In 1998 Aretha Franklin had far from anything to prove, but that didn’t stop her from proving a lot. After a seven-year gap, Aretha released one of her strongest and most cohesive albums to date: A Rose Is Still A Rose. The album pairs Aretha with contemporary powerhouses like Lauryn Hill, Sean “Puffy”/”Diddy” Combs, Jermaine Dupri, and Dallas Austin. They brought to the table fresh R&B akin to the likes of Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Erykah Badu.

Throughout the 90’s, Aretha laid low. She toured, made occasional recordings for soundtracks, and released one album, 1991’s What You See Is What You Sweat. That all changed in 1998. The times and musical landscaped continued to change. There was only one thing for Aretha to do, what she does best: Adapt.

The Rose Blooms

On this masterwork, Aretha pairs up with a who’s who of 90’s hitmakers. Lauryn Hill wrote and produced the title track. Diddy (then Puff Daddy [aka Sean Combs]), Kelly Price, and Corey Rooney contributed a track. Jermaine Dupri contributed two, one with Trina Broussard and Trey Lorenz, and another with Manuel Seal. Dallas Austin and Babyface also contributed, as well as iconic songwriter David Foster and jazz legend Nancy Wilson. And of course, Aretha brought her own composition to the table too.

Above all else, A Rose Is Still A Rose showcases Aretha’s renewed vocal strength. She sounds vocally empowered. Aretha hits high notes with a clarity and power she hasn’t possessed arguably since the late 1970’s. Years of chain smoking took their toll on Aretha’s upper register in the 80’s. Thankfully, she kicked the habit in the late 80’s/early 90’s. As a result, her upper register’s clarity returned by the time she hit the studio in 1997.

Rose opens with the Lauryn Hill-helmed title track. It’s a song of wisdom, from an older woman (the rose) to a young, heartbroken girl (a flower). Aretha starts off as an observer, almost speaking to the man who wronged the girl. She shifts to sharing her own experiences that mirror the girl’s. It speaks to Lauryn’s genius that her 22-year old self perfectly penned a track speaking from the perspective of fifty-five year old Aretha. Lauryn can even be heard asserting “what I am, is what I am” behind Aretha throughout the song. Even further, Lauryn got behind the camera and directed the song’s music video. Elise Neal stars as the protagonist with Q-Tip as the antagonist. Lauryn and Faith Evans make appearances around a radiant and regal Aretha.

A Rose Is Still A Rose: The Album

Beyond the title track, the who’s who of contributors all bring their best contemporary flavor to compliment Aretha’s newly revitalized voice. Jermaine Dupri brought two standout cuts, including second single “Here We Go Again”. The song marries two classic samples: “The Glow Of Love” and “Genius Of Love”. Janet Jackson soon followed suit with a sample of “Glow” on 2001’s “All For You.” Meanwhile, “Genius” was the foundation for Mariah Carey’s revelatory pop-rap collaboration “Fantasy”. It’s a powerful moment to hear these two iconic samples married with Aretha’s legendary voice over it, all while she chastises a man for stringing her along.

Jermaine Dupri’s other contribution “Every Lil’ Bit Hurts” is one of the many vocal showcase moments throughout A Rose Is Still A Rose. Over a drum pattern that resembles a simplified version of Mariah Carey’s “Breakdown,” Aretha laments over heartbreak, and the pain of every slight little bit of losing the man.

A testament to Aretha’s power as an artist: there’s no evidence that any of these powerhouse producers contributed to the album aside from their names in the liner notes. Jermaine Dupri and Puff Daddy are well known (even notorious) for playing hype man on their own productions. However, aside from a few inconspicuous “yeah”’s from Puff on “Never Leave You Again,” they’re vocally absent.

Synths, Bass, and Beats

A Rose Is Still A Rose is musically differently from other Aretha albums. Much of the album relies on synth-driven music, and drum programming. The programmed instrumentation is a far cry from the arrangement charts Aretha created in the 60’s while recording at Atlantic, in a studio full of musicians. However, this change doesn’t negatively affect the impact of each recording. Plus there are live instruments throughout: James Poyser of The Roots contributes piano to the title track and Aretha’s son Teddy mans the guitar on “The Woman”, to name just a few.

Much of the album is slower, lending itself to the tone of the lyrics (both love and heartbreak). There are two exceptions to this rule. First is the bass-slapping “I’ll Dip”. It’s a standout cut with a funky edge, produced by Dallas Austin. The bass makes this recording singular amongst the bunch. The same can be said for the aggressive drum loop and muddy synths on “Watch My Back”. Though it’s tweaked to fit Aretha’s style, the drum loop easily be used as a hip hop beat. It’s truly a “phat” track, as Aretha says both in the song’s lyrics, and in the album’s liner notes.

The Woman

Aretha’s contribution “The Woman” closes A Rose Is Still A Rose. It’s easily her greatest composition of the last 20 years. It’s also the second longest song of her career to date, clocking in at 7:43 (2 seconds short of 1973’s “Just Right Tonight”). She applies her now-typical technique of delaying her vocal delivery after the intended moment. The chorus holds a stellar descending melody as she’s applied to “You Can’t Take Me For Granted” and “He’s The Boy”.

For the first two thirds of the song, she follows a verse-chorus structure. She sings about “wanting to be the woman at your side” while paraphrasing a line from “I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)”. Then, suddenly the instrumentation opens up into a free form jam. Aretha proceeds to freestyle and scat her way to the end of the song. It’s one of Aretha’s most liberated vocal recordings.

Ree: Mix Queen

As if this moment in Aretha’s career wasn’t unique enough, she took it a step further. One more thing that makes A Rose Is Still A Rose unique from all other Aretha albums is the remix treatment it received. Unlike any other album, Aretha recorded new vocals to grace the dance remixes of “A Rose Is Still A Rose” and “Here We Go Again”. Major remixers David Morales, Hex Hector, and Johnny Vicious all lent their talents to give Aretha a true club backing. She encapsulates the persona of a true dance diva and holds nothing back vocally. On the “Rose” remixes, she gives absolute sass in her ab libs. A few gems:

“What is this thing called love?”- A Rose Is Still A Rose (Johnny Vicious Club Mix)

“Do-ya, do-ya wanna go there? We’ll tell ya what it’s like.” – A Rose Is Still A Rose (Love To Infinity Club Mix)

“I am pissed”- Here We Go Again (Morales Classic Mix)

Stream A Rose Is Still A Rose:

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In 1997, Mary J. Blige was on top of the world professionally. Her sophomore album, 1994’s My Life was a smash. Mary was at the forefront of the hip hop-soul revolution in music, garnering her the undisputed title “Queen of Hip Hop Soul”. She changed course with 1997’s Share My World, drifting musically towards contemporary R&B. The results still hold up today as amazing. Andrew & Mario highlight some of the album’s top tracks. Allow us to take you back…

Puff, Puff, Pass

After two successful albums helmed by Puff Daddy, Mary and Puff drifted apart. Puff left Mary’s label Uptown Records to start his Bad Boy Records. Soon after Puff signed Faith Evans, who he modeled visually and sonically after Mary. She enlisted the help of Trackmasters, who co-produced her hit “Be Happy” from My Life. Clearly they knew the direction to help further develop Mary’s sound. So did both Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis and Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, who make their first appearances on a Mary album here. Jam & Lewis and Darkchild would go on to help produce some of Mary’s biggest hits including “No More Drama” and “Enough Cryin'”.

While 1994’s My Life explored some of the darkest parts of Mary’s soul, Share My World takes a slightly different approach. There are still those dark, soulful, heartbroken moments. However, Mary seems more hopeful, especially on tracks like “Everything”, “Our Love”, and “Love Is All We Need”. Overall, clocking in at 17 tracks, Mary’s Share My World is a masterful progression in Mary’s catalog.

I Can Love You

One of the album’s standout tracks is the opener, “I Can Love You”. Over a sample of Lil’ Kim’s “Queen Bitch” Mary declares that she can love her man better than the woman. With added production by Trackmasters to transform the sample into an R&B track, Mary shines. The song climaxes when Lil’ Kim herself makes an appearance.

The Queen Bee proclaims “If I told you once, I told you twice, QB, throw the booty, like a groupie for mo’ ice”. Kim builds on the premise of the song, listing all the ways she’s down for her man (she happens to be talking about The Notorious BIG). “Under pressure? I ride for ya, die for ya, ruger by the thigh for ya, right hand high for ya”. Kim asserts that she’s ride or die, just like on her debut album Hard Core. The song is a classic amongst Mary’s catalog, and a notable moment in Mary & Kim’s friendship. We were in the building when two finally performed the song together for the very first time in 2015:

Round And Round

The Trackmasters also produced this piano-based thumping hip hop soul heartbreak song. Like “I Can Love You”, “Round And Round” also masterfully samples a recent rap song,  Jay-Z’s 1996 “D’Evils”. Mary laments her mood swings that are the result of a man who’s untrue. It’s one of her catchiest songs and it still feels fresh as if it came out yesterday.

Everything

“Everything” is a soulful and romantic mid-tempo. A Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis production, it is based on obvious samples of “You Are Everything” by The Stylistics and James Brown’s “The Payback.” It was the second top 5 R&B hit from the album (not to mention it’s also arguably one of her signature hits to R&B fans). The music video, shot by Hype Williams, is perhaps one of Mary’s most recognizable visuals to date. The So So Def remix by Jermaine Dupri featured new vocals from Mary and turned the song into a hip hop soul jam.

Seven Days

One of the album’s premiere ballads.  Heightened by the guitar talents of George Benson, Mary is stuck in a dilemma. She has a man who’s friendship inadvertently escalated to a physical relationship. She recounts each day in the week as the relationship escalated. The chorus begins on Monday when he was a friend, and things seem normal until the turning point of Thursday when “things weren’t the same”. The chorus ends concludes with Sunday, when the relationship gets physical. Now what is she going to do?

Love Is All We Need

The lead single off the album was assisted by Nas. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis used a beat based off a sample of Rick James’ “Moonlight.” With its more joyful theme and melodic structure, this song was a stark contrast with Mary’s earlier work, especially her 1994 sophomore album. The universal lyrics and Mary’s soulful and raw vocal approach made the song a surefire hit, despite it never getting a commercial release from the label. A remix with Foxy Brown, sampling Diana Ross’ “Do You Know Where You’re Going To?” and bearing the unmistakable Trackmaster fingerprints, also made the rounds at radio.

Share My World

Of course the album’s title cut is another standout cut. Over smooth Rodney Jerkins production, Mary sings “share my world, don’t you leave.” Though it sounds like a love song, she’s actually pleading with her man to stay and remain a part of her world. She even promoted the song on The Jamie Foxx Show, and sang the song with Jamie. Mary shared her world and said not to leave, and here we are awaiting the 11th album since Share My World.

Stream Mary J. Blige’s Share My World:

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Six years ago, I ventured to New Orleans for my first visit to the city, my first Janet Jackson concert, and my first Essence Music Festival experience. Make no mistake of it – I was there for Janet (as well as Monica and Chrisette Michele). However, after my first, one-night-only Essence experience I vowed that one day I would return for an entire weekend. And, for the last 6 years I waited for the right moment… and there were many times I was tempted, but for one reason or another, I did not return until this year.

The stars seemed to align: I wasn’t working this summer, my favorite diva was headlining alongside Kendrick Lamar and Maxwell, and it had been 3 years since my last visit to New Orleans, one of my favorite cities (I went in 2013; not for Essence). I wanted to see Mariah’s Vegas show again this summer, but I didn’t really want to go to Vegas again – this seemed like the perfect compromise. Plus, I found an affordable flight from my local airport (Islip) instead of NYC, so I decided to go and take my mother along with me.

Friday, July 1st

We arrived to New Orleans at 11:20am and I saw a tweet from one of my other favorite artists, Michelle Williams, that she’d be performing at the Convention Center in 20 minutes. I was in an Uber, nearly arriving at our AirBNB. When we arrived, we quickly freshened up and hopped in another Uber to the convention center in hopes of catching Michelle. Unfortunately we missed her performance, but were able to catch her moderating a panel later that afternoon, as well as another panel moderated by Melissa Harris Perry. Both were wonderful experiences. Aside from that, we wandered the convention center and checked out all the booths and what not they had available. I bought the Walmart exclusive version of Maxwell’s new album, and got a wristband for his meet and greet the next day. A success? I thought so.

Next, we had dinner and then headed to the Superdome to catch the first performer we wanted to see: Faith Evans. Faith came out and did a set of the hits you’d expect, like “Soon As I Get Home” and “Love Like This” – It was barely 7pm and we were already lit. Faith killed it and brought out Keke Wyatt to slay some ad-libs on “Love Like This.” So far, damn good. Next, we rushed over to the Ford Superlounge to catch the end of Tweet’s set, and then rushed back to the MainStage to learn that Tyrese wasn’t coming to perform his 7:30 set. As a consolation prize, we got to see Avery Wilson. Not only is he bae, but the boy can sing and play his guitar too – so, he definitely gained a new fan (side note: I walked past him on the street on Saturday but of course he was in the middle of a conversation and I didn’t want to be rude).

After the disappointing absence of Tyrese, we went to see The Internet for a bit in the Ford Superlounge (I wasn’t too impressed, tbh), then headed to see Daley in the Coca-Cola Hip-Hop Superlounge (even though… he isn’t hip-hop, but whatever); I had never heard any of his music, but he came highly recommended by my friend Shannon. He was awesome, and did a killer Prince tribute too.

Then, we rushed back to the MainStage to see Babyface. To be honest, the start of his set was a bit of a snooze, until he broke into a medley of hits he wrote for other artists. Then it got a little awkward when he started doing a string of New Edition songs… when New Edition was the next artist on the schedule for the MainStage. I was a bit lost, but Babyface killed it. Though, it came off a little arrogant, like “yeah I wrote these songs.” He ended his set with a Forest Gump-esque run through the floor of the Superdome, singing “End of the Road.” He unbuttoned his shirt and hopped off the stage and BOLTED through the crowd like someone was chasing him. It was hilarious, albeit a bit odd. But, do you, Kenny, do you…

When Babyface was done with his nightly workout, we continued ours by rushing over to the Walmart “For the Love of R&B” Superlounge where we caught the end of Estelle’s set. Luckily, we caught her for the two songs I wanted to see the most: “Conqueror” and “American Boy” as well as another old favorite “Thank You” and a new favorite “Something Good.” I’ve always been a casual fan of Estelle’s, but this was Part 1 of me becoming a now-big-fan of hers. More on that to come.

When Estelle was done, we went back to the MainStage to watch New Edition. Admittedly, I only knew a few of their songs, but they put on a great show. The one song I knew 100% was “Poison” and I was expectedly turnt up for that performance. The men of New Edition could still sing, move, and make the crowd go wild. Undoubtedly, it was full of women who loved them in their teenage years – my mother included! Following New Edition, was headliner Maxwell. Just as he did when I saw him on Valentine’s Day, he put on a fantastic performance filled with great vocals, energy and that classic grown and sexy vibe you’d expect. Maxwell did not disappoint, and we went home exhausted!

Saturday, July 2nd

Now, originally, I didn’t plan to show up to the Superdome until 8:00 for Common, but after a long day in the heat and Estelle’s prompt slayage the night before, I wanted to skip over by 6:45 to catch her for a second time. She slayed the MainStage, and then we headed over to see her one last time. This time, she was hosting a performance in the Essence Global Stage Superlounge, featuring up and coming artist Lady LeShurr. A young female rapper from the UK, LeShurr put on a great performance and definitely has skills. I plan to look into her music further when I get the chance. However, this set was extra special for me because… while we were waiting for LeShurr to take the stage, Estelle was trying to hype up the (small) crowd and I yelled out, “come down here with us!” Estelle, misunderstanding me, thought I wanted to come up on the stage with her… so she told me to! And, well, when a diva tells you to get on stage you can’t say so – so I went! I was super embarrassed, because I am not much of a dancer, but luckily a girl standing next to me came along for moral support. Estelle taught us some dance moves, pulled two more girls up on stage, and we had fun. We even took a selfie on Estelle’s iPhone (that I am still waiting for her to upload!). Before we walked off stage, Estelle gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek and my day was MADE. Estelle has left a permanent mark on my heart; she was so down to earth, sweet, and is, of course, super-talented.

Unfortunately, we had to leave Estelle’s event a bit early – to catch Common. I was so excited when he was announced as an additional performer for Essence because I am a big fan, but have never seen him live. I had tickets to see him in 2011 – in Paris – but I missed the show. You see, the venue it was supposed to be in burned down and I, because I don’t speak French nor follow French news, was unaware that it had been rescheduled for a different venue on a different day. The problem was, I found out after it had already happened – when I arrived to the burned down theater, very confused… it turned out the show happened a few days prior, on the same night that I was at a Trey Songz concert. So yeah; 5 years later, I was hype to finally be seeing Common. As expected, his set was great (though, unfortunately short) and he squeezed in a number of classics, like “Come Close,” “The Light,” “I Used to Love Her” and Oscar winning “Glory.” I was happy to have gotten a taste of what a Common show is like, but I’m gonna need him to go on tour soon so I can get the full experience. Preferably, in a venue not prone to fires…

After Common’s set finished, we walked around to the Superlounges to catch a bit of Doug E. Fresh and Lalah Hathaway’s performances. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to catch either in full. Though, it was cool to see Doug E. Fresh do live beat boxing, and get a sampling of Ms. Hathaway’s amazing vocals. We worked our way back to the MainStage to see Uncle Charlie do his thing before, the highlight of my weekend – Ms. Carey. Uncle Charlie had the crowd expectedly hype as he slid through his Gap Band classics and otherwise. While I don’t really know many of his songs either, its impossible not to enjoy his performance.

Finally, after being a half hour late, Mariah took the stage at 11:30. She started off with “Shake It Off” followed by “It’s Like That,” a welcomed change from the Vegas setlist. She brought out special guest Jermaine Dupri for “It’s Like That,” and again for the “Honey” So So Def Remix, for which she also brought Da Brat to the stage. Mimi had the crowd up and turnt more than they probably expected her to. Then, she slayed the vocals in a series of moments via “Don’t Forget About Us” (the climax!!!) “My All” (ALL OF IT!!!) and “Vision of Love” (the END! LAWD!). There were numerous people around me yasssing up a storm for MC’s vocals, clearly impressed. Certainly, Mariah cemented her status as a vocal force in front of the Superdome crowd of around 60,000. I live streamed the whole show, so be sure to check out the videos on our Facebook page.

Sunday, July 3rd

Bittersweet, Sunday marked our last day in New Orleans and the last day of the Essence Festival. We started at the Convention Center again to see Keke Wyatt, a surprise from Chrisette Michele, Yolanda Adams and Ledisi performing to honor the Clark Sisters. We even ran into a surprise performance by Mario on the CenterStage.  Then, we got dinner before heading to the Superdome for the Prince Tribute. It featured Prince’s band the New Power Generation and performances from Luke James, Larry Graham, Marsha Ambrosias, Ashling Cole, and Doug E. Fresh. It ended with a New Orleans themed Second Line down the floor of the Superdome. It was a well-orchestrated tribute, for sure.

Following the Prince Tribute was Andra Day. With her old school mic, classic beauty, and soulful vocals, Andra proved just why she is one of music’s most praised new acts through her immense talent that shined on the MainStage. By the time Andra finished, there wasn’t much time between her set and Ciara’s, so we grabbed some cake and rushed back to see Ciara in all her back-bending glory. She started by trying to push some of her newer music I didn’t know, but then quickly jumped into slaying hits like “Promise,” “Like a Boy,” and “Goodies.” She delivered on the dance front, and respectably did not mime; opting instead for live vocals despite how shaky she might’ve sounded. Regardless, Ciara put on an excellent show and is certainly an energetic entertainer.

Next up was Kendrick Lamar, fresh off the heels of an Earth-shattering performance with Beyoncé at the BET Awards, hip-hop’s Top Dawg did not disappoint. He came out with the intensity you’d expect, barreling through a set of some of his hottest tracks; from “Backseat Freestyle,” “Swimming Pools,” “Hood Politics,” to “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe,” the energy remained high all the way to the fitting closer, “Alright.” At a festival celebrating Black music, “Alright” made for the perfect moment.

Bouncing to perhaps the opposite side of the hip-hop spectrum, the Festival closed with Puff Daddy and the Family’s Bad Boy 20th anniversary set. As expected, Diddy, Puffy, whatever he wants to be called today, turned the Festival into a party by doing what he does best – being the hype man. His special guests were indeed the highlights – 112 ran through their string of hits, as well as Faith Evans returning to the stage. French Montana represented the new Bad Boy, meanwhile, the highlight of the set for sure, was Ma$e performing his mid-90s hits and, of course, the homages to Biggie. The emotional end to Essence Festival came with the Family’s performance of “I’ll Be Missing You,” the 1997 classic and Bad Boy’s biggest hit. And, indeed, I’ll be missing the Essence Festival… until next year; hopefully!

I have been to a few music festivals, and I’ve heard about plenty more, but there is no festival out there that is as organized and well-done as Essence. It is in the perfect location – both its city and its venue. The Superdome allows for there to be five stages running simultaneously without the sound ever mixing or disrupting the other stages. As well, you get your own seat for the MainStage and don’t have to fight anyone in any insane crowd or line. The SuperLounges do require you to stand, but the Festival has such a chill, mature atmosphere that you’ll never feel overwhelmed. I got a taste of it in 2010, but after a full weekend’s experience, I am hooked. Provided the lineup is as great as it was this year, I’ll be back next year for sure. No other festival compares.

Again, please check our Facebook page for more videos from the Festival, being uploaded throughout the day!

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Menacing. Pusha T knows how to select beats that agree with his unique voice, signature “yuuuh”, and dark, snowy, lyrical content. Bringing back Puff Daddy on the boards results brilliantly in the disjointed, aggressive “Crutches, Crosses, Caskets” and a few more notable moments. Timbaland excels as Pusha projects “The flow plays limbo courtesy of Timbo” over a middle eastern-inspired beat on ‘Got ‘Em Covered’. Beanie Siegel delivers the powerful “you watched me walk through hell, now watch me walk up out it” on “Keep Dealing”. One of the year’s final rap releases is also among the best.

Grade:
90/97

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After the death of The Notorious BIG in early 1997, the legacy he was building was left hanging in the balance. For the artists he was helping establish, especially Lil’ Kim, it became public question what was next. She was Biggie’s crown jewel. He helped shape her into the artist she had become, and without that creative force the question remained: Could she still deliver musically and command the attention of the masses? Kim would soon prove that to be a yes, by releasing her most incredible and versatile body of work to date.

During the three (nearly four) years that separated the releases of Hard Core and The Notorious K.I.M., Lil’ Kim kept herself busy building and expanding not only her musical footprint, but also her brand. She was seen on the big screen (She’s All That), the small screen (“DAG”), numerous magazine covers (Interview, The Source, OUT, i-D), billboards, brand advertisements (Candies’, MAC Viva Glam), and even fashion runways. A deal with Wilhelmina helped land her many of these modeling and fashion opportunities, and she also began collaborations with big-name photographers including the legendary David LaChapelle. The images he took of Kim serving ghetto-fabulous realness not only defined and cemented her as a fashion icon, but also inspired and now epitomize a generation. Most notable was the photo he took of Kim wearing nothing but painted-on Louis Vuitton logos. The photo was meant to be Kim’s album cover, but Interview Magazine editor-in-chief Ingrid Sischy saw the photo at a gallery exhibit and ordered LaChapelle to give it to her, becoming yet another magazine cover for Kim.

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While the original track is already heavily influenced by hip-hop, Mariah took it a step further with it’s Bad Boy and So So Def remixes.  The Bad Boy remix, already mentioned in my first “Honey” article, is not drastically changed from the original.  There are minor changes to it’s production, such as the omission of certain string elements, which make the song a bit less pop and a little more hip-hop.  Of course, the song also features verses from Mase and the L.O.X. who were new, upcoming hip-hop stars.  This makes the song seem more like a collaborative effort rather than a pop song featuring guest rap verses.  One of the highlights of this collaboration is how Mariah layers her low octave background vocals beneath Mase’s verse, truly melding her sultry voice with Mase’s hip-hop flow.  This sort of seamless fusion has become a trademark of Mariah’s hip-hop collaborations.

Bad Boy was the leading hip-hop label in 1997, and its artists were crossing over to pop radio in a big way.  Its leader, Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs, appeared in the remix video, co-produced the original and Bad Boy remix, as well as his own hit singles that year, such as “I’ll Be Missing You.”  Additionally, Mase had crossed over as well, appearing on alongside Puffy and Biggie’s “Mo Money Mo Problems,” another #1 hit.   They owned the charts and the airwaves and Mariah stayed current by working with these artists.  However, with Mariah it didn’t appear forced.  “Honey” feels fresh and natural, almost effortless, even today.

For the So So Def remix, Mariah teamed up with “Always Be My Baby” collaborator Jermaine Dupri who co-produced and provided a guest verse on the remix alongside Da Brat.  By using different elements from “Hey DJ,” sampled in the original, and a new Jackson 5 sample, the So So Def remix transformed “Honey” into a completely different song musically and vocally.  All that remains from the original version are its lyrics.  This remix has a playful vibe, as its bouncy beat encourages the listener to bop along.

Finally there is the Classic Mix, a house version of “Honey,” co-produced by David Morales.  On this remix, Mariah took the song’s essence of sexual yearning to the next level.  The vocal is more impassioned and sung over the vivacious house track provided by Morales.  While the original song is sexy and sensual, and the So So Def remix is a bit more playful,  the house mix is best described as intense.  Mariah closes the remix by very zealously repeating of the phrase “I need it” with soaring, soulful runs that jump octaves in a way only she can.

This innovative approach of creating multiple reincarnations of the same song in the form of remixes was not completely unique to Mariah.  However she indeed pioneered the art of creating hip-hop and house remixes of “pop” songs.  If you listen to the “Honey” CD single, it’s almost like listening to four different songs.  By the end, you’ll be saying, “I can hardly wait for another taste of honey…”

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But for the first time ever, she took a “year off” (but not really; she was actually on tour and still promoting Daydream).  In July of 1997, Mariah dropped “Honey” and shocked the music world with a liberating “new” sound, and look.  Really, though, the sound wasn’t all that new for her … but read more on that here.

The song was a collaborative effort, written and produced by Mariah (of course) alongside Puff Daddy, Q-Tip and Stevie J.  For the first time, Mariah’s lead single was undeniably urban.  If you stripped away the vocals on “Honey,” you would think it was a hip-hop track, thanks to its two ’80’s hip-hop samples: “Hey DJ” and “The Body Rock.”   The remix featured guest raps from Ma$e and the LOX, who were fresh to the scene in ’97.  Of course, the guest rappers were relegated to the remix (she only won half the battle with the label this time), but “Honey” was still a defining moment for MC.

A large reason that “Honey” became so iconic was its video.  It was Mariah’s biggest production yet, and with MTV arguably at its height, every artist was trying to make great videos.  “Honey” was no different.  The video had a storyline that began with Mariah tied to a chair in a large, empty mansion, under interrogation by an older Italian man.  This storyline became quite controversial.

Why?  Because it created quite the parallel to her own life.  In real life, Mariah actually lived in a big mansion in upstate New York with her then-husband, Italian-American Tommy Mottolla (head of Sony Music at the time).  She later referred to their home as “Sing Sing,” nicknamed after an infamous prison also in upstate New York, because she was trapped and the only thing she was allowed to do, was sing.  At the time, she denied the comparisons and refuted any claims that it was related to her life.  However, the imagery insinuates otherwise.

After breaking free from her entrapment, Mariah jumps into a pool and strips out of her clothing to reveal a sexy new ensemble before running off to a remote island to be with a new, younger man.  This was compared to her budding relationship with New York Yankees star Derek Jeter.  Not long after the release of “Honey,” Mariah and Tommy announced their split and eventually divorced in 1998.  Shortly thereafter, Mariah and Derek became an item.

“Honey” is a pivotal moment in Carey’s career, not only because she had her third #1 debut on the Hot 100 with it, but because of the symbolic significance of the song.  She broke out of her shell, and experienced a metamorphosis… like a butterfly reborn from her cocoon prison.  She was finally allowed to show the world her true self: musically, visually, and personally.

And she never looked back.

We will explore the Butterfly album in greater depth beginning on September 16th, its 17th anniversary.

Bonus: the remix video!

The post Breaking Out of the Cocoon: A look back at the debut of Mariah Carey’s “Honey” appeared first on THE 97.

There are some bonafide classics on this album.  For starters, there is the megahit, “I’ll Be Missing You,” Puffy’s ode to Biggie – featuring Faith Evans and 112.  The song was inescapable in 1997. It has become a true classic, and to this day would probably be considered Diddy’s signature song.  However, the album was full of memorable hits.

“Can’t Nobody Hold Us Down” leads the album, and features Ma$e, who is the highlight of the song.  That’s often the case with Puffy – he’s not the greatest rapper by any means.  He’s more so a good hype man, and a producer that knew how to put together a hot beat.  Not to mention, a shrewd business man.

The album’s three remaining singles featured The Notorious B.I.G., posthumously.  Again, he was the highlight of these songs along with the other featuring artists.  “It’s All About the Benjamins” features two classic samples, one from the Love Unlimited orchestra and another from the Jackson 5 during Biggie’s verse.  The song is hard hitting 90s hip-hop at its finest, featuring Lil’ Kim, the LOX and of course, Biggie.

“Been Around the World” is another track featuring Biggie, and another huge hit for Puffy.  These songs helped defined hip-hop and pop music.  Finally, there is “Victory,” which features the last verse ever recorded by Biggie before his death.  “Victory” was promoted with one of the most expensive videos ever made, an 8 minute short film featuring numerous star-studded cameos.

Overall, it is a solid album that epitomizes the music of the time.  Other features on the album include Jay-Z, Carl Thomas, Twista, Busta Rhymes, Kelly Price, Black Rob, Ginuwine, and Foxy Brown.  Clearly, Diddy had the power to pull music’s biggest names to collaborate on his project.  His music has been through many transitions since No Way Out, but none of his following efforts came close to achieving the type of impact, success and quality of his debut.

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