Mariah Carey is challenging Ravyn Lenae to chase her dreams. “You’re going to have to get after these things. C’mon, girl,” she says with a giggle, after Lenae shares admiration for women who have created a legacy, like Carey and Kelly Rowland, in the music industry.
Carey, Rowland, and Lenae met up at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills for Three Generations of R&B, ELLE’s new series that brings women together for cross-generational conversations. Carey, who is a true legend in the genre, is fresh off the release of her new album Here for It All. Former Destiny’s Child member and music industry veteran Rowland is hitting the road on The Boy Is Mine Tour with Brandy and Monica. Lenae, a breakthrough in the industry with her hit song “Love Me Not,” is about to join Sabrina Carpenter on her Short n’ Sweet Tour. The three powerhouses are at different stages in their lives, but they’ve had shared experiences, similar challenges, and, of course, many hits between them.
On the impact of Mariah Carey
Kelly Rowland: I actually was you. Dancing in the fields to “Dream lover,” holding flowers to my face and whipping my hair. I was like, “I am Mariah.” I had the shorts like Mariah. I had the tops like Mariah. I decided to get into butterflies like Mariah. Somebody was like, “For God’s sake, like dragonflies!” I was like, “No, it’s about the butterfly.”
Ravyn Lenae: Leading up to today, I was thinking about my first moments with your music. It’s so vivid in my brain of the summers with my little sister and my little cousins in the basement, putting on your album and making up dances to the whole thing, top to bottom…but also, seeing women of color float so effortlessly, between R&B and pop, and whatever she wanted to be, was so divine and important for me.
KR: The first time I met you, it was with [Destiny’s Child]. I remember we were so stoked. I was like, we’re going to look crazy when she turns around and sees us…we were so happy any time there was an encounter with you, period. You were always very warm and very cool.
On Ravyn Lenae’s “Love Me Not”
Mariah Carey: Ravyn, I’m just getting to know your music. But I really do like “Love Me Not.” It’s really good. It has something about it that takes you back to childhood.
RL: Thank you. I think the most interesting thing people say is that is that it feels like it could be from the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, ’80s.
KR: I remember thinking, “Oh, she likes to break the rules,” in the best way. Not putting you in a box, I think that’s the best thing about listening to all your records, because coming up…people like to put you in a box.
On songwriting
MC: I always loved writing songs, even as a little girl. Being a little kid and just drawing, writing, you know, little things like that. That’s how I grew up to become a songwriter.
KR: Do you remember what [the] first song you wrote was?
MC: There’s so many [that are] a little bit older. I’m trying to think of when I’m little, but I had this song “I’ll Get Back at You.” That’s a reveal for the first time. No one’s ever heard that.
RL: Somebody made you mad. I wrote my first song when I was 15. I remember I was working with a producer from Chicago at the time. There was a studio literally right around my high school, and I was a freshman. I was doing a summer program for kids where you would go, you would do music all day, and they would give you a stipend for it at the end of the summer. So I used my $300 to book that studio session and I recorded that song and the studio, he said, “You don’t ever have to pay for studio time ever again.” And I was like, “Good. ‘Cause I ain’t got no more money.”
KR: I enjoy songwriting when it’s with a whole bunch of people. I don’t actually think I’ve ever sat down to write a song by myself, to be honest. I should actually really try that.
MC: It releases. Even if you have someone just playing on the keys and you’re telling them which way to go.
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