Mariah Carey Love

“Each song is like an intimate conversation or entry in a private diary, A lot of the songs reflect specific, different times in my life. Others were inspired by movies, actual events that happened to me, or the stories of friends who told me about experiences that they’ve gone through.”

Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel is the twelfth studio album by Mariah Carey. It was released on September 29, 2009 in the United States, by Island Records, Def Jam Recordings and The Island Def Jam Music Group. After promotion for her previous album, E=MC² (2008) ended, Carey began to work on a new album, producing songs with Terius “The-Dream” Nash and Christopher “Tricky” Stewart.

Four singles were released to promote the album. The lead single, “Obsessed”, became the album’s most successful song, peaking at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100, and reaching the top twenty in Japan, Canada and Australia and the top ten in Italy and France. The second single, “I Want to Know What Love Is”, reached number 60 on the Billboard Hot 100, and topped the Brasil Hot 100 Airplay chart for 27 non-consecutive weeks. “H.A.T.E.U.” was released as the third single. “It’s a Wrap” was released as the album’s fourth and final single in 2023 after going viral on video sharing platform TikTok.

Upon its release, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel received positive reviews from music critics, who felt it was one of Carey’s most consistent and interesting records. Commercially, the album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 with 168,000 copies sold in its first week, and peaked within the top-ten in other five countries. To promote the album, Carey made a pre-show in Madison Square Garden in 2009, embarked on the Angels Advocate Tour (2010), and performed on several television programs, including America’s Got Talent, The Oprah Winfrey Show and Today.

Tracklisting