Mariah Carey recorded a duet with Justin TImberlake
...in 2002
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Charmbracelet was an effort in damage limitation for #MariahCarey and her new label Island Def Jam. Released in December 2002, it followed the now infamous Glitter film and soundtrack project Carey released through Virgin Records on 11 September 2001 and her subsequent emotional breakdown and hospitalisation for exhaustion.
Since her freedom from the domineering hand of Tommy Mottola, in terms of both her career and personal life, Carey's image began to move further away from the "90s version of Mary Poppins", as she described it, and became increasingly sexier; similarly her music had strayed further away from the adult contemporary balladry with which she had made her name, culminating in the 80s R&B/Hip-Hop concept album, Glitter.
Charmbracelet sees Carey reining in the caricature she had begun to be perceived as and return to those adult contemporary roots with an album consisting of pop, soul, gospel and R&B influences. The album, hailed as "the most personal she has ever made", received mixed reviews from critics who commented on the fact that Carey's voice sounded thin and damaged.
"Through The Rain" was the first single to be lifted from the record and the simple, inspirational and emotive track was perfectly written to reflect Carey's recent personal struggles as well as to reconnect her with the audience she had alienated since 1997's "Honey". The track became a moderate hit reaching #81 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #8 in the UK.
An odd choice, the second single to be lifted from the album was "Boy (I Need You)", which featured rapper Cam'Ron and a high-pitched vocal sample that was described by critics as "annoying" and "jarring". It was certainly not in keeping with the direction and tone of the campaign. The video was a strange, Japanese themed, pastel shaded effort that saw Carey turn up the sexiness a notch and add in Godzilla for good measure. The song failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, but did reach #17 in the UK.
The song "Yours" was originally recorded as a duet with Justin Timberlake, whose star was riding high, but it was deemed by Timberlake's label as not the right time for him to be connected with a diva in recovery mode. It's hard not to listen to the track without hearing his falsetto complementing Carey's cooing. The track, a Jimmy Jam & Lewis production, was recorded during sessions which delivered "Wedding Song" and "Satisfy", both of which featured backing vocals from Michael Jackson, also on his own downward trajectory following his underperforming return to music (Invincible), but neither track appeared on the album.
Many of the songs were recorded with a live band, rather than electronic instruments, as Carey wanted to experiment with a more raw-sounding and less overproduced album. "Subtle Invitation", "The One", a cover of Def Leopard's "Bringin' On The Heartbreak" are great examples of how Carey's voice integrates perfectly with live instrumentation.
During the recording of the album, Carey's father became ill with cancer. She returned to New York from Capri to spend time with him, but he died shortly after. The song "Sunflowers For Alfred Roy was written and produced by Carey in his memory and touched on "his side of the family and is kind of hard to talk about". With deeply personal lyrics recounting her visiting him at his deathbed ("Strange to feel that proud, strong man grip tightly to my hand"), she described the track as "very emotional".
The most successful release from Charmbracelet came in the form of a duet, where Carey was reduced to lyric girl, providing decoration to Busta Rhymes' rap on "I Know What You Want", a huge hit - reaching #3 on both sides of the Atlantic. Although not included on the original release of the album, it was included on the 2003 re-release, which coincided with the Charmbracelet World Tour that played 69 dates over eight months across Europe, North America and Asia. The single helped Carey regain some lost credibility, have a genuine hit and shift a few more copies of the record - five million copies to date.
Ultimately, the album underperformed in all markets, even though it was regarded as an improvement over Glitter. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 200 and #52 in the UK. The message was clear, however, that Mariah Carey was not going to let her recent troubles beat her; she was going to do what she does best: get in the studio and return with music she feels passionate about. And we all know what happened next, in 2005, when Carey became emancipated...
Wait so they said no to the Justin feature because of the Janet wardrobe malfunction?
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The song "Yours" was originally recorded as a duet with Justin Timberlake, whose star was riding high, but it was deemed by Timberlake's label as not the right time for him to be connected with a diva in recovery mode.
No, it was his label. But seriously, **** his label. This duet could've been amazing.
get that hit thread
Thank god ! He needs to stay away from the Queen!
