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Do not fill this in! === Musical style === [[File:Mariahparade2.jpg|thumb|right|Carey performing at the [[Walt Disney World]] Resort in 2010]] Love is the subject of the majority of Carey's lyrics, although she has written about themes such as loss, sex, race, abuse and spirituality.<ref name=ViceMC>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/d3bp3k/mariah-carey-caution-songwriters-hall-fame-underrated|title=Mariah, Our Living Meme, Deserves More Credit for Her Songwriting|last1=Mokoena|first1=Tshepo|last2=Ingold|first2=Jeffrey|date=November 16, 2018|magazine=Vice|access-date=June 15, 2019|archive-date=July 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730040722/https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/d3bp3k/mariah-carey-caution-songwriters-hall-fame-underrated|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.laweekly.com/2005-05-05/music/i-gotta-be-mimi/|title=I Gotta Be 'Mimi'|last=Wilson|first=Cintra|work=[[LA Weekly]]|date=May 5, 2005|access-date=June 26, 2011|archive-date=March 7, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307115120/http://www.laweekly.com/2005-05-05/music/i-gotta-be-mimi/|url-status=dead}}</ref> She has said that much of her work is partly autobiographical, but ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine's Christopher John Farley wrote: "If only Mariah Carey's music had the drama of her life. Her songs are often sugary and artificial—[[NutraSweet]] soul. But her life has passion and conflict," applying it to the first stages of her career. He commented that as her albums progressed, so too her songwriting and music blossomed into more mature and meaningful material.<ref name="time">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,134725,00.html|title=Pop's Princess Grows Up|last=Farley|first=Christopher John|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=August 19, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024110314/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,134725,00.html|archive-date=October 24, 2007}}</ref> Jim Faber of the ''[[Daily News (New York)|New York Daily News]]'', made similar comments, "For Carey, vocalizing is all about the performance, not the emotions that inspired it. Singing, to her, represents a physical challenge, not an emotional unburdening."<ref name="uGMRL"/> While reviewing ''Music Box'', Stephen Holden from ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' commented that Carey sang with "sustained passion," while Arion Berger of ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' wrote that during some vocal moments, Carey becomes "too overwhelmed to put her passion into words."<ref name="g5NvI"/> In 2001, ''[[The Village Voice]]'' wrote that "Carey's [[Strawberry Shortcake]] soul still provides the template with which [[teen pop|teen-pop]] cuties draw curlicues around those centerless [[Diane Warren|[Diane] Warren]] ballads."<ref name="Q5Zfi"/> Following Carey's divorce with Tommy Mottola, Carey broke free of adult contemporary arrangements in favour of what Alex Macpherson of ''[[The Guardian]]'' described as "a lovingly crafted, hip-hop-inflected quiet storm".<ref name="auto">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jun/22/mariah-carey-where-to-start-in-her-back-catalogue|title=Mariah Carey: where to start in her back catalogue|access-date=April 19, 2023|magazine=The Guardian|archive-date=March 30, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330124124/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jun/22/mariah-carey-where-to-start-in-her-back-catalogue|url-status=live}}</ref> Carey often records her layered background vocals, which has been described as "a swooning bank of a hundred Mariahs".<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/apr/11/popandrock.alexispetridis|title=Mariah Carey, E=MC2|access-date=April 29, 2023|magazine=The Guardian|archive-date=April 30, 2019|archive-url=https://archive.today/20190430105249/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/apr/11/popandrock.alexispetridis|url-status=live}}</ref> The singer claims that "it's because I started out as a backup singer and doing sessions as a background vocalist learning from some of the greatest background vocalists, and also people like [[Luther Vandross]]. Growing up, I admired his texture in and of itself but also his use of background vocals".<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/mariah-carey-secret-rock-album-prince-rolling-stone-podcast-interview-1234595524/|title=Why Mariah Carey Made a Secret Alt-Rock Album – and Four Other Things We Learned From Our New Podcast|access-date=April 29, 2023|magazine=Rolling Stone|archive-date=April 29, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230429142840/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/mariah-carey-secret-rock-album-prince-rolling-stone-podcast-interview-1234595524/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[David Foster]] stated that Carey "thinks like a record producer and lays her vocals down like a virtuoso guitarist".<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.fozfan.com/2004/08/15/after-tonight/|title=AFTER TONIGHT|access-date=April 29, 2023|magazine=Song of the Week|archive-date=April 29, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230429142843/https://www.fozfan.com/2004/08/15/after-tonight/|url-status=live}}</ref> Carey's songwriting is noted for its "eccentric verbosity".<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/music/mariah-carey-the-ultimate-pop-diva-of-our-age-may-be-a-joke-but-shes-no-punchline-1.248645|title=Mariah Carey, the ultimate pop diva of our age, may be a joke but she's no punchline|access-date=May 29, 2014|magazine=The National News|archive-date=April 22, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230422003959/https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/music/mariah-carey-the-ultimate-pop-diva-of-our-age-may-be-a-joke-but-shes-no-punchline-1.248645|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://poprescue.com/2022/07/22/review-memoirs-of-an-imperfect-angel-by-mariah-carey-cd-2009/|title=REVIEW: "MEMOIRS OF AN IMPERFECT ANGEL" BY MARIAH CAREY (CD, 2009)|access-date=May 29, 2014|magazine=Pop Rescue|archive-date=July 22, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220722110141/https://poprescue.com/2022/07/22/review-memoirs-of-an-imperfect-angel-by-mariah-carey-cd-2009/|url-status=live}}</ref> Jeffrey Ingold of ''[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]]'' argues that her lyrics are "among the most verbose in pop music."<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/d3bp3k/mariah-carey-caution-songwriters-hall-fame-underrated|title=Mariah, Our Living Meme, Deserves More Credit for Her Songwriting|access-date=April 19, 2023|magazine=Vice|archive-date=April 21, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421190338/https://www.vice.com/en/article/d3bp3k/mariah-carey-caution-songwriters-hall-fame-underrated|url-status=live}}</ref> Carey's output makes use of [[electronic musical instrument|electronic instruments]] such as [[drum machine]]s,<ref name="viber"/> [[electronic keyboard|keyboards]] and synthesizers.<ref name="pop">{{cite web|url=https://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/mariah-carey-emc2|title=Mariah Carey: E=MC² < Reviews|last=Sawey|first=Evan|work=[[PopMatters]]|date=May 1, 2008|access-date=February 10, 2010|archive-date=May 25, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525092023/http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/mariah-carey-emc2|url-status=live}}</ref> Many of her songs contain piano-driven melodies,<ref name="rs">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/mariahs-e-mc2-a-first-listen-to-careys-eleventh-studio-album-20080228|title=Mariah's E=MC2: A First Listen to Carey's Eleventh Studio Album|last=Hoard|first=Christian|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=February 28, 2008|access-date=August 8, 2011|archive-date=August 22, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120822083115/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/mariahs-e-mc2-a-first-listen-to-careys-eleventh-studio-album-20080228|url-status=dead}}</ref> as she was given piano lessons when she was six years old.<ref name="nick3"/> Carey said that she cannot read [[sheet music]] and prefers to collaborate with a pianist when composing her material, but feels that it is easier to experiment with faster and less-conventional [[melody|melodies]] and [[chord progression]]s using this technique.<ref name="nick3"/> While Carey learned to play the piano at a young age, and incorporates several ranges of production and instrumentation into her music, she has maintained that her voice has always been her most important asset: "My voice is my instrument; it always has been."<ref name="shapiro20"/> Carey began commissioning [[remix]]es of her material early in her career and helped to spearhead the practice of recording entirely new vocals for remixes.<ref name="MTV-Oct2003">{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/bands/c/carey_mariah/news_feature_031009/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110901094755/http://www.mtv.com/bands/c/carey_mariah/news_feature_031009/|archive-date=September 1, 2011|title=Mariah: Remixes, Reunions and Russia|last=Norris|first=John|publisher=MTV|date=October 20, 2003|access-date=August 19, 2011}}</ref> Disc jockey [[David Morales]] has collaborated with Carey on several occasions, starting with "[[Dreamlover (song)|Dreamlover]]" (1993), which popularized the tradition of remixing R&B songs into [[house music|house]] records, and which ''[[Slant Magazine|Slant]]'' magazine named one of the greatest dance songs.<ref name="xYM1F"/> From "[[Fantasy (Mariah Carey song)|Fantasy]]" (1995) onward, Carey enlisted both hip-hop and house producers to re-structure her album compositions.<ref name="shapiro17"/> ''Entertainment Weekly'' included two remixes of "Fantasy" on a list of Carey's greatest recordings compiled in 2005: a National Dance Music Award-winning remix produced by Morales, and a [[Sean Combs]] production featuring rapper [[Ol' Dirty Bastard]].<ref name="UrIRl"/> The latter has been credited with popularizing the R&B/hip-hop collaboration trend that has continued into the 2000s, through artists such as [[Ashanti (singer)|Ashanti]] and [[Beyoncé]].<ref name="MTV-Oct2003"/> Combs said that Carey "knows the importance of mixes, so you feel like you're with an artist who appreciates your work—an artist who wants to come up with something with you."<ref name="viberness">{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wy0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA57|title=Cinderella Story|last=Willis|first=Andrew|work=Vibe|date=November 18, 1998|access-date=August 14, 2011}}</ref> In an article in ''[[The New York Times]]'', writer [[David Browne (journalist)|David Browne]] discusses how the once-ubiquitous melisma pop style was heavily popularized by singers such as Carey. Browne commented, "beginning [in 1990], melisma overtook pop in a way it hadn't before. Mariah Carey's debut hit from 1990, "Vision of Love", [set] the bar insanely high for notes stretched louder, longer and knottier than most pop fans had ever heard." Browne further added "A subsequent generation of singers, including Ms. Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson and Beyoncé, built their careers around melisma. (Men like Brian McKnight and Tyrese also indulged in it, but women tended to dominate the form.)"<ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/26/arts/music/26browne.html|work=The New York Times|first=David|last=Browne|title=Out With Mariah's Melisma, In With Kesha's Kick|date=August 10, 2010|access-date=November 10, 2011|archive-date=February 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180201030211/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/26/arts/music/26browne.html?_r=2|url-status=live}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page