In truth, there’s nothing more entertaining than watching a celebrity having a breakdown. Not that Mariah Carey had a breakdown when her 2001 soundtrack, “Glitter”, almost brought down EMI Records. No she was just suffering from ‘nervous exhaustion’.
Two albums on it might still be just as much fun to call her 'Mad Mariah', but “The Emancipation Of Mimi” makes it hard not to feel a slight pang of guilt. Gushing through vague ballads and half-interested mid-tempo grooves; using every note known to man, and a few known only to dogs; she sings about being lovelorn and lonely, and sounds very much the little girl lost. The album’s title may suggest strength – or perhaps koo-koo la la nuttiness– but throughout she plays the vulnerable diva desperately in need of someone to take care of her a little too convincingly.
Mad or not, Carey’s not stupid. She’s always surrounded herself with the best people to aid her cause. Here she’s spared no expense. Jermaine Dupri’s in charge of the core - from the tame club bounce of single “It’s Like That” to “We Belong Together”’s breathless simpering and the Usher-lite “Shake It Off” – while elsewhere she’s called in the biggest of big hitters to give her the R&B edge and credibility she’s been craving for a decade. And they’re big hitters who should know better.
The Neptunes come off best, delivering stand-out tracks “Say Something”, a soft focus Prince-style funk complete with an amorous Snoop Dogg, and “To The Floor” featuring an underutilised Nelly. They’re the best things here, but they’ve hardly taxed themselves. Similarly Kanye West’s “Stay The Night” has something of the cast-off about it.
Having co-written most of the tracks, Carey, who refuses to carry what scant tunes there are, must take some of the responsibility for “The Emancipation Of Mimi” being charmingly forgettable. Yet the over-riding sense is that those R&B heavyweights she’s entrusted to take care of her, have taken the cash and palmed her off with any old nonsense because she’ll never spot the difference. Be that as it may, by taking advantage of the kooky diva who desperately wants to be street, they’ve made her sound all the more vulnerable and tragic.
