Mariah Carey's change is not out of character
Niki Payne
Issue date: 4/7/08 Section: Opinion
Mariah Carey is making yet another comeback with her latest single "Touch My Body." It's the first single off her new album "E=MC2," which will be released on April 15 by Island Records.
Her music has definitely evolved over the past decade, ever since she and former Colombia Records executive Tommy Mottola-who had a lot to do with Carey's initial rise to fame-called it quits in 1998. The two met while working on her debut album.
After her separation from Mottola, Carey began to take more creative control over her music. She also went through an image change as she tip-toed her way into hip-hop with albums like "Butterfly," "Rainbow," "Charmbracelet" and her most recent, "The Emancipation of Mimi."
But where has Mariah been the last three years? Fans waited eagerly for her to come out with something fresh. Then, on Feb. 19, "Touch My Body" hit the radio.
Though her new single reaches nowhere near the magnitude of her last singles, "We Belong Together" and "Don't Forget About Us," "Touch My Body" is still a hit in my book. It's a sweet and sexy mid-tempo tune with a simple, monotonous beat hidden behind melodic vocals.
Though the title of the song is a bit salacious, the music video will have you chuckling because the message is so very different from the blatant "touch my body" message.
I recently read a review that criticized Carey for being "out of character" with such explicitness and promiscuity. "One can hardly picture [Mariah] making such a request with confidence," wrote one critic.
Are you kidding me? That is the beauty of an image change. You can be whoever you want to be and act however way you want to act, as long as that's the image you want to portray. Changing an image often involves stepping out of your comfort zone and becoming comfortable in another.
Mariah Carey is merely experimenting with this new image. She has strayed away from the deep and passionate music and lyrics of her past to more of a sultry and seductive sound.
The way I see it, well before I saw the music video at least, the song is about a mutual physical and sexual attraction between two people. When there is a mutual attraction, who usually makes the first move, the girl or the guy?
Through observation and personal experience, I've noticed that men are generally expected to make the first move. So when I came across this song, I couldn't help but feel a sense of empowerment trickle through me.
Men aren't mind readers, which is especially why I liked the use of command sung in the chorus: "Touch my body, put me to the floor, wrestle me around, play with me some more, touch my body, throw me on the bed."
According to About.com, Carey has described her upcoming album as the sequel to her previous album. The title "E=MC2" means emancipation equals Mariah Carey to the second power.
If "Touch Your Body" is only a sneak peak of what's to come, I will definitely be waiting in anticipation for her new album.
Her music has definitely evolved over the past decade, ever since she and former Colombia Records executive Tommy Mottola-who had a lot to do with Carey's initial rise to fame-called it quits in 1998. The two met while working on her debut album.
After her separation from Mottola, Carey began to take more creative control over her music. She also went through an image change as she tip-toed her way into hip-hop with albums like "Butterfly," "Rainbow," "Charmbracelet" and her most recent, "The Emancipation of Mimi."
But where has Mariah been the last three years? Fans waited eagerly for her to come out with something fresh. Then, on Feb. 19, "Touch My Body" hit the radio.
Though her new single reaches nowhere near the magnitude of her last singles, "We Belong Together" and "Don't Forget About Us," "Touch My Body" is still a hit in my book. It's a sweet and sexy mid-tempo tune with a simple, monotonous beat hidden behind melodic vocals.
Though the title of the song is a bit salacious, the music video will have you chuckling because the message is so very different from the blatant "touch my body" message.
I recently read a review that criticized Carey for being "out of character" with such explicitness and promiscuity. "One can hardly picture [Mariah] making such a request with confidence," wrote one critic.
Are you kidding me? That is the beauty of an image change. You can be whoever you want to be and act however way you want to act, as long as that's the image you want to portray. Changing an image often involves stepping out of your comfort zone and becoming comfortable in another.
Mariah Carey is merely experimenting with this new image. She has strayed away from the deep and passionate music and lyrics of her past to more of a sultry and seductive sound.
The way I see it, well before I saw the music video at least, the song is about a mutual physical and sexual attraction between two people. When there is a mutual attraction, who usually makes the first move, the girl or the guy?
Through observation and personal experience, I've noticed that men are generally expected to make the first move. So when I came across this song, I couldn't help but feel a sense of empowerment trickle through me.
Men aren't mind readers, which is especially why I liked the use of command sung in the chorus: "Touch my body, put me to the floor, wrestle me around, play with me some more, touch my body, throw me on the bed."
According to About.com, Carey has described her upcoming album as the sequel to her previous album. The title "E=MC2" means emancipation equals Mariah Carey to the second power.
If "Touch Your Body" is only a sneak peak of what's to come, I will definitely be waiting in anticipation for her new album.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
KaRi from TPSradio / csulb's KBEACH.org
posted 4/09/08 @ 10:13 PM PST
If you see any 4 year old's singing Touch My Body,
just sing back, StopitNow.com
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