Mariah´s Fantasy Island
Mariah´s Fantasy Island by Mark Armstrong May 9, 2002, 9:30 AM PT All that glittered wasn´t gold for Mariah Carey. But it certainly was green. Less than four months after her whopping $50 million breakup with Virgin Records, the pop diva has signed a new megabucks contract, this time with Universal´s Island Def Jam Music Group, and she´s already back in the studio recording new material. In a three-album deal said to be worth more than $20 million, Carey will form her own, as-yet-untitled label, distributed by Island and headed by Jerry Blair, who worked with Mariah during her hitmaking days at Columbia Records. "I´m incredibly happy," she said in a statement. "It´s a tremendous and unprecedented opportunity to be working [with Universal and Island´s top execs]. They have collectively helped redefine pop music and I am excited to be part of their family." Universal was one of several music mammoths vying for Mariah´s attention, after EMI paid $28 million in January to buy out her Virgin contract. The breakup wrapped up a tough year in which she suffered a mental breakdown and her first album for Virgin, the soundtrack to her box-office flop Glitter, was a commercial failure. Still, many executives were confident the number-one selling female artist of all time could rebound, and both Warner Brothers Records and Clive Davis´ J Records were reportedly wooing the 32-year-old singer. "One blip of a soundtrack does not ruin a life," Carey told the New York Times. She eventually chose Universal after some heavy courting from chairman Doug Morris and Island chief Lyor Cohen. "From day number one, Doug and Lyor were there at my apartment," she said. (And for those of us who´ve seen the now-legendary episode of Cribs, we all remember what that apartment looked like.) "She has the voice and ability to communicate emotion simply," Cohen told the Times. "That to me is the key, to get her back to that, and not allow the frame to be too gaudy or big, but let the picture show itself." Carey, meanwhile, brushed off talk that she needed to find music executives who could help guide her image--as opposed to Virgin, where she called all the shots. "I know a lot of executives, or so-called experts, had that opinion, but they didn´t know I´d written songs," she said. "It´s slightly demeaning and slightly sexist." At the same time, she told the Hollywood Reporter: "My gut has always been to go with Universal, even before I did the [Virgin] deal. I learned a big lesson: You´ve got to go with the people that really know what they are doing." Mariah hasn´t waited for the ink to dry on her contract to begin working on new songs. She reportedly entered the studio right after her Super Bowl performance, working with longtime collaborator Jermaine Dupri, as well as producers DJ Quik and 7 Aurelius. No word yet on when her next album will be released. "I´m going to wherever the creative energy takes me," she told the Hollywood Reporter. "I´m not trying to sound New Age-y, but it´s true. I´m doing a lot of stuff with live musicians, and I´m doing a lot of ballads." Source:E Online http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,9928,00.html
Mariah´s Fantasy Island by Mark Armstrong May 9, 2002, 9:30 AM PT All that glittered wasn´t gold for Mariah Carey. But it certainly was green. Less than four months after her whopping $50 million breakup with Virgin Records, the pop diva has signed a new megabucks contract, this time with Universal´s Island Def Jam Music Group, and she´s already back in the studio recording new material. In a three-album deal said to be worth more than $20 million, Carey will form her own, as-yet-untitled label, distributed by Island and headed by Jerry Blair, who worked with Mariah during her hitmaking days at Columbia Records. "I´m incredibly happy," she said in a statement. "It´s a tremendous and unprecedented opportunity to be working [with Universal and Island´s top execs]. They have collectively helped redefine pop music and I am excited to be part of their family." Universal was one of several music mammoths vying for Mariah´s attention, after EMI paid $28 million in January to buy out her Virgin contract. The breakup wrapped up a tough year in which she suffered a mental breakdown and her first album for Virgin, the soundtrack to her box-office flop Glitter, was a commercial failure. Still, many executives were confident the number-one selling female artist of all time could rebound, and both Warner Brothers Records and Clive Davis´ J Records were reportedly wooing the 32-year-old singer. "One blip of a soundtrack does not ruin a life," Carey told the New York Times. She eventually chose Universal after some heavy courting from chairman Doug Morris and Island chief Lyor Cohen. "From day number one, Doug and Lyor were there at my apartment," she said. (And for those of us who´ve seen the now-legendary episode of Cribs, we all remember what that apartment looked like.) "She has the voice and ability to communicate emotion simply," Cohen told the Times. "That to me is the key, to get her back to that, and not allow the frame to be too gaudy or big, but let the picture show itself." Carey, meanwhile, brushed off talk that she needed to find music executives who could help guide her image--as opposed to Virgin, where she called all the shots. "I know a lot of executives, or so-called experts, had that opinion, but they didn´t know I´d written songs," she said. "It´s slightly demeaning and slightly sexist." At the same time, she told the Hollywood Reporter: "My gut has always been to go with Universal, even before I did the [Virgin] deal. I learned a big lesson: You´ve got to go with the people that really know what they are doing." Mariah hasn´t waited for the ink to dry on her contract to begin working on new songs. She reportedly entered the studio right after her Super Bowl performance, working with longtime collaborator Jermaine Dupri, as well as producers DJ Quik and 7 Aurelius. No word yet on when her next album will be released. "I´m going to wherever the creative energy takes me," she told the Hollywood Reporter. "I´m not trying to sound New Age-y, but it´s true. I´m doing a lot of stuff with live musicians, and I´m doing a lot of ballads." Source:E Online http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,9928,00.html