Mariah Carey: The Emancipation of Mimi (2LP) [HIP-O]

Why you'll love it

This 2LP set adds the deluxe-edition tracks on side D, including "Don't Forget About Us" and the "We Belong Together" remix. The album topped the Billboard 200, was the best-selling album of 2005 in the US, and won three Grammys including Best Contemporary R&B Album.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Deluxe edition tracks

About the album

Mimi is what Mariah Carey's close friends call her, and putting the name on the cover was her way of letting the rest of us in. Island Records chief L.A. Reid felt her spirit on the record and suggested it; Carey said calling it The Emancipation of Mariah Carey would have been obnoxious. The theme is liberation, love and growing up, set to R&B, pop and dance-pop with hip-hop, gospel and soul folded in.

She spent 2004 writing and producing with a strong cast. Snoop Dogg and the Neptunes join her on "Say Somethin'," Nelly turns up on "To the Floor," Twista raps over a Legendary Traxster beat that had first been meant for him, and James "Big Jim" Wright helped shape the gospel closer "Fly Like a Bird." Kanye West and Pharrell Williams are in the credits too. When Reid asked for a couple more singles, she flew to Atlanta and wrote "Shake It Off" and "Get Your Number" with Jermaine Dupri in two days. "It's Like That" led the way with top-ten peaks around the world.

"We Belong Together" then spent 14 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100, and the song stuck at No. 2 behind it, "Shake It Off," was also hers, a first for a female artist. Rolling Stone later placed the album among its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Holding the top two spots at once is one way to keep things in the family.

Also at Kops: more Mariah Carey on vinyl · browse Pop

Tracklist

Listen

On Island / UMe (cat# B0031627-01), a reissue of the 2005 album.