Mariah Carey Love

“This album is so much about fun and freedom and just the continuation of me feeling emancipated. It’s sort of like emancipation equals Mariah Carey times two. This is me, 100 percent. Having fun, just being real, People ask me all the time, ‘How do you stay relevant, how do you stay current, how do you make music that people continue to respond to?’ You just keep being real, keep being you. Stay true to who you are from the beginning.”

E=MC² is the eleventh studio album by Mariah Carey, released on April 4, 2008, by Island Records, Def Jam Recordings and the Island Def Jam Music Group. The singer began recording the album in 2007 in Anguilla, after writing and composing most of its material during and after her 2006 Adventures of Mimi Tour. Carey worked with various songwriters and producers on the project, including Jermaine Dupri, Bryan-Michael Cox, Stargate, The-Dream, Tricky Stewart, Scott Storch and Danja.

The album revealed a more personal side of the singer, illustrated in its declarative theme of emancipation from her previous marriage, and from her personal and professional setbacks. It was meant to be a continuation, or a second part of her tenth studio album, The Emancipation of Mimi (2005). Although it shared similar vocal production as well as an inclination to her signature pop and R&B ballads, the album also encompassed a variety of dance-oriented and uptempo styles. Carey collaborated with a number of artists on the album, including T-Pain, Damian Marley and Young Jeezy. Though considered by critics very similar to the formula its predecessor had been built on, E=MC² included other genres she had never explored, such as reggae, and her continued recording of gospel-influenced hymns.

E=MC² was generally well received by music critics, with many complimenting the record’s broad genre influences, and musical and production styles. Some critics, however, felt that the album was too similar to The Emancipation of Mimi. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with opening week sales of 463,000 copies; the highest first-week sales of Carey’s career. It also debuted at number one in Canada, and opened inside the top-five in Australia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Worldwide, the album has sold over 2.5 million copies.

Four singles were released to promote the album. The album’s lead single, “Touch My Body”, became Carey’s eighteenth chart-topper on the Billboard Hot 100, tying her with Elvis Presley as the solo artist with the most number one singles in United States history, a record she has since surpassed. Additionally, it gave Carey her 79th week atop the chart, tying Presley for most weeks at number one. It achieved strong worldwide charting, peaking within the top five of the singles charts in Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. “Bye Bye” served as the album’s second release. Although hailed by critics, and expected to have achieved large commercial success, the song stalled at number nineteen on the Hot 100, and managed to chart weakly internationally. The third single, “I’ll Be Lovin’ U Long Time” failed to garner success in any prominent music market. The fourth and final single “I Stay in Love” became her fourteenth chart topper on the Dance Club Songs chart.

Tracklisting