Perez Hilton waded into social media criticism this week after the outspoken blogger tweeted about Mariah Carey's latest album, Caution. The album was released in early November, and Hilton bemoaned the supposed lack of attention the project is getting while offering advice as to how Mariah can get back to her chart-topping ways.
"In case you didn't know, Mariah Carey has a new album out today," Hilton tweeted. "Sadly, she isn't expected to debut in the top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100." He proceeded to chastise the legendary diva for not making the kind of music "fans" want to hear from her.
"And another way she's not catering to her base," he responded after a fan called Caution a "great R&B album". "I've always preferred my Mariah pop. Her best work has consistently been her pop output." He went on to say, "Pop music is vast. I'm not saying go for radio or go dance. I'm just saying that R&B Mariah is so played out. She's done that for over a decade now. I think many of her old fans miss the other kinds of songs."
Perez's belief that "pop music is vast" while "R&B Mariah is played out" suggests that he sees pop as a wide-open genre but views R&B through a much more limited lens. That's telling, considering that R&B has been a broad school - for decades. The swinging piano of Ray Charles, the soulful grit of Otis Redding, the Supreme's catchy hooks, the dapper crooning of the Stylistics, the kinetic new jack swing of Bobby Brown, the pulsing grooves of Usher - that's all been R&B. That a genre so varied is still viewed as a box to break out of says more about our ideas about genre than it does about the style itself.
(The Daily Beast)
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