The Re-Introduction of Mimi: The Story of Mariah Carey's We Belong Together

There was no artist bigger than Mariah Carey in the 1990s. She
was the Artist of the Decade, according to Billboard, the ​​World
Music Awards’ Female Artist of the Millennium, and the owner of
15 number one singles in the ‘90s alone. And that doesn’t even
include “All I Want For Christmas Is You,”
arguably her biggest song ever. That song didn’t become a #1 hit
until 25 years after its release. And it has continued to top the
Billboard Hot 100 every year since.


On the surface, Mariah was on top of the world, but as the new
millennium struck, Mariah was going through some changes, both
privately and professionally.


After years of trying she was finally exiting her tumultuous
marriage to record executive Tommy Mottola. Despite filing for a
separation in 1997, it wasn’t until the end of 2000 that Mariah
was granted her divorce. At the same time she was leaving a bad
situation with her label Columbia, where her husband was the
Chairman and CEO.


As she was gearing up for the release of
Glitter, her feature film debut, Mariah
reportedly suffered a physical and emotional breakdown. 


Glitter’s theatrical release was delayed three weeks as a result,
but it didn’t really matter - nothing could have saved the film
from the savage critics, who called it “heroically bad” and
“infinitely mockable.” 


Glitter became one of the decade’s biggest box office flops,
winning Mariah Worst Actress at the Golden
Raspberry Awards, aka the Razzies. The film’s failure didn’t help
Glitter’s soundtrack either. Her first release for new label
Virgin, Glitter was neither a hit with fans or critics. One
writer called it an "utter meltdown -- the pop equivalent of
Chernobyl." 


Mariah’s official follow up to Glitter came out in December 2002.
Charmbracelet was her opportunity to make a
fresh start, a “new lease on life,” she called it. Unfortunately,
Charmbracelet didn’t exactly get things back on track for Mariah.
While the album was one of her highest debuts on the Billboard
Albums chart, sales dropped off quickly.


Then at the beginning of 2004, famed music executive L.A. Reid
left his job at Arista to become the new chairman and CEO of The
Island Def Jam Music Group. This would prove to be a pivotal
moment for both Reid, who was forced out of Arista following the
merger of Sony and BMG, and Mariah, who was in need of some
career rehabilitation. 


Reid had just orchestrated a career makeover for Usher, who was
riding atop the Billboard Hot 100 with his hit
“Yeah!” - With that song, Usher had become
the biggest artist on the planet, and Reid was looking to do the
same for Mariah. 


The first step was to set her up with the right producer. Enter
Jermaine Dupri, Usher’s longtime mentor who co-wrote and produced
Mariah’s 1996 #1 hit “Always Be My Baby.” More
collaborations followed and Mariah was hooking up with the
Neptunes, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, and more.


In November 2004, Mariah presented an album’s worth of songs to
L.A. Reid, but Reid felt she needed a few more
bangers. Mariah went back to Atlanta to work with Jermaine
Dupri again and guess what? They created some magic. In just two
days they came up with two songs that would end up being her
album’s first two singles: “It’s Like That” and
“We Belong Together.”


This is the True story of Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together"
with newly unearthed audio from Mariah Carey.


Also contains audio from Genius' Interview with Mariah, Released
November 16, 2018.