Mariah Carey – The Emancipation of Mimi

“Me and Mariah / Go back like babies with pacifiers / Ol’ Dirty Dog no liar / Kickin’ fantasy hot like fire,” Ol’ Dirty Bastard rapped over the remix version of “Fantasy,” one of Mariah Carey’s successful tracks that jump-started her crossover with hip-hop. Her latest album The Emancipation of Mimi continues the trend by collaborating with some of the hottest hip-hop heads, such as Snoop Doggy Dogg, Twista, and Nelly.

The album starter, “It’s Like That,” kicks off the party with a club groove from one of hip-hop’s finest dance floor producers, Jermaine Dupri. The best part of the track is when Carey’s high-pitched vocals join Fatman Scoop’s big and brassy voice for the playful crowd-rocking lines, “Let’s go now, here we go now.” Again on “Shake It Off,” she uses R Kelly’s fast flowing technique over Dupre’s booty-dropping beat for more R&B bumping and grinding. With the support of Nelly on “Get Your Number,” she applies her whispery voice, seducing, “I gotta PIP penthouse with a sick hot tub / we can watch the flat screen while the bubbles fill it up.” She sounds so damn sexy. Other than Dupri, the Neptunes are also responsible for the bouncy productions including “Say Somethin'” with Snoop Dogg and “To The Floor” with Nelly.

After getting her listeners all soaked up, she cools them down with a few slow jams including the thug loving “One & One” with the fastest spitter Twista. On Carey’s signature piece, “Mine Again,” her powerful vocal along with her emotional delivery infused everlasting life into the cut. “Circles” is another passionate track that is filled with Carey’s high tone aesthetic. The album closes out with “Fly Like a Bird” indicating the emancipation of Mimi. She is free like a bird, and flies high to the sky.