Mariah Carey on her unprecedented Billboard Chart success: 'It's a little hard to wrap my head around'

Mariah Carey has scored the 19th No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 among soloists in the chart's history. She has co-written 18 of these songs (her No. 1 hit in 1992 MTV Unplugged cover of Jackson 5's “I'll Be There”) and shares insights into the songwriting process on the new Audible Original Portrait of a Portraitwhich was released on Thursday (May 23).

The recording marks the 40th on the storytelling platform Words + Music franchise, which started in January 2020.

While encompassing Carey's career, which began with her first Hot 100 No. 1, “Vision of Love,” in 1990, the recording delves, as the latest release's title suggests, into the song “Portrait” from her most recent studio LP. , of 2018 Caution. He also premieres a house remix of the track, turning the ballad into an extended club anthem.

“It gave me the ability to talk about those lyrics, which I haven't done,” Carey says at the close of the Audible Original. “So it was a cathartic experience for me.” (“And I hope it was … whatever experience you were looking for, I hope you got it. And if you didn't, I don't know what to tell you,” he says with a laugh.)

Among Carey's greatest honors, beyond her record total of Hot 100 No. 1 among solo acts, her modern carol classic “All I Want for Christmas Is You” reigns as the top title in the history of Advertising signHoliday 100 chart. She is also the only artist with three songs to top the Hot 100 for at least 14 weeks each: “One Sweet Day” with Boyz II Men (16 weeks, 1995-96), “We Belong Together ” (14, 2005) and her yuletide standard, originally released in 1994 (14), while her 93 total weeks atop the Hot 100 mark the most of any act.

In addition, Carey won top honors on December 25, 1999, Advertising sign issue, in which she was ranked No. 1 Pop Artist of the '90s and “One Sweet Day” reigned as the decade's biggest hit on the Hot 100. In the December 19, 2009 issue, “We Belong Together” was crowned the the top Hot 100 entry of the decade.

In addition, Carey has sold 56.1 million albums in the US, according to Luminate, six of which have reached the top of the Billboard 200. Her songs (as the sole lead artist) have attracted a whopping 85.4 billion audiences on radio and 9.4 billion official -demand US streams.

With his release Portrait of a PortraitCarey spoke Advertising sign about the different sides of her songwriting, whether she was able to tell which of her songs would become her biggest hits, and her famous place in Advertising sign historical map.

Beyond your voice, and so many songs overall, what does it mean to you to be praised for your songwriting and lyrics, specifically?

I think it's amazing. Depending on who I'm writing with or writing by myself, it's something I love to do so much. Sometimes I just don't care [about credit]because I know what I'm doing.

What do you, personally, get out of writing lyrics? What is your reason for writing?

It's hard to explain… and this is the first line of the song I wrote called “Outside” [from Carey’s 1997’s album Butterfly]: “It's hard to explain.” It's really something that… I wouldn't be happy with my life if I didn't do it. And I'm not just doing it for the credit or anything. I do it because I love to do it.

Some songwriters say that songs flow through them, as long as a writer is actively creating them.

I agree with that. Is this. Even with a melody, you make that melody… and it comes from within you. So are the lyrics that accompany it.

How much of you, of who you are, do you think you've revealed in your lyrics? You've shared everything from misery, as you joke in the recording, to fun…

I think… it's a lot. [Chuckles] There might be songs that are happy and show a certain side of me, and then there are songs that, just kidding, use that word “miserable”… me and my friend made it up when we were editing something. We were like, “Put on the misery!” But it's true… it's just a little element you add to the song.

“Portrait” – there is a line: “pushing past the parasites.” I put it on and almost didn't, [thinking] “Is too much;” “Is it too intense?” But then I said, “This is exactly what I'm going through” at the time. “There are some people in my life who are not good people, and that happens.” So sometimes I feel like it's okay to be completely real.

In my song “Looking In” [from 1995’s Daydream], is, “You look at me and you see the girl who lives inside the golden world, but don't think that's all there is to see, you'll never see the real me.” It begins like this and then continues: “Smiling through a thousand tears and harboring teenage fears/ Dreaming of all that can never be/ Comforting insecurity and hiding inside me.” It's not even the whole first verse… but that's how I felt at the time. So I have to be who I am. Sometimes it's just the right course.

That seems to be what makes you, and every artist, relatable. We have seen this especially with social media. Maybe years ago, the idea of ​​fun was perfection, all the time. But people can take comfort in knowing that everyone goes through the same struggles. A psychological analysis you weren't necessarily looking for…

I like it, I like it.

You note on the audio prototype that you know you sometimes try to write or co-write a hit. Other times, it's more about what you want to write, like more soulful songs, possible album cuts, and not thinking so much about single releases and business. About the first part of this: Do you know when you've written a hit?

Sometimes you say, “I feel like a success,” but I don't always say that. I don't want to piss it off. [Laughs]

Sometimes I've said, “Oh, that's definitely a hit.” Other times, like you said, certain songs, the spiritual songs, you don't think, “This is going to be a hit,” but it might be. yours favorite or fan favorite.

A song can become a hit even for one person, and it can mean so much.

Correctly.

Not to brag, but can you think of any songs that you had a good idea would be big hits on the charts after they were written?

I didn't always know what a great song was. Like, “This is going to be No. 1 for eight weeks!” I felt like “Fantasy” was going to be a big record, but who knows?

Looking at your transition to major singles, from 1991's “Emotions” to 1993's “Dreamlover,” 1995's “Fantasy,” 1997's “Honey” and more, it seems like you've always been on the pulse of where the hit is. music, following the trends and also defining it, moving the sounds forward.

I think so. I think I would always be like, “I want to write a song like This”, and then take my time, do it and luckily have a moment that was very successful. Again, I would have a song like “Butterfly” and it didn't come out [as a commercially available single at the time] and it didn't really do any kind of big numbers on the charts. But I loved it and I think a lot of my die-hard fans loved it and it was really important.

Hopefully you might like some geeky ones Advertising sign-relevant stats, as they tie in so perfectly with your story: November 1st, that's when it was the holiday season of course begins – I'm not sure if you knew, but there it is Advertising signhis birthdayalso, back to 1894.

No! I did not know that.

… and on August 4th, when “Vision of Love” reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 1990, this is Hot 100's Birthdayin 1958.

I like.

“All I Want for Christmas Is You” goes to No. 1 on the Hot 100 each year from 2019 it reflects how much people love this song and holiday music in general. Obviously it was already beloved, but streaming finally helped it rise to the top. If the technology had existed earlier, it might have been No. 1 many years ago.

It's amazing, to think about it like that.

What does it mean to you to have 19 Hot 100 No. 1s, the most among solo artists and just one shy of The Beatles' record of 20?

I don't know what I think about this! [Laughs] I do not know. I think it's amazing.

On one level it's like, “[I] you don't really care.” But it is not. To have 19 No. 1 singles and be one away from the Beatles… I don't know how I can't recognize that. One away from the Beatles … is very. I think it's a little hard to wrap my head around.