were no longer about far-off, fictional lovers—these songs, though certainly poetically embellished, were full of specific details and sensual realness,” she writes about the album, several of whose songs were inspired by her brief relationship with Derek Jeter. Most notably, the song a brief stolen moment on the rooftop of Jeter’s building.
, but after reading about its creation in such longing detail, I’m hearing it with new ears. This is the power of narrative.mostly serves to underscore Carey’s artistry, which she has always contended goes way beyond standing onstage and singing. The book’s metanarrative centers on the crafting of a persona. It illustrates how even someone as fabulously well known as Carey can feel misunderstood and why she shouldn’t be.
Few people outside of her fandom would probably regard her as an artist with a vault of unreleased material , and so to the unknowing public, Carey says, “Pow!,” withspanning collection of b-sides and previously unheard songs. Beyond hitting on the more-artistic-than-meets-the-eye theme ofunderscores her memoir’s claims that her butterfly wings were clipped in the early part of her career and Carey was not allowed to make the R&B that she loved.
Apart from the ambition, Tommy and I were completely different, and the Black part of myself caused him confusion. From the moment Tommy signed me, he tried to wash the ‘urban’ off of me. And it was no different when it came to my music. The songs on my very first demo, which would become my first smash album, were much more soulful, raw, and modern in their original state.
Even Carey’s post-Mottola years bore his mark—at least for a bit. After leaving Sony for Virgin, Mottola allegedly continued to check up on Carey and