The return of Mariah

I admit to a lot of “What on earth is she up to” Mariah Carey moments these past few years. What on earth is she doing in that bulging dress? What on earth is she doing performing on TV half-naked? Is she ever going to show herself standing up from her American Idol chair? Why on earth is she taking so long to release that new album? It was release? Yes. Release? No. Yes. No. Yes. No for several months. And so many others.

Those familiar with the ins and outs of the entertainment scene were quick to find a reason for her behavior. It could be that Mariah was afflicted with the insecurity virus commonly found in aging divas. It was unkind but not without truth. Mariah is, after all, now 44 years old and there are limits to how far anybody, even reigning stars, can hold back that clock. Besides, there are now all those new young girls around like Lorde, Ariana Grande, Lana del Rey, Iggy Azalea, all looking svelte and sexy and who obviously learned some of their vocal chops from Mariah.

Note, too, that save for a Christmas album, Mariah has not released a new one in years. Her last one was E=MC2 in 2008 with the hits Touch My Body and Obsessed. There was also the unfortunate performance at the box-office of Glitter which wiped out her dreams of movie stardom, that is unless she turns up acting great, but looking unrecognizable, as in Precious and Lee Daniels’ The Butler. Mariah had every right to feel insecure with her situation.

But on the other hand, she is still the biggest-selling female artist of all time, 200 million albums sold and still counting and the one with the most No. 1 sellers of any artist in pop music history. Like One Sweet Day, Someday, Love Takes Time, I Still Believe, Vision Of Love, Emotions, Dreamlover, Hero, Fantasy, Always Be My Baby, Whenever You Call, I’ll Be There, When You Believe, Sweetheart, My All, Honey, I Don’t Wanna Cry, Touch My Body, We Belong Together, among others, most of which she composed herself. So, what right has she got to feel insecure about anything?

I say nothing. More so now that the album, Me. I Am Mariah The Elusive Chanteuse, has been released. Given how this turned out, I can say that she was not really insecure about how the public will react to the album. She was probably just careful about not being able to give her best. It took her a while to know she was ready. But when she finally did, she came out with one of her best albums. And the incredible voice is still there, every melisma intact and she has the right songs to show them off, too.

Me. I Am Mariah is a mix of the two recording Mariahs. There is the soul balladeer that she started with and the hip-hop artist of her later, more recent years with some disco and R&B ballads in between. In a difficult production feat, she masterfully gels these two together and emerges with a really solid body collection. Not the downloaded singles market for this girl. Mariah is selling a total package with her new album and she is worth the cost.

She really is. Mariah the singer is at her best in every cut. It is also obvious how much effort was exerted to come up with an impressive line-up of songs and guest artists in the album. Like having Mary J. Blige come in to duet a rehash of It’s A Wrap originally from her Memoirs of An Imperfect Angel album and R. Kelly in Betcha Gon Know also from the same. And on a happy note, Mariah’s darling twins (with husband Nick Cannon) — daughter Monroe and son Moroccan Scott (a.k.a. Roc N’ Roe)