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Oprah interview (95,773) by BFF from United States I honestly wasn't a fan of the interview. I thought Oprah spoke to and treated Mariah like she was a little girl. It doesn't seem like Oprah respects Mariah very much, and Mariah seems to go along with it out of deference. I also don't like this idea, promoted in the interview, that negative things that happen to us leave us "irreparably damaged" for the rest of our lives. Mariah's experience growing up sounded absolutely awful, and it was gut wrenching to hear that story about Allison as well as Mariah's experience with those friends calling her racial slurs. However, I've read a few reviews of the memoir, and I get the sense that Mariah and her co-writer portray Mariah as a person who doesn't have much agency, a perpetual victim. And I guess this makes sense because it is, after all, a celebrity memoir. But Mariah will never be able to be a whole human being if she's encouraged to think of herself this way. It's definitely important to seek the help of a psychologist and/or psychiatrist if you're struggling with a psychiatric illness; but at some point, you have to move on from the past. You cannot continue to see yourself as "damaged" or you will never get beyond it. And I say this from personal experience as someone who was given the same bipolar II diagnosis as Mariah and who also spent time in a psychiatric hospital. It's interesting to me that Mariah seems to have edited out the bipolar II diagnosis she previously discussed in 2018. I also really don't get this sudden change in her attitude towards her mother. I have difficulty accepting Mariah's contention that the incident at her mother's house in 2001 and her mother's decision to call the police were some kind of attempt to "overpower" or "control". It's very clear to me that Mariah was having some kind of manic episode and was in a really bad place. I think treating the situation as a mental health emergency was a very valid reaction from a parent. Maybe it was an "overreaction" in retrospect but what was her mother supposed to do? Ignore a cry for help and possibly risk Mariah hurting herself? I get the sense that her co-writer is behind this change. I'm going to remain open-minded and read the memoir, but a lot of this seems like an unnecessary rehashing of things that most fans already know. Still holding out hope for a deep dive into the project "All That Glitters". (Saturday 26 September 2020; 13:35)

Re: Mariah's finally at peace (95,663) (95,664) by BFF from United States My theory about her lack of appreciation for her earlier work was that it was due to combination of the marriage to Tommy, journalists referring to her as a "white girl who sings black", not being allowed to incorporate hip-hop like she wanted to earlier on songs like "Dreamlover", and the situation at Sony post-divorce from Tommy. She was honestly trapped into a dynamic by these journalists who were so obsessed with her racial identity. It forced her into an awful position of constantly having to prove how "down" she was. There were certain collaborations that she did during the Rainbow/All That Glitters/Glitter era that I think came from that place of wanting to prove herself (i.e. having so many guest appearances on the "Rainbow" and "Glitter" albums). Some of them worked really well but others just seemed so forced. And it sounds like this dynamic triggered all kinds of terrible memories from her childhood and adolescence, things that she probably wanted to leave behind. It has always bothered me because it creates these retrograde racialist dichotomies around music, and it doesn't allow Mariah to be a multifaceted artist or human being. It's as if music critics had never heard of artists like Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, et cetera - all of whom sang soul/R&B ballads and love songs very much like the ones Mariah was writing. I became a fan during the "Butterfly" era, and I think the album really represents a fantastic blend of everything that makes Mariah great. I love ballad Mariah. I love hip-hop Mariah. I love songs like "Make It Happen", "Emotions", et cetera that are more gospel, house, and disco influenced. I love the house remixes she does. I love it when she brings her vulnerability and sweetness to covers of songs like "I'll Be There" or "Without You". (Sunday 20 September 2020; 13:05)

Out Here On My Own (95,612) by BFF from United States This is a really great cover, and I am not surprised that it was recorded for "All That Glitters". It fits perfectly with the theme of the film. This is just another indication of how watered down the final product became from what Mariah and Cheryl West originally envisioned. She really worked hard on this project for so many years, and I can't imagine how humiliating it must have been to go through the motions of promoting the watered down "Glitter" film and soundtrack in 2001. Really interested to read all about what happened in the memoir. Hopefully she is planning something interesting for the 20th anniversary of "Glitter". I really would love to hear that collaboration with Prince and a studio version of "Lillie's Blues". (Friday 18 September 2020; 13:53)

Re: The Rarities tracklisting (95,539) by BFF from United States I'm a little disappointed that we didn't get more unreleased material from the 1997-2005 period and that b-sides like "Everything Fades Away", "Do You Think of Me", and "Slipping Away" took up space that could have gone to completely new material. They are great songs, but most fans already know them. I would have been happy to have them released on digital EPs as part of #MC30. Surely "Butterfly"/"Rainbow" had more outtakes? And she was working on "Glitter" for four years, so there has to be more music from that project. I would not have minded hearing a recording of (adult) Mariah singing that song "Billie's Blues (Turn You Loose)" that was used in the movie during that scene with Billie Frank and her mother. Didn't she also record something with Prince for the film? And I'm not sure that the Live at Tokyo Dome disc is really necessary. I'd rather have audio or video from the Rainbow or Charmbracelet tours if we are getting tour footage/audio. Those tours were much more interesting than the Daydream tour. If she was planning to do a two-disc collection, I would rather have two discs of rarities/b-sides rather than one disc of rarities/b-sides and one disc of concert audio (from a concert most fans already know well). With all of that said, I'm very interested to hear the original recording of "Loverboy" as well as "Here We Go Around Again" and "One Night". Fingers crossed that she is planning another collection like this because this is definitely only a fraction of her rare/unreleased material. (Sunday 13 September 2020; 21:57)

The memoir (95,429) by BFF from United States I think what I'm most looking forward to in the book is a potential in-depth exploration of "Glitter" as a project from the time of its inception as "All That Glitters" up to the end of the "Glitter" era in late 2001. I listened to the "Glitter" episodes of The Mariah Report recently and thought it was really cool of Dan and Martin to go through the original screenplay by Cheryl West. The original concept sounded much more interesting than the finished product. I know that a cover version of "Out Here On My Own" is rumored to be part of the track listing for "The Rarities". Maybe that was originally tied to "All That Glitters". The lyrics of the song certainly fit in with the theme of the film. I'm pretty familiar with Mariah's fraught family dynamics and difficult childhood and adolescence, so I don't think those chapters of the book will hold many surprises. I'm also kind of bored with discussions Tommy Mottola saga. I would like to hear more about what was like for Mariah working at Sony after the divorce, and I wonder if she will talk about the movie offers she was never told about. (Monday 7 September 2020; 15:20)