Mariah Carey - "Me. I Am Mariah...The Elusive Chanteuse"

[🇯🇲 lucy88 🇯🇲]

Her 14th studio album that was released on May 23, 2014. This was her only album that was released on Def Jam Recordings. The album has guest features from Nas, Miguel, Wale, and Fabolous, as well as gospel and R&B duo Mary Mary, as well as her twins Moroccan and Monroe. On the deluxe, R. Kelly (yes...him) and Mary J. Blige appeared on the remixes "Betcha Gon Know" and "It's A Wrap" respectively.

Previously titled The Art of Letting Go, the album was originally scheduled for release in 2012 following the single, "Triumphant (Get 'Em)" featuring Rick Ross and Meek Mill. However, after the song's underperformance, additional songs were recorded for the album, causing the release date to be pushed back several times throughout 2013 and again in 2014. Together with Bryan Michael Cox, Carey and Dupri executively produced the album. It is named after a self-portrait that Mariah drew at the age of three-years old that she captioned "Me. I Am Mariah". "The Elusive Chanteuse" part of the title is one of Mariah's many monikers.

Four singles were released from the album including, the Australian top-ten and US Billboard Hot 100 top-twenty song "#Beautiful" (a duet with Miguel), as well as the less successful "The Art of Letting Go", "You're Mine (Eternal)", and "You Don't Know What to Do" featuring rapper Wale. Although the re-release of her 2002 album Charmbracelet was issued with a Parental Advisory warning in some territories, Me. I Am Mariah... is Mariah's first studio album to bear the warning in the United States. Alternate edited versions were also released for the standard and deluxe versions of the album.

In the United States, Me. I Am Mariah…The Elusive Chanteuse debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with sales of 58,000 copies. It is her 17th top-ten album in the US, but became her lowest opening for a non holiday studio album since Nielsen SoundScan started tracking sales in 1991. The album rapidly descended down the charts, and was present on the Billboard 200 for a total of eight weeks, becoming the album with the shortest chart run to that point. As of April 2015, the album has sold 122,000 copies in the United States. Billboard speculated that its high ratio of first-week sales to total 2014 sales suggested that interest in the album came primarily from a decreasing group of die-hard fans. As of November 2018, the album has sold 127,000 copies in the United States.

A lot of people like to gripe on Mariah for having girly titles as such, but I actually love all of them up until this album. Dear Lord..."Me. I Am Mariah. The Elusive Chanteuse" is such a tongue twister, lol. I think the "The Elusive Chanteuse" would have just sufficed. I don't consider the album to be one of my faves from her, but I do love "You Don't Know What To Do". I also like "Cry", "Meteorite" (has really grown on me over the years), "Make It Look Good", and "Heavenly". "Money" is okay. What are your fave tracks from the album?

#Beautiful: #15 Hot 100, #23 A/C, #3 R&B, #15 Top 40

The Art of Letting Go: #46 R&B

You're Mine (Eternal): #88 Hot 100, #26 A/C, #1 Dance, #24 R&B, #36 Top 40

You Don't Know What To Do: #3 South Korea

[Dreams]

It stands as my second favorite album by her behind her debut. I just love this album with all my heart... this sounded corny lol, but MIAM really means a lot to me... everytime I listen to it I'm taken back to a certain period of my life, which was kind of a turning point for me on all levels. Anyway, I feel, as a huge Mariah fan, this completes the trifecta of personal, confessional albums for her; the other two being Butterfly and Charmbracelet. It bears some of her best songwriting. Also, vocally with the exception of the final three additions to the album ("Money," and especially "One More Try" and "Heavenly") it has tons of belting and full chest voice that Mariah is famed for and which most fans yearn for from her. She really brought it vocally on this album but I think it's underappreciated in that regard unfortunately. Track by track commentary:

Cry. - I appreciate that this is one of the rare examples of her serving a traditional, piano-led ballad, instead of the beat ballad formula that's run into the ground from her since 2005. Love the lyrics and the bridge. Very emotional song, you can feel her wearing her heart on her sleeve here.

Faded - Amazing song with a great chorus and climax. I love the lyrics and the way she belts it out at the end. One of her finest R&B torch songs of this decade that's ending.

Dedicated - One of her best songs (and collaborations) of the decade also. I love the production and the subject matter she's singing about. I love the infectiousness of this jam, on first listen I wasn't sold but as I'm typing this it stands as one of my favorite Mariah songs period, not just on the album. Love Mariah whistling at the end! YAY for Nas, too!

#Beautiful - This is universally adored and probably considered her best single since WBT. I don't agree personally but I totally understand why it's fawned over. I love the guitar and that it's a sweet catchy mid-tempo but I would love it 100% if it was all Mariah, like "Dreamlover" for example. I'm a Miguel fan, don't get it twisted, but ideally I'd have loved it as a solo Mariah track.

Thirsty - This is the most of-its-time sounding song of the album, but I still find it hot more than half a decade later. It's kinda like "Migrate" in that sense. Super catchy for sure.

Make It Look Good - Another big favorite of mine on the album. For a JD co-production I must say I was and still am astounded by how different, exquisite and lush (those strings!) it is. Mariah KILLS it vocally belting out and whistling on the right spots. Stevie Wonder's inclusion on harmonica is a plus too. LOVE the lyrics as well.

You're Mine - I was from day one and till now as I type this a big sucker for this one. Most fans disregard it as a WBT knock-off, and it's a shame because it's actually not. I love the minimalistic production and Mariah's tremendous vocal crescendo. This song oozes with romance without coming off cheesy or overwrought.

You Don't Know What To Do - This is easily my favorite single Mariah released in the 2010s. It's a perfect blend of classic and current Mariah, like a song off Emotions sprinkled with The Emancipation of Mimi, lol. Everytime she tackles disco music she nails it. I love the songwriting and the way she shows off them golden pipes here. One of her best uptempos ever.

Supernatural - A song with her kids guesting could've been a cheesy dud, but it's not. I love the instrumentation and the song features the best vocal of the whole album - Mariah belting her heart out for the second half and sustaining one long ass note - and actually some of her best vocals of her post-Glitter career I would say. Very cute slow jam.

Meteorite - Definitely a revelation for her. Mariah Carey putting out a house-y song that's not a remix, but an original composition? Yes! Fantastic beat and an powerful vocal throughout by Mariah. Also, interesting subject matter she's only written about once as far as I know. A highlight on the album.

Camouflage - Probably my least favorite on the whole album and that's because I find the melody pretty much non-existent, which could've been made up for by the excellent lyrics, but ultimately I listen to a song for the music not the lyrics themselves (otherwise I'd read poetry). I feel if she had written a decent, actual melody for this it would have been a favorite of mine.

Money - This albeit a tad long is a JAM and a half. I love a good horn-driven uptempo. I love how Mariah sings out in that high, MJ-esque vocal. And Fab's verse is hot lol.

One More Try - The majority of her fanbase dislikes it, I don't think it's as bad personally, but it definitely could've been a moment if it hadn't been for JD's subpar production treatment or Mariah's vocal which just isn't up to par. Mariah really hasn't delivered a strong non-Christmas cover since "Bringin' On The Heartbreak" in 2002.

Heavenly - In a nutshell this song is just an explosive clusterfuck, but, again, I'm one of those few who like it. LOL. (Lucy, high five!) I just love the message and how it builds and builds and ends the album (literally) on a sky high note.

The Art of Letting Go - Welp, this song offers one OUTSTANDING vocal climax by Mariah but suffers from what several songs Mariah has written in the latter part of this decade; it's too wordy sacrificing the melody in the process. It doesn't do the song any favors.


I feel the album is by far and away her best since TEOM. I'd even venture to say it's her best since Butterfly, as this is a Mariah Carey album through through, while TEOM, as slick and robust as it is, isn't. Chanteuse is a killer record to me and what could've been her last great era all around.

[Deleted]

I could live without "Thirsty" and the tracks after "Camouflage," but otherwise this was her most consistent album for me since Butterfly (until Caution). Very strong collection of songs, and a lot of the songs sounded like they borrowed from elements of her music from various points during her career which was a nice nostalgia trip for long-term fans.

[jenglisbe]

I think it should have been titled Me. I Am Mariah and the cover should have just been that childhood drawing.

I love the album because it feels like a retrospective of her musical influences and her own career. I love all of the tracks through “Camouflage.” I wish it ended there, though I like “Money.”

If I have to pick favorites they are Dedicated, Beautiful, You Don’t Know What to Do, and Camouflage. I really do love all of the first 11 tracks, though.

[🇯🇲 lucy88 🇯🇲]

Nov 12, 2019 19:48:48 GMT -5 @jazzysoul47 said:

I could live without "Thirsty" and the tracks after "Camouflage," but otherwise this was her most consistent album for me since Butterfly (until Caution). Very strong collection of songs, and a lot of the songs sounded like they borrowed from elements of her music from various points during her career which was a nice nostalgia trip for long-term fans.

I totally hear you on Thirsty. Definifely the worst song on here. I also never really cared for #Beautiful and One More Try. I could do without those as well. Even though I would rank this very low on my list, I do like this album a bit better than Memoirs.

[bat1990]

I have had Meteorite and Mesmerized stuck in my head all week!

[Dreams]

Nov 12, 2019 19:48:48 GMT -5 @jazzysoul47 said:

I could live without "Thirsty" and the tracks after "Camouflage," but otherwise this was her most consistent album for me since Butterfly (until Caution). Very strong collection of songs, and a lot of the songs sounded like they borrowed from elements of her music from various points during her career which was a nice nostalgia trip for long-term fans.

This is so much better than Caution!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ling-Ling]

There's a lot of fantastic stuff on here. I unfortunately don't love most of the ballads. "Cry," "Camouflage" and "One More Try" drag for me. None of them are awful, just kinda nice background music (and at least they gel with the rest of album). "Thirsty" is outright bad, one of her career low songs.

Everything else is solid to great though. I really love the throwback R&B production on so many of the tracks.

[Positive Tension]

There's a lot of good highlights on the album and some nice variety. My only complaints are that, as Ling-Ling said, most of the ballads aren't strong, and I do think she could've trimmed the tracklisting on the standard edition and replaced some songs with two that didn't make the cut. If you swap out "Thirsty," "One More Try," "Money," and "Heavenly" and replaced them with "The Art of Letting Go," and "Mesmerized," that would've made the album even stronger. (I know "The Art of Letting Go" generally isn't loved, but I love it.)

[divasummer]

I liked a decent amount of this cd at the time.
Liked, not Loved..
I forgot about the delays.. lol
It took me a second to get into “#Beautiful”.
I didn’t think there was enough Mimi in it at first and I didn’t love the vintage production either.
I grew to love it though.
“You’re Mine (eternal) was a let down for awhile as well. I did like one of the dance mixes though. Between that, the video and live performance I totally warmed up to it.
“The Art Of Letting Go” another disappointment. Didn’t Rodney Jerkins Produce it…?
Again I ended up warming up to it and love it now.
When the cd finally came out I thought “Cry” just about sounded like an old Mariah ballad, but it didn’t have the strongest chorus though. I still liked it.
“Faded” was pretty good from the get go with me.
I liked “Thirsty” immediately, but it took me a second to get over the stop and go approach of the song.
Everytime the beat dropped out, I was like Ugh…
I got over it though and still bump to it sometimes.
Loved “You Don’t Know What To Do” from first listen. I could have SO done with out the male voice talking over her in the slow section though. It used to annoy the heck out of me.
“Money” was instant for me even though I always thought it could have been trimmed down some. It was one of my most played tracks from the cd at the time.
I was beyond looking forward to “One More Try” and was enjoying it at first listen and then the strange “who’s the student, who’s the teacher” section kind of ruined it along with the strange vocal pitch up during the climax.
I got over it eventually.
“Camouflage” wasn’t to bad when the bridge/climax hit.
“Meteorite” I always thought could have hit harder, but I didn’t mind it.
At the time I thought “Make It Look Good” was cute, but never listened to “Supernatural”.
Being a big Mimi fan I didn’t pay the cd dust I ended up tolerating most of it, but definitely didn’t play it like her other cd’s.
The good thing in a way about that is I discover songs from it here and there from it and they’re almost new to me.
Like “Supernatural” just recently I got into it a lot more.