchy chorus out of a reference to the "me so horny" line from Full Metal Jacket. At the very least, it's a nice breather in between repeat listens of "Love in This Club".

Source: PitchforkMedia.com

Mariah Carey: "I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time (feat. T.I.)" video

Mariah Carey: "I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time (Live @ 08 MTV Video Music Awards Japan)"

Mariah Carey: "Bye Bye" video

Mariah Carey's E=MC2 Rockets To Billboard #1, Sets Career Record

Last week, pop songstress Mariah Carey was everywhere, getting the word out about her latest LP, E=MC2. She appeared on "American Idol," made the cover of Us Weekly and starred in a series of commercial-esque vignettes that aired all weekend, as part of MTV's 52/52 campaign.

Needless to say, Mariah's fans were well aware that the singer's album landed in stores last week, and clearly, the public appearances and the media hoopla didn't hurt sales of her record. In fact, with close to 463,000 copies scanned during week one, Carey's 11th studio offering coasts to the top of next week's Billboard albums sales chart, with little — if any — competition.

E=MC2 marks Carey's sixth album to top the charts and has outsold all of the singer's previous efforts' opening weeks, according to the latest SoundScan data. In 2005, The Emancipation of Mimi opened at #1 with only 403,800 sold. Much more than that, though, E=MC2 has earned the distinction of becoming 2008's best-selling debut so far, trouncing the 374,600 turned out by Jack Johnson's Sleep Through the Static in February.

Mariah's was among 19 new releases to impact next week's top 200 and one of only two new albums to enter the chart in the top 10. The other, country artist Lady Antebellum's self-titled set, bows at #4, selling 43,400 units. The rest of the top 10 is made up of several regulars, with Leona Lewis' Spirit at #2 (with 94,800 scans), Miley Cyrus' Best of Both Worlds live record at #3 (with 47,300 sold) and the 27th installment in the Now That's What I Call Music! compilation series finishing at #5 (selling 39,000 copies).

George Strait's Troubadour follows at #6 (with 38,000 sold), and the soundtrack to "Alvin and the Chipmunks" comes in at #7 (with sales reported at 31,700). The "Juno" soundtrack climbed 38 spots to #8 (31,300), no doubt thanks to the movie's DVD release, while R.E.M.'s Accelerate fell four spots to #9 (30,000). Taylor Swift's self-titled debut comes in at #10, with 29,700 sold.

Thrice's The Alchemy Index Vols. III & IV enters next week's chart at #17, selling 21,400 units. Rush's Snakes and Arrows: Live bows at #18, selling 21,000 copies. The Naked Brothers Band's I Don't Want to Go to School scanned 19,000 copies to open at #23, and Tristan Prettyman's Hello claims the #27 spot, with a reported 18,200 snatched up. The Kooks' Konk follows at #41, with 13,300 sold, while Insane Clown Posse offshoot Dark Lotus' Opaque Brotherhood sold 12,100 copies to enter the chart at #45.

Elsewhere on the chart, Jason Mraz's We Dance EP generated first-week sales of 11,300 to open at #52, Apocalyptica's Worlds Collide follows at #59 with 10,600 scans, and M83's Saturdays = Youth comes in at #107, on the strength of 6,300 in sales. Phantom Planet return at #119, selling 5,700 copies of their new one, Raise the Dead, and Worth Dying For's self-titled debut opens at #166, selling 4,100 copies.

Source: MTV.com

Mariah Debuts At No. 1 After Monster First Week

Mariah Carey earns her sixth No. 1 on The Billboard 200 as her "E=MC2" bows on top. The Island Def Jam set moved 463,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan, making it the diva's biggest debut sales week ever. It's also the highest sales week of the year, surpassing the 375,000 start of Jack Johnson's "Sleep Through the Static" in February.

Carey's last album, "The Emancipation of Mimi," also landed at No. 1 in its premiere week, moving 404,000. She is now tied with Madonna and Janet Jackson for the second most No. 1 albums among female artists. Only queen bee Barbra Streisand, with eight, is ahead of the pack. There's a good chance Madonna will add another No. 1 to her tally though, as her "Hard Candy" album drops next Tuesday (April 29).

Leona Lewis' Syco/J effort "Spirit" slips 1-2 with 95,000 units, a 54% sales decrease. Miley Cyrus' "Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: The Best of Both Worlds Concert" Hollywood/Disney album vaults from No. 31 to a new peak of No. 3 with 47,000 -- a 162% gain. The set became available to all music sellers last week after having spent its first five weeks of release as a Wal-Mart exclusive.

New country group Lady Antebellum charges in at No. 4 on The Billboard 200 with its self-titled Capitol Nashville debut, shifting 43,000. Sales were fueled by the single "Love Don't Live Here," which sits at its current peak at No. 11 on the Hot Country Songs tally this week.

The multi-label "NOW 27" compilation slips 4-5 with 39,000 (-17%), as George Strait's "Troubadour" (MCA Nashville) falls 2-6 with 38,000 (-35%). The Fox/Razor & Tie soundtrack to "Alvin and the Chipmunks" likewise descends 6-7 with a 20% sales hit to 32,000. Another soundtrack, "Juno" (Rhino), climbs back into the top tier 46-8 in conjunction with the film's DVD release; the album moved 31,000 copies with a 162% sales increase.

With 30,000 and a 35% sales reduction, R.E.M.'s Warner Bros. set "Accelerate" falls 5-9. Taylor Swift's self-titled Big Machine set rounds out the top 10, ascending 13-10 with a 13% sales boost to 30,000.

After Carey, rock troupe Thrice has the next biggest debut this week at No. 17 with "The Alchemy Index, Vol. 3 & 4: Air & Earth" (Vagrant), selling 21,000 units. With only a few hundred fewer, Rush's double-disc Atlantic set "Snakes & Arrows: Live" starts right behind at No. 18, also with 21,000. Other debuts this week include metal outfit Children Of Bodom's "Blooddrunk" (Fontana/Universal, No. 22, 19,000), Nickelodeon duo the Naked Brothers Band's "I Don't Want to Go to School" (No. 23, 19,000) and Tristan Prettyman's "Hello" (Virgin, No. 27, 18,000).

Sales this week are up 1.9% from last week's sales at 7.5 million units. Sales are down 8.1% compared to the same week last year.

Source: Billboard.com

Jay-Z Jumps On Upbeat Mariah Carey Remix, Mature Usher Song For Jermaine Dupri

Jermaine Dupri made the most of some recent time in the studio with Jay-Z, having Hov lay guest vocals for an Usher track and a Mariah Carey remix.

The Carey remix is a reworking of "Bye Bye," the second single from her E=MC2 LP. On the original, Mariah sings about losing family members, but JD hints that the remix will be more upbeat.

"The remix for the Mariah record is crazy," Dupri said Friday (April 18). "Young Hov and Mariah crank it up, and myself, JD — a.k.a. Barry Bonds — cleans up."

When asked if it was awkward to remix such a melancholy song, Dupri said we'll forget about the sad sentiments.

Just last week, Jermaine leaked footage online, in which Jay-Z paid a visit to the studio after the Atlanta stop of the Heart of the City Tour. Jay, Usher, Dupri and Anthony Hamilton were seen laughing it up and promising a hit record.

"It's a Jay-Z and Usher record produced by me," the mogul said. "It's about their lives right now. They talk about their past relationships and how they are where they are now."

"The Best Thing" will be featured on Usher's May 27 release, Here I Stand.

"It's cool," the producer said. "They not really sappy. It's not a sappy song. Usher's album is more about teaching men [that] at some point, you gotta grow up. And growing up is respecting a woman and having a woman in your life and taking care of your woman. That's his definition of growing up. A lot of other n---as have a different definition. That's his definition of becoming a man, taking care of home. This song is kinda like that. It's a responsible type of record. When that girl you settled down with, she leaves you. You realize you lost the best thing that ever happened to you.

"The hardest part about this Usher album is that I'm not involved in the record-company process," he added. "This is the first album where we're not in charge of who picks the singles. So I can't speak on that part of it. I would hope it would be the next single. It feels like it should be. Usher left the studio saying it was the next single. But he also told y'all weeks ago [that] 'Moving Mountains' was the next single. Lyric-wise, hearing Jay-Z say what he's saying and Usher saying what he's saying, people wanna hear this. I could tell you that. N---as wanna hear that."

Another Dupri remix on the horizon is O'Neal McKnight's "Check Your Coat." No, Jay-Z does not appear, but Greg Nice raps on the song. Dupri even threw his own flavor on there as well.

Source: MTV.com

More Mariah

She's proclaimed emancipation before, but Mariah Carey's never sounded as free as she does on "E=MC2," due this week via Island Def Jam. The usual hummable radio hip-hop and bold ballads are here, in pristine form. But so are some coy surprises, like the irresistible "I'm That Chick" (which covertly samples "Off the Wall" for an early Michael Jackson disco bounce) and the Swizz Beatz-produced "O.O.C."

Carey even digs deep and pulls up "Side Effects," a Scott Storch-produced, dark hip-hop track that follows a passive woman's descent into domestic abuse. First single "Touch My Body" has already hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and thus Carey passes Elvis Presley for second place on the all-time chart-topper list with 18.

Carey started recording the album last summer in several houses she rented in Florida, as well as her favorite vacation spot in Capri. "There's something kind of important to me about going there when I'm working on an album," she says. "There's something about the Mediterranean that's amazing for my voice."

"I was given a gift," Carey says. "I know that music comes from God. It got me through things before I was known to the world, before I was on the Billboard charts. Music healed me. Music helped me. It was important for me to express where I was coming from."

Source: Billboard.com

Mariah Carey Leads A Track-By-Track Tour Of E=MC2, Which She Calls '100 Percent Of Me'

Mimi tells us the stories behind the songs, including her innate connection with Jermaine Dupri and her special treat for 'real fans.'

Mariah Carey has a lot to say on her next album, so much so that our colleagues at MTV Base asked her for a track-by-track breakdown of E=MC2 — give it the ol' scientific method, so to speak. "This is me, 100 percent of me," Mariah says of the album, which hits stores Tuesday (and, appropriately enough, she is our Artist of the Week). "It's so much about fun and freedom."

So let's get to it:

"Migrate" (featuring T-Pain)

"Basically, that song is about migrating from one place to another," Mariah said, "whether it's from the bar to the club, from the club to the apartment, to wherever, whatever, city to the beach, beach to who knows where." The club-thumper, which was co-produced by Nate "Danjahandz" Hills, is just about movement — which is why T-Pain tells her to "bounce." "I think that every time I go into the studio, if I'm inspired by the track I'm working on, and if I've put so much of myself into the record, at the end of the day, I want it to be the most fun explosion of music I can make."

"Touch My Body"

"It's amazing to feel just how fast 'Touch My Body' is exploding all around the world," Mariah enthused. "I'm just so thankful, because it's a song that I love so much, a song that really does express my personality." In case you missed it on the first listen, the reason Mariah threatens to "hunt you down" isn't to get some action — it's in case you put that action on YouTube. So if you're going to get busy with Mariah, keep it private! "For most of my close friends, that's their favorite song, because it's fun and it's cute and it's not taking itself too seriously, you know what I mean? I love the humor in it." That humor is conveyed more in the video, directed by Brett Ratner. "He had some time because of the writers' strike, and he was really feeling the record," she said of the clip, which co-stars "30 Rock" funnyman Jack McBrayer. "The idea of Jack McBrayer came up, and I was like, 'That's amazing!' Because he is hilarious. Why take this so seriously? They're videos."

"Cruise Control" (featuring Damian Marley)

"What it really means is that you have to slow down," Mariah said. "Because every time you're around this guy, you're going a little too fast, and he's the wrong type of guy for you to be with, but you don't know how to handle it." Mariah wrote the track during her second visit to Jermaine Dupri's Atlantic studio, with the aid of backup vocalist Crystal Johnson. "It was cool to kinda co-write that with JD and with Crystal, because, you know, it's coming from the woman's point of view and it also comes from JD's point of view," which Mariah felt made the track "really hot."

"Side Effects" (featuring Young Jeezy)

"I wrote it because it was necessary for me to write it," Mariah said of her most personal, and angriest, song to date. Fans might be surprised at her references to "the hell that we built" and the "violent times," but Mariah thinks this song is for "anyone who's been in an abusive relationship." "You know what? I've been through too much at this point," she said. "I want happiness and I want pure and real love, but the side effects of what other relationships have put me through cause me to be kind of on the defensive a lot of the time. And if somebody isn't mature or caring and loving and open-hearted enough to understand that, then it's tough, but this is a song for people who need that." Mariah hopes that this song helps people feel "a little bit stronger."

"I'm That Chick"

"I was so excited to be in the room with Stargate, because L.A. Reid had said he really wanted me to get in a room with them," Mariah said of her producers, who incorporated an Off the Wall sample into the song's melody. "It's the sort of song you want to listen to as a girl. You want to look at yourself in the mirror and go, 'I'm that chick you like.' It's like preparation for a night out of feeling fly."

"Love Story"

"One of the funny things I love about Jermaine Dupri is when I say something to him, he just runs with it," Mariah said. So at the beginning of "Love Story," Mariah told him that she wanted the beat to be hard, and told him, "Make this for the jeeps, not too soft." So when Dupri did his ad-libs at the beginning of the song before they mixed it, he says, "MC said, 'JD you gotta make it knock,' " and then adds a few hard beats, and goes, "You hear that?" It's an inside joke for the two of them, because while the song remains a ballad, it's "almost a rap record." "I think that's where our success comes from," she said, "because we understand each other on that level."

"I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time"

Mariah doesn't just refer to the oft-quoted line from "Full Metal Jacket" (and incorporated into urban music ever since, thanks to 2 Live Crew), she builds a whole song around it. "This is one of the last songs I wrote for this album," she said. "I thought, 'Let me just make this a carefree record. It's kind of a party record to me. It's just like not caring too much about anything else that's going on except you living in the moment," which goes on a "long time" in Mariah time.

"Last Kiss"

" 'Last Kiss' is a special song to me," Mariah said. "When I hear that song, and I hear my first [line], 'Feel so empty inside, since our last kiss goodbye,' I feel like an 8-year-old kid. I'm like, 'OK, this is me as a little girl singing.' " When she was at a party with Quincy Jones, he asked her to rewind the song and play it over. "And I said, 'Well, he isQuincy Jones, [producer of Michael Jackson's] Thriller and Off the Wall, and if he's asking me to play the song over, I should pretty much take that as a humungous compliment!' And I did. And it makes me happy, because that's my favorite song."

"Thanx 4 Nothin'"

"It's a sarcastic moment in the land of Mariah Carey songs," she says of the first ballad she wrote for the album. "This song is gonna resonate with people who are really going through a bleak moment in their relationship, where it's like, 'Yeah, it's fantastic, thanks for nothing.' You know what that is." And JD got to demonstrate his innate understanding of Mariah at the beginning of the song once again, when he introduces it by saying, "This is for all the women who are sick and tired of getting played." "He knows it," Mariah laughed. "That's what it is."

"O.O.C."

A lesson in Mariah slanguage: "O.O.C." means "out of control." Co-written with Swizz Beatz and Da Brat, Mariah found a few other kindred souls who understood her instinctively and yet were still able to contribute "a different perspective." "It's so amazing to write with someone who is also a rapper," Mariah said of Brat. "We can put our minds together and come up with something really unique and cool. That night, when we left the studio, I was like, 'I don't know how Swizz feels about it and whatever, but I really like it!' "

"For the Record"

"It's one of those songs that the people who are really fans of mine, who know my music really well, are going to gravitate towards," Mariah promised. And that's not just because she's name-dropping her past hits throughout the lyrics. OK, well, it is. "I say, 'For the record, you'll always be a part of me,' from 'Always Be My Baby,' " Mariah said. "And I kind of go through, 'Can't nobody say I didn't give my all for you.' The real fans who listen and then hear, 'I told you underneath the stars,' they'll know that's for them."

"Bye Bye"

"Sometimes when I'm writing a song, it does come from such a raw place that I'm actually crying while writing it," Mariah admitted. Her second single, a tribute to her late father, is also meant to reach anyone else who has suffered a loss of a loved one. "Sometimes I hear it and feel that this is going to touch a lot of people, and that's why it's important that no matter what's ever happened to me over my career, that I stay the course and continue to write and try and reach people who need." Anyone who manages to do the reverse, and touch Mariah with one of their songs, "I'm indebted to them forever."

"I Wish You Well"

In the tradition of "Vanishing," this piano ballad is very simple but very effective. "Basically, it's about coming to a place within yourself where you, no matter what somebody does to you, you can forgive them," she said. "And even if you're a little bitter about it, you say your piece, and you let it go."

Source: MTV.com

Mariah Carey Beats Elvis

Mariah Carey has passed Elvis for the number of number one songs, following the chart success of her latest single 'Touch My Body'. Presley had 17 number one hits. Mariah has now at 18. 'Touch My Body' is the first single from the album 'E=MC²'. With the album just a few weeks away, Mariah has been in promo mode.
On April 9th, she will join the cast of American Idol for 'Idol Gives Back', she will be a guest of The Oprah Winfrey Show on April 14th and the album will be released on the 15th. The video for 'Touch My Body' was directed by Brett Ratner and features a cameo from Jack McBrayer (Kenneth Parcell from 30 Rock). Guests on the album include c 'Tricky' Stewart, Jermaine Dupri, will.i.am, DJ Toomp and Stargate. 'E=MC²' is Mariah's 11th studio album.

Source: MusicNews.com

Mariah Carey in the Studio, E=MC² snippets

So my chick Mimi's coming out with her new album soon and I'm surprised to have found today a few videos on YouTube of what seems to be promo footage for her E=MC². This is sounding very promising so I'm really looking forward to it, specially after Emancipation's huge success and the fact that, contrary to what I had thought about "Touch My Body" after the first-listen, the tune is pure pop heaven. (The "oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah..." is stuck in my brain with crazy glue). PS. The remix with Rick Ross is a home-run!

Ok so, only 2 more weeks and the wait's over, enjoy this in the meantime:

Love Story


Migrate


Bye Bye


Bonus: I'm That Chick live performance

Will Mariah Carey Have Her 18th #1 Single?

Mariah Carey's current single "Touch My Body" has already climbed inside the top 20 of Billboard's Hot 100 on the strength of radio airplay alone. This week the single was released for digital downloads, and the sales may just be the boost Carey needs to take her song to #1. If "Touch My Body" makes it to the top, it will be her 18th #1 moving Mariah Carey ahead of Elvis Presley to take the #2 position for the most #1's on the Hot 100 behind only the Beatles who have 20.

Mariah Carey's streak of chart-topping hits began with 4 consecutive #1's off her self-titled debut album released in 1990. In 2003 it looked like her phenomenal streak was at an end as 2 consecutive albums produced no #1 hits. However, she returned in 2005 with the release of her 6 times platinum The Emancipation of Mimi. It included 2 chart-topping hits putting Carey back on the winning track. The new album E=MC² is due in stores April 15, 2008.

Source: Top40.About.com

Mariah Closing In On Record For No. 1 Hits

Mariah Carey is on track to collect her 18th No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart next week.

"Touch My Body," the first single from her upcoming album, dipped one place to No. 15 on the latest survey. But the fresh availability of a digital download should send the song hurtling to the top next week.

That will push Carey to second place among artists with the most No. 1s in the rock era. The record is held by the Beatles with 20; Carey is currently tied with Elvis Presley.

Carey's album, "E=MC2," the follow-up to her 2005 Grammy-winning smash "The Emancipation of Mimi," arrives April 15 via Island Def Jam.

Asked recently by Billboard if she ever thinks about surpassing the Beatles' record, Carey admitted with a laugh, "I do, because people bring it up. But it's not like I sit around thinking about that type of stuff while I'm creating something. I did write this record in terms of wanting it to be a lot of songs that could potentially be singles, because people like that."

"I think it would be phenomenal," Island Def Jam Music Group chairman Antonio "L.A." Reid says of the prospect. "But the real goal is to create music the whole world can sing. And if we break records and set some milestones while doing that, that would be beautiful."

Source: Billboard

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Listening to: Rihanna - Umbrella (Feat. Jay-Z)
via FoxyTunes

E=MC² Tracklisting

With over 160 million albums sold worldwide, Mariah Carey is the most successful female recording artist in history. This year, Mariah returns to the marketplace with E=MC², the follow up to the 10 million selling #1 album, The Emancipation of Mimi.

'Touch My Body' is the deliciously daring first single from the upcoming album release, which has already set records for its massive reception at radio across the Top 40, R&B, R&B/Adult, and Rhythm/Crossover formats. The single exploded onto the charts before official impact on February 19, 2008! Written and produced by Mariah Carey, C 'Tricky' Stewart and The-Dream, 'Touch My Body' sets the stage for the next 'Mimi' world take-over...

The video for 'Touch My Body', directed by feature filmmaker, Brett Ratner (Rush Hour, X-Men), premiered globally on network and cable television, along with online outlets.

Mariah Carey is now positioned as the only active recording artist in the 48 years of the Hot 100 with the potential to surpass the Beatles' all-time high of 20 #1 hits, and has already tied Elvis Presley's record setting 17 #1s.

Executive Produced by Mariah Carey and Antonio "L.A." Reid, E=MC² will include offerings by hit-makers Jermaine Dupri, DJ Toomp, Stargate, will.i.am, Bryan Michael Cox, Nate 'Danjahandz' Hills and James Poyser.

The E=MC² album release will be supported by major television appearances/performances, specialty programming at BET/MTV/VH1, specialty online programming, and a superstar advertising campaign including television, radio, online, outdoor and print outlets.

VINYL LP
• E=MC² will be available on limited edition vinyl
• April 8, 2008 release date

STANDARD CD
• April 15, 2008 release date

DELUXE EDITION
• E=MC² will be available in a deluxe edition, featuring exclusive bonus content.
• April 15, 2008 release date

Official Tracklisting
1. Migrate featuring T-Pain
2. Touch My Body
3. Cruise Control featuring Damian Marley
4. I Stay In Love
5. Side Effects featuring Young Jeezy
6. I'm That Chick
7. Love Story
8. I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time
9. Last Kiss
10. Thanx 4 Nothin'
11. O.O.C.
12. For The Record
13. Bye Bye
14. I Wish You Well

Worldwide Release Dates
Japan - April 9
Italy - April 11
Holland - April 11
Germany - April 11
France - April 14
United Kingdom - April 14
Indonesia - April 14
Korea - April 15
Sweden - April 16
Thailand - April 22

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Listening to: Kelly Clarkson - Walk Away
via FoxyTunes

Mariah Carey › Touch My Body