The Emancipation of Mimi

Lore & Background

Carey composed The Emancipation of Mimi throughout 2004 with a wide range of songwriters and producers including Jermaine Dupri, Snoop Dogg, Kanye West, Twista, Nelly, Pharrell Williams, and James 'Big Jim' Wright; some appear as featured artists on select tracks. Carey adopted her personal nickname 'Mimi' in the title, revealing a more intimate side of the singer in line with the album's overarching theme of emancipation from personal and commercial setbacks. Its songs concern themes of liberation, love, and personal growth. The Emancipation of Mimi is primarily an R&B, pop, and dance-pop effort, with influences of hip-hop, gospel, and soul. Carey promoted the album with the Adventures of Mimi Tour in 2006. The album spawned six singles, led by 'It's Like That', which attained top-ten peaks worldwide. 'We Belong Together' spent fourteen weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, blocking the album's third single, 'Shake It Off', from the top spot. This marked the first time a female artist monopolized the chart's top two positions. The deluxe edition's single 'Don't Forget About Us' also topped the Billboard Hot 100. The Emancipation of Mimi topped the US Billboard 200 for two weeks and was the country's best-selling album of 2005. It was the year's second best-selling album worldwide, and has since sold over 10 million copies. The album received generally positive reviews, with critics viewing it as a return to form for Carey, and praising its production and her vocal performance. The album and its songs were nominated for ten awards across the 48th (2006) and 49th Annual Grammy Awards (2007), winning three, including Best Contemporary R&B Album. It is credited with reviving Carey's career and reshaping the idea of a comeback in popular music. In retrospect, critics have regarded it as one of her strongest works and have praised its embrace of her R&B sensibilities and diva persona; Rolling Stone included it on its '500 Greatest Albums of All Time' list.

In Their Own Story

The studio lights hummed at 3 a.m. in Chanhassen, Minnesota, and the November cold pressed its face against the Paisley Park windows. Prince sat at the piano, sleeves rolled, a half-finished melody looping in his head like a cat circling a fire. He'd been fighting the suits for six years. Six years of being 'The Artist Formerly Known as Prince,' of shipping records to no one, of watching the world move on. His manager had called that afternoon: Warner wanted him back. Not on his terms. On theirs. He'd said yes, but only because the music was louder than the grudge.

He played the chord progression three times, then stopped. 'No. Too polite.' He rewrote it, added a snare crack, a string swell that hit like a door slamming in an empty ballroom. The engineer, young and wide-eyed, leaned closer. Prince glanced up. 'This one's for the girl in the opera,' he said. 'The one who's poor and free and nobody owns her voice.' He hit record. The tape rolled. And for the next four hours, Mimi sang.

Reader's Guide

The Emancipation of Mimi is primarily an R&B, pop, and dance-pop album, though less pop-oriented than Carey's 1990s work. It spans multiple genres; Chicago Tribune critic Greg Kot called it a blend of hip-hop and contemporary R&B into broadly appealing pop songs. Billboard opined that the album is steeped in hip-hop and old-school R&B ballads, while MTV News's Alyssa Rashbaum labeled it a pop–R&B effort laced with hip-hop influences. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine described The Emancipation of Mimi as 'a slick, highly crafted piece of dance-pop'. Key tracks include 'It's Like That', 'We Belong Together', 'Shake It Off', 'Mine Again', and 'Say Somethin''.

Did You Know?

• The album's title comes from Carey's personal nickname 'Mimi', used only by those in her inner circle.
• 'We Belong Together' spent fourteen weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100.
• The album won three Grammy Awards, including Best Contemporary R&B Album.
• It was the best-selling album in the United States in 2005 and the second best-selling worldwide that year.