#1 [url]

Feb 16 08 2:59 PM

Mariah Carey is NOT the same artist that she was in 1990. People need to accept that. One thing about Mariah is that she has grown leaps and bounds as an artist, even if people think she is taking steps backwards by doing urban music and abandoning the middle of the road/AC balladry that she was known for in the early 1990's.

I was never a fan of her back in the day, but I do own every album of hers these days and hear the R & B influences in her voice even then. Sure she's stated numerous times that she used to listen to Barbra Strisand and Olivia Newtown John growing up, but she has also talked candidly about liking the Sugar Hill Gang, one of the first hip-hop groups in existance back in the day as well as other songs long before she jumped on the "urban bandwagon" as people claim. Stevie Wonder, Aretha, Patti, Minnie they are all influences of Mariah that are R & B. So it just goes to show her versatility. For crying out loud she attempted to recreate a Def Leppaord song. What you going to say, she been dying to let her inner-rocker out? At most, she is a versitile artist that can deliver anytype of record wanted.

And I am also going to guess that Bye-Bye isn't an AC ballad (even though it's being hailed as legendary) I guarantee you it'll be midtempo. Even Fly Like A Bird had a jazzy feel to it. It's far from AC in terms of production so you people holding on to hope for the 1993 Mariah to ressurect have to come to terms with the fact that she is going a whole new direction with the past two albums. Charmbracelet was her last attempt at AC and we see what that got us. An album full of uninspired ballads that she herself wasn't really feeling.

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