MONARC: Mariah Carey, now with a well-learned success formula Shangay Express (Spain)

She is living in a sweet moment in her career and she is going to take advantage of it. After the huge international success that was 'The Emancipation of Mimi' (ten million copies sold), Mariah sticks with a renewed style, much more urban and calmer, on her new CD, E=MC², a stylized sequel from the star who will keep getting number 1's well into 2008. We travelled to New York to see first hand how comfortably Mariah Carey sits on top as a pop star.

Mariah Carey is one of the few superstars who dominated the worldwide charts during the entire 90's decade and was able to stay first in line, despite her personal struggles. The surprise of the success of 'The Emancipation of Mimi', the disc that marked her return to the urban market, allows her now to be an untouchable international star who battles records (she just surpassed Elvis for number one singles). She even remained untouchable during her darkest period, known as Glitter. Perhaps it's because of this that her strength as an artist hasn't suffered. Or her accessibility.

The promotional schedule for an artist like Mariah Carey is subject to all types of changes, at times (almost always) due to surreal improvising (many times). Can a common cold complicate promotion? Very much so. And a photo session that is excessively prolonged? Of course. On Tuesday, the 26th of February, my humble self was initially scheduled to listen to the new album and interview Mimi at 6 PM in the photo studio. It's widely known that Carey is a nocturnal animal who never does promotion in the morning, and for that reason her schedule seems logic. So it made sense that the press representative from Universal Music in the United States called to delay the listening sector of this rendezvous to 9 PM, and the interview to midnight. What is one to do? Of course, listen to the disc -and as the hour approaches-, one begins to worry. They soon let me know that Mariah is "finishing up" a photo shoot for i-D (surprisingly wearing high heels, with a cup of wine in her hand and with her little dog in her lap), and that she probably won't have the strength to answer our questions afterwards. After four hours of time, waiting in an apartment with amazing views, she cancels the interview at 2:30 AM. Mimi is tired and ill, and the following day she has to make an appearance to promote her music video to 'Touch My Body'. She must be stupendous. Who cares if the interviewer is tired and sick?

On the 27th of February, the day in which Mariah will appear on MTV and BET for the 'Touch My Body' music video, is precisely the same date that Janet Jackson's CD comes out (coincidence or cattiness?). Janet got up really early to promote her album on Good Morning America. They asked me to accompany her at 3:30 PM (Mariah doesn't get up early) on her ride between the shows that have been playing her music videos for years. As Carey walks through the legendary MTV studios in Times Square, she was surrounded by ten people, among them assistants, wardrobe and makeup assistants, bodyguards, and reps from her label. Counting me, eleven. Mariah will appear live on TRL, later she'll pose for photos, and immediately following she will do a mini press conference, and finally she will pay attention to Shangay. All of this, of course, in an hour. Visiting the MTV New York studio is an experience: you run into Andre 3000 (from Outkast), you entertain yourself seeinstars who've passed through here (from Madonna to Christina Aguilera, and of course Carey), you see (on a TV monitor) Mariah's intervention, you see that she likes the camera flashes, and you get close up to accompany her to the press room where they await her... And you continue waiting. This is the price you have to pay to break the inaccessibility that many artists like her fondle.

When it's almost time for the interview, everyone is conscious of the time (or lack of). And while Jacki, the over efficient boss of Mariah's label, explains the situation, she sprays me with M by Mariah Carey, her perfume. She says that the artist will love that I am wearing her perfume (for women). I didn't resist. And when there's only three hours until time for me to get on my return flight home, they tell me that I also need to accompany her in her brand new Maybach to the next TV studio that she'll visit. This will be my private time with her (in the backseat of an amazing car with shining crystals and curtains; don't forget that outside the real world still exists). Two bodyguards lead me to the door, but I must wait until she gets comfortable (she needs a minute for that). In the half-lighted area, it was impossible to consult the notes I carried with me. She very formally greets me and offers me a kleenex, while grabbing one for herself. When I was ready to grab one, I realize that I don't need one, and opt to control my pop fetish of the moment. Yes, I tell Mariah that I smell like her. Well, like her fragrance. She grabs my wrist and gets excited. "It smells so good with your skin!" she says. And then, chaos. Mariah doesn't work the car controls too well and isn't able to open up the window to talk to the driver (Ugh, I wasn't able to greet my fans, my bad!); Quickly, the sun roof opens up... "See? It's such a new car that I don't know how it works. This will be cute if you write about is," she suggests. When all order re-establishes, she recuperates her (almost perennial) smile and is ready to respond to prior-inclinations.

SHANGAY EXPRESS: It doesn't seem to bother you that you have such a brutal promotional campaign for the new CD, especially after the last disc that sold so much.
MARIAH CAREY: I do what they expect from me. If you don't go around sharing your free time with the media, you don't get any attention. 'Touch My Body' is being well received and I feel like I have to support it by doing all I can. Have you seen the video? It's very fun.

S.E: While fulfilling the habitual flirting that you do, there is some irony in the video. Do you want people to see that you can laugh at yourself?
M.C: I'm always messing around with my sexy image, but what happens is that most people don't realize it (laughs). It seems that it's hard for people to believe that I don't take myself that seriously. We don't want to stress out! You have to take things with a bit of humor, relax a bit...

S.E: Are you aware that a lot of people think you're obsessed with displaying an unreal image of yourself, overly retouched via photoshop...
M.C: Now that you have me next to you, you don't recognize me? I'm not the same person you've seen a million times? Yes, right? Well that... Above all, I've recently lost a lot of weight and I suppose that people notice the change. Truly, I'm not that obsessed with photoshop. But I have to resort to it... like everyone else. There isn't a photo circulating around that isn't retouched nowadays. The internet shows us that what we see rarely corresponds completely with reality, and once you accept it you have to look beyond it. I, at this point in my career, want to transmit an iconic image, very classy. Because of that, I am very happy with the photos that Mario Sorrenti did for this disc: I look very liberated and natural, nothing excessive, I like that.

S.E: On the album cover you are only wearing white feathers, but the disc sounds blacker than ever. Do you feel more and more black?
M.C: Let me think, "more and more black?"... I think that this is just another step in the same direction of what I've always wanted to do. The first time was with Fantasy and Ol' Dirty Bastard. That was in 1996! Other hits from my career were on Butterfly, The Emancipation of Mimi, etc. So I don't think I'm presenting a new side to me, even though it's been really hard for some people to accept that my genes are rooted in urban music. I had it clear when I recorded 'Vision of Love'...

S.E: How do you feel about Madonna having recorded an R&B album?
M.C: Interesting (pauses). It's very interesting.

S.E: On it, she collaborates with Pharrell, with whom you worked, Mimi. Perhaps you gave her some inspiration?
M.C: I don't know, I don't have any idea about her intentions. I'll just say that it's very interesting (she tries not to laugh, and I'm able to notice it, despite the shadow).

S.E: You a 90's icon. With which 80's icon would you collaborate: Madonna, Prince, or Michael Jackson?
M.C: I've loved Prince ever since I was a little girl. And as a matter of fact, we worked together once, even though we didn't finish the song. So I would love to work with him again, because I consider him a true genius.

S.E: In your latest discs you haven't collaborated with any female artists. Are you afraid that they're going to overshadow you?
M.C: (Thinking each word through carefully) That doesn't worry me at all. What happens is I only like to work with guys (laughs). I haven't collaborated with many female artists in my career. I sang live with Patti Labelle, recorded a duet with Whitney Houston... and a little more. The truth is that I'm always around guys, even while composing. Crystal Johnson, with whom I wrote a couple tracks, is one of the few women with whom I've worked, and I enjoyed it.

S.E: If Whitney Houston says that Leona Lewis is her apparent successor, who do you see as a possible "baby Mariah"?
M.C: I'm my own "baby Mariah", and I'll always be. However, I recognize and appreciate when an artist gives reference to me, especially if I like what he/she does.

S.E: Nowadays there are a lot of young artists who become famous by creating scandals rather than for their music. How do you feel about that?
M.C: People love scandals, right? And of course, the internet is the perfect way to do it. Whoever wants to be famous that way, go ahead, but the gossip world doesn't interest me.

Her Things

S.E: Given the quantity of people who've helped with your latest disc, up until what point is it still 'personal'?
M.C: It is personal, and very much so. To start, it's full of my own expressions, some of which ended up as song titles. Like 'O.O.C.', an abbreviation that I use all the time to say that someone is "out of control". Or 'Migrate', that comes from a phrase I tend to say when I'm out with my friends when it's late and a place starts to bore me. My daily experiences and my manner of expressing myself are reflected on the disc. Jay-Z suggested that I do that... that I use my own way of talking to personalize my discs, and it was a great idea.

S.E: Are you still a partier?
M.C: I'll always be a party girl. One or two parties from time to time doesn't hurt anyone... (laughs).

S.E: And your diva demands, do they get worse over time?
M.C: What is over time? What is a diva? I know a lot about divas because it's a word I've heard ever since I was a little girl, because my mom is an opera singer. Diva demands? I don't think I have any. A diva would know what each button in her car was for... I'm a person who can take care of myself, you believe me, right?

S.E: You give off the image of being a temperamental star, yet you expose some of that in the short clip 'Lovers & Haters' (Adventures of Mimi DVD). Just another way to show that you don't take yourself too seriously?
M.C: Of course. All these goofy things that a diva is and what popularity means can't be taken seriously. Fame isn't something real, and it doesn't make you better or worse than anyone. Of course, there are pictures of you all around the place and you're on TV a lot, but for me this isn't anything special, as it forms a part of my life and nothing else. When I was younger I idolized fame, and I thought that experimenting with it a bit was something very special, and it's not. The only thing it means is that I can continue life as if I were in school (laughs).

S.E: So you're making your own clothing line, just like so many other artists?
M.C: I'm working on my own collection of lingerie, darling. Why shouldn't I dedicate myself to under garments? I think I'll wear all the designs we come up with, because they'd look great on me. If there's something I know now, it's what makes me feel good and what doesn't. First I had to learn how to match clothes, something fundamental for my job, and now I can do the same with under garments. For that I don't need consent from my stylist, who likes to say that she taught me.

S.E: You're almost as old as Patti Labelle or Tina Turner and you're still going out on stage?
M.C: In thirty years, you mean? I don't have any idea. You've compared me with artists whom I love and respect, and am always seeing more and more beautiful. Where will I be at their age? I don't even think about it. Making plans so far ahead doesn't go in my schedule (laughs). Make it to the end of each day seems sufficient to me.