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About BFF from United States:

Re: Mariah's finally at peace (95,663) (95,664) by BFF from United States My theory about her lack of appreciation for her earlier work was that it was due to combination of the marriage to Tommy, journalists referring to her as a "white girl who sings black", not being allowed to incorporate hip-hop like she wanted to earlier on songs like "Dreamlover", and the situation at Sony post-divorce from Tommy. She was honestly trapped into a dynamic by these journalists who were so obsessed with her racial identity. It forced her into an awful position of constantly having to prove how "down" she was. There were certain collaborations that she did during the Rainbow/All That Glitters/Glitter era that I think came from that place of wanting to prove herself (i.e. having so many guest appearances on the "Rainbow" and "Glitter" albums). Some of them worked really well but others just seemed so forced. And it sounds like this dynamic triggered all kinds of terrible memories from her childhood and adolescence, things that she probably wanted to leave behind. It has always bothered me because it creates these retrograde racialist dichotomies around music, and it doesn't allow Mariah to be a multifaceted artist or human being. It's as if music critics had never heard of artists like Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, et cetera - all of whom sang soul/R&B ballads and love songs very much like the ones Mariah was writing. I became a fan during the "Butterfly" era, and I think the album really represents a fantastic blend of everything that makes Mariah great. I love ballad Mariah. I love hip-hop Mariah. I love songs like "Make It Happen", "Emotions", et cetera that are more gospel, house, and disco influenced. I love the house remixes she does. I love it when she brings her vulnerability and sweetness to covers of songs like "I'll Be There" or "Without You". (Sunday 20 September 2020; 13:05)

Out Here On My Own (95,612) by BFF from United States This is a really great cover, and I am not surprised that it was recorded for "All That Glitters". It fits perfectly with the theme of the film. This is just another indication of how watered down the final product became from what Mariah and Cheryl West originally envisioned. She really worked hard on this project for so many years, and I can't imagine how humiliating it must have been to go through the motions of promoting the watered down "Glitter" film and soundtrack in 2001. Really interested to read all about what happened in the memoir. Hopefully she is planning something interesting for the 20th anniversary of "Glitter". I really would love to hear that collaboration with Prince and a studio version of "Lillie's Blues". (Friday 18 September 2020; 13:53)

Re: The Rarities tracklisting (95,539) by BFF from United States I'm a little disappointed that we didn't get more unreleased material from the 1997-2005 period and that b-sides like "Everything Fades Away", "Do You Think of Me", and "Slipping Away" took up space that could have gone to completely new material. They are great songs, but most fans already know them. I would have been happy to have them released on digital EPs as part of #MC30. Surely "Butterfly"/"Rainbow" had more outtakes? And she was working on "Glitter" for four years, so there has to be more music from that project. I would not have minded hearing a recording of (adult) Mariah singing that song "Billie's Blues (Turn You Loose)" that was used in the movie during that scene with Billie Frank and her mother. Didn't she also record something with Prince for the film? And I'm not sure that the Live at Tokyo Dome disc is really necessary. I'd rather have audio or video from the Rainbow or Charmbracelet tours if we are getting tour footage/audio. Those tours were much more interesting than the Daydream tour. If she was planning to do a two-disc collection, I would rather have two discs of rarities/b-sides rather than one disc of rarities/b-sides and one disc of concert audio (from a concert most fans already know well). With all of that said, I'm very interested to hear the original recording of "Loverboy" as well as "Here We Go Around Again" and "One Night". Fingers crossed that she is planning another collection like this because this is definitely only a fraction of her rare/unreleased material. (Sunday 13 September 2020; 21:57)

The memoir (95,429) by BFF from United States I think what I'm most looking forward to in the book is a potential in-depth exploration of "Glitter" as a project from the time of its inception as "All That Glitters" up to the end of the "Glitter" era in late 2001. I listened to the "Glitter" episodes of The Mariah Report recently and thought it was really cool of Dan and Martin to go through the original screenplay by Cheryl West. The original concept sounded much more interesting than the finished product. I know that a cover version of "Out Here On My Own" is rumored to be part of the track listing for "The Rarities". Maybe that was originally tied to "All That Glitters". The lyrics of the song certainly fit in with the theme of the film. I'm pretty familiar with Mariah's fraught family dynamics and difficult childhood and adolescence, so I don't think those chapters of the book will hold many surprises. I'm also kind of bored with discussions Tommy Mottola saga. I would like to hear more about what was like for Mariah working at Sony after the divorce, and I wonder if she will talk about the movie offers she was never told about. (Monday 7 September 2020; 15:20)