Messageboard

About this_is_qhm from the Philippines: I love the intricate vocal harmonies only Mariah can make.

Re: 4Real4Real was the original Ribbon? (97,325) (97,333) by this_is_qhm from the Philippines Ribbon is much better, though. Better executed, more melodically interesting, and catchier. It's like 4real4real meets the darker production sonics of Side Effects. (Tuesday 9 February 2021; 16:57)

Cool On You (97,309) by this_is_qhm from the Philippines I've come to realize that the biggest reason why (Mesmerized aside) I gravitate towards this song the most out of The Rarities is because it reminds me so much of the E=MC2 era - slick, straightforward, sassy and fun. It still suffers from demo-itis with the spare, minimalist production approach, but could still have easily fit and even replace any of the weaker songs on that album. (Saturday 6 February 2021; 08:31)

Re: Emancipation EP's for #MC30 (97,248) (97,256) by this_is_qhm from the Philippines Yeah, those Your Girl "remixes" are probably the worst she has put out for MC30 so far. There's just no redeeming aspect there. It's obviously a product of laziness - but even if we get creative and think of other possible reasons why such atrocious poorly and hastily copy-pasted no-mixes should ever see the light of day (let alone be part of a career retrospective series), there's just no good alternative reason either. These types of lazy "remixes" have become increasingly popular once streaming started becoming huge. Artists figured that if a another mix of one song is not too different from the original version, the charts are more likely to count points for both versions as one, hence boosting the chances of the song to chart higher. That's how Willow managed to dethrone AIWFCIY for a week last December. Even if that success is what Mariah's trying to replicate here (it isn't, it really is just a product of laziness), it's not like Your Girl is gonna chart anyway. Fly Like A Bird mixes were shelved for this bootleg quality crap? I guess we should still be grateful she's doing these EP releases at all, but man is this a disservice to the original song and somehow even its parent album. Moral of the story: if an actual decent remix does not exist, don't force it. Because cheesily echoed rap ad libs conveniently tacked on parts of the song where Mariah doesn't sing does not a remix make. (Saturday 30 January 2021; 19:07)

Mimi L. (97,253) by this_is_qhm from the Philippines These past few days seems to be the most active you've been on the board in a while. Glad you're back. (Saturday 30 January 2021; 11:40)

Re: Mariah's interaction with Shawn Mendes (97,237) (97,241) by this_is_qhm from the Philippines It was a cute and funny exchange, especially when you take into consideration that Shawn is just 7 years into his career. It also is Mariah's own way of asking "Who you calling old again?" Haha. Even Charlie Puth and Trevor Noah had to jump in. I guess Mariah knows Charlie as well, with him in the comments wanting to know which particular song/s Shawn was listening to and Mariah responding. (Friday 29 January 2021; 02:01)

Re: #MC30 releases are back (97,182) (97,185) by this_is_qhm from the Philippines That's the only reason I'm holding on to for now. Other than her personal feelings about the Glitter era, it's weird for her to skip the album especially considering she owns the masters to her recordings for that period. A 20th anniversary acknowledgement and EP shower later this year would be awesome. (Saturday 23 January 2021; 14:33)

Re: MC 16 (97,119) (97,130) by this_is_qhm from the Philippines As for using "body of work" or "cohesive" to describe an album that fails to churn out a hit, I don't know. Both terms are almost always used together not just in music but art in general, albeit a little too liberally than needed. I remember Butterfly being praised for its cohesion, #1 hits aside. Conversely, while the through line and supposed unifying aspect of MIAM seems to be that of Mariah dabbling in different incarnations of R&B through the years, I don't hear MIAM being considered cohesive. So when people call Caution a "cohesive body of work", I don't really think it's meant as an excuse for it not being able to generate a hit. They may just be genuinely appreciating how Mariah managed to make an album that flows smoothly (for better or worse) with a gaggle of producers of differing and distinctive styles, when most other albums from other artists that employ the same approach usually end up with a sound that's scattershot and all over the place. The chances of Mariah ever having even a moderate hit will continue to decrease as time passes. We're gonna have to get used to evaluating her albums not by the hits they put out, but by the quality of the thing as a whole. Which is why I agree with the part about her going back to the older, more traditional ways of making music. I don't mind a few samples as long as they're tastefully done and actually add value to the song rather than distract from it (still looking at you, Save The Day), but yeah - zero mediocre rap verses would be ideal. If she's gonna collaborate with other artists, then please let it be an actual singing duet. Caution was a step in the right direction in how it showed that she actually knows other producers aside from JD. Low bar, but for Mariah, that's something positive. Since I highly doubt she's gonna sit down with someone and create like dem old days, I just hope she just continues to be open to working with people she hasn't worked with before to at least help push her sound forward. (Thursday 14 January 2021; 20:24)

Hello, 2021 (97,063) by this_is_qhm from the Philippines When Yummy opened the year, we all should have taken it as the universe's warning of what was to come for mankind. Hindsight is 2020. The year was the biggest bitch yet, but it was at least a little less bleak for us Lambs thanks to Mariah. While pretty much everyone in the entertainment industry, even the hottest ones, have been set back by the current global situation, leave it to her to thrive and keep her fans fed during a pandemic. Cheers to a COVID-free 2021. May it be kinder to us all. (Thursday 31 December 2020; 18:33)

Re: The "perfect" R&B album (outside of Mariah's world) (97,010) (97,014) by this_is_qhm from the Philippines Janet Jackson - The Velvet Rope & All For You Toni Braxton - Secrets, The Heat & Libra Brandy - Brandy, Never Say Never, Full Moon & Afrodisiac Whitney Houston - I'm Your Baby Tonight & My Love Is Your Love Anita Baker - Rapture SZA - Ctrl Ella Mai - Ella Mai John Legend - Once Again, Evolver King - We Are King Mary J. Blige - My Life, Share My World & The Breakthrough Alicia Keys - The Diary Of Alicia Keys Kali Uchis - Isolation Estelle - Shine (Tuesday 22 December 2020; 17:55)

Re: Ari on Mimi (97,005) (97,006) by this_is_qhm from the Philippines The lack of push from Spotify definitely hurt it. Oh Santa! isn't even on Ari or JHud's featured pages. Some people say that's because it's a Mariah song that's only featuring both artists, but then Rain On Me is a Gaga song featuring Ari and yet it's one of the first tracks you see on Ari's page. Up on Twitter, Reddit and other forums, Ari's fans are also quite disappointed because they know from experience just how accessible her new music usually is due to Spotify's automatic playlisting function. The fact that they had to search for Oh Santa! to play it (many weren't even notified when it dropped) was something new for them. Ari has 70 million listeners on Spotify (a huge chunk of that from the US) and yet the number of listens for the song remain so low especially considering she's arguably the biggest female star in the world right now. Oh well. Guess Mariah should work with The Weeknd or BTS next. (Monday 21 December 2020; 18:45)

Re: UK number one 11/12/2020 (96,938) (96,941) by this_is_qhm from the Philippines That can be used as a lowkey bullying tactic. Scrolling past anything you don't like is still the best dislike button there is. (Monday 14 December 2020; 16:02)

Re: AIWFCIY finally hits #1 in the UK (96,917) (96,922) by this_is_qhm from the Philippines And that's not even the worst lyric in there. The song couldn't decide if it's a Halloween soundtrack, a sung doomsday reminder, a hunger relief anthem, a prayer solicitation, a bad geography lesson, or a cloying after-school special closing song. And all of that is supposed to amount to a Christmas song. Was this (and We Are The World) supposed to be the 80's version of "woke"-pop? Seriously, the Africa reference is just ignorant. Apparently the entire continent is a place of perpetual drought - no more, no less. Sorry for the rant, I'm just baffled at how such a horrendous song could exist, let alone be a hit. Excuse me as I go wash my ears with Merry Christmas darling. (Saturday 12 December 2020; 20:32)

Re: AIWFCIY finally hits #1 in the UK (96,910) (96,920) by this_is_qhm from the Philippines I meant Do They Know It's Christmas is probably the "most tone deaf" Christmas song ever. Telling people to be glad that other people are in a worse situation than you are does not a holiday song make. (Saturday 12 December 2020; 17:38)

Re: AIWFCIY finally hits #1 in the UK (96,905) (96,910) by this_is_qhm from the Philippines Look, Last Christmas is overplayed, but that's still a better export than Do They Know It's Christmas, possibly the most Christmas song from the UK that has somehow become a holiday standard. (Saturday 12 December 2020; 11:59)

AIWFCIY finally hits #1 in the UK (96,901) by this_is_qhm from the Philippines Congrats Mariah for having her third charttopper in the UK (first one she actually wrote), and congrats to the UK lambs and music-listening public for finally giving Mariah what she deserves this time. I kinda hope Wham also gets to top the charts next week with Last Christmas. It would be a lovely tribute to George Michael. (Friday 11 December 2020; 18:51)

Re: Mariah invents her own "relevance" (96,895) (96,896) by this_is_qhm from the Philippines Plus, those who criticize her for only being relevant during the holidays are just looking for any reason to justify their dislike or hatred towards Mariah. I see these people all the time in comments sections and I'm like, "sure, hun, dismiss that success because it is all too common and all legendary artists have their own global chart-topping Christmas hit". The memoir doing really well is the most obvious proof of her relevance, because she is selling her life story, not music. Despite every questionable or objectionable thing she has done in the past, after all these years, people still actually care about her - the person, or at least the celebrity. (Thursday 10 December 2020; 12:41)

Re: AIWFCIY #2 this week on the Hot 100 (96,885) (96,888) by this_is_qhm from the Philippines If it tops the chart for at least 2 weeks every year until 2028, it can, assuming that no other song in that time period beats Old Town Road. Being #1 cumulatively for that long will set a few other records as well, such as it being a possible contender for Song of the Decade (that isn't from this decade) or something to that effect. We're getting waaaay ahead of ourselves, but we can dream. (Tuesday 8 December 2020; 19:48)

Re: Oh Santa (96,878) (96,879) by this_is_qhm from the Philippines It has been on Spotify since it dropped. It won't be a problem to fans who would like to search for it and listen to it intently. However, a good chunk of listeners who put on Spotify as their background music and can't be bothered to made their own holiday playlists will tend to just go with the ones curated by Spotify, which Oh Santa! wasn't a part of until it was just added very recently, halfway through the tracking week. It does waste the overwhelming initial hype it got when during the first 48 hours following its release. New holiday singles are typically instantly added to that playlist the moment they drop. Oh Santa! is Mariah's highest listened song upon release with over 700,000 plays in its first day, but if we factor in the fact that Ariana, a Spotify titan, features in it, and that Save The Day was listened to over 400,000 times in 24 hours, Oh Santa!'s stats are quite disappointing for possibly the most hyped holiday single ever. Playlisting is key promotion for older artists that aren't huge on Spotify. Despite the Ari and JHud feature, the song is still a Mariah track that could benefit from the extra push Spotify could have provided. I've seen Ariana fans on social media basically bully Spotify into putting the song in their New Holiday Music playlist, but I'm hearing they haven't even put it in the New Music Friday playlist the day it dropped like all the other new releases do, which is one of their key playlists most listeners look forward to. I remember Taylor's folklore could have done much better on Spotify when it was released, but it didn't due to the lack of inclusion of its tracks in Spotify's playlisting. Taylor's still hot commodity, though, so that didn't really matter much. (Monday 7 December 2020; 19:43)

Oh Santa (96,876) by this_is_qhm from the Philippines The video is still racking up loads and loads of views. Nice. I'm on YouTube about 70% of my daily online time and am quite fond of review/reaction content, so I'd like to think I have a good idea of how huge trending video moments are. I just can't recall the last time I ever saw another music video in recent memory that has inspired so many (possibly hundreds) of reaction videos. So many small YouTubers, even those that have not covered any musical content in the past, are jumping on it to hopefully get their viewership, engagement and subscription numbers up. The sheer amount of such content is just crazy - it's a rabbit hole so deep that the earliest reaction videos (that had to be re-uploaded several times last Saturday as they were always being taken down due to copyright issues for the slightest use of song audio) are now just left up there as if the system had given up stinging any channel that attempts to follow suit due to the demand. (Monday 7 December 2020; 11:38)

Re: 20th #1? (96,864) (96,873) by this_is_qhm from the Philippines The special itself was the Apple exclusive. The single wasn't. Oh Santa really hasn't been added to their playlists. You have to search for it. (Monday 7 December 2020; 09:32)

Re: Oh Santa! collaboration (96,804) (96,830) by this_is_qhm from the Philippines Yup, that whistle on the original version has always bugged me. As for Ari's vocals, to be fair, if you listened to her last 3 albums, especially her most recent one, she has adopted an overall softer approach to singing (probably for vocal preservation). That hushed, close-to-the-mic vocal made up about 80% of Positions. Yes, she may have been instructed to sing softly for Oh Santa., but she did hear the original, so that alone should have given her a good idea of just how lively she should have done things. Plus, even if she has a powerful, agile belted voice, by nature it just doesn't have the same heft and natural volume that Mariah's voice has, let alone JHud's. (Saturday 5 December 2020; 05:33)

Re: Oh Santa! collab (96,822) (96,829) by this_is_qhm from the Philippines Exactly. Considering how much many dreaded this to be a cut and paste version of Mariah's 2010 vocals with a little Jennifer and Ariana added in, what we actually got is a huge relief. Oh Santa has always felt like a girl group track and I believe that it does manage to sound like that with this new version. (Saturday 5 December 2020; 05:20)

The power of AIWFCIY (96,820) by this_is_qhm from the Philippines It's worth noting that of the many Christmas songs on the US iTunes chart right now, AIWFCIY is one of the few that aren't discounted. It is its own promotional machine. (Friday 4 December 2020; 20:22)

The harmonized whistle (96,817) by this_is_qhm from the Philippines This rare phenomenon has taken on a life of its own. Both artists have not ever harmonized in the whistle register with anyone else but themselves until this track. Social media is blowing up. It really appears to be a pop culture event. The amount of reaction videos on YouTube dedicated to this song, particularly this vocal moment, is quite staggering and the song hasn't been out for too long yet. Now whether all of that translates to actual chart success is still to be seen. But it would be nice to see Mariah tie with the Beatles for that record; it would be Ariana's sixth overall (fourth for this year) and Jennifer Hudson's first. They all deserve it. The song deserves it. (Friday 4 December 2020; 17:54)

The new Oh Santa! (96,790) by this_is_qhm from the Philippines This was such a pleasant surprise. The production value was superb. No one was trying to deliberately upstage or outsing anyone, the harmonizing was solid, especially during the whistled parts. Their voices worked surprisingly well. Everyone had something unique to bring to the table. Their vocal and visual chemistry is quite evident. JHud's volume was in perfect control, Ariana's soft tones were a nice contast, and yay for Mariah's re-recorded vocals. All the time Mariah has avoided female collaborations like the plague and yet here she is holding her own against younger vocalists. It seems like all she needed was to do it to get the best out of her. Would love to see her work with either J or Ari in the future. Especially Ariana. (Friday 4 December 2020; 06:15)

MORE MESSAGES