Happy 15th Anniversary to Mariah Carey’s twelfth studio album Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, originally released September 29, 2009.
For the first leg of her career, handlers made sure everything about Mariah Carey was perfect. But being perfect gets tiring, so the diva made a concerted effort to reveal her true self more with her smashing resurgence The Emancipation of Mimi (2005).
Its cleverly titled continuation E=MC2 (2008) missed a few marks, but recovered handily with “Touch My Body.” Co-written and produced by Christopher “Tricky” Stewart and Terius “The-Dream” Nash, the record-breaking single was unfailing, frolicsome, and super catchy. So, I closed my eyes, clicked my Crocs three times, and wished for an album full of those.
Mrs. Carey must have felt me praying, covered herself in magic dust, and granted my wish. Bucking against the trend to have thrice as many producers as songs, she makes Tricky and The-Dream her primary collaborators on the best-kept secret in her late-career discography: Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel.
On this cohesive, contemporary R&B pageant, Carey volleys between the vulnerable and irreverent amidst booming street beats and lush, in-your-face instrumentation. Even its longish name seems to push against a history of safe, emblematic, one-word Daydream (1995), Butterfly (1997), Rainbow (1999), Charmbracelet (2002) titles while honoring whistle godmother Minnie Riperton’s Perfect Angel (1974).
Here, her personality is blinged out, carefree, hopeful, and endearingly a bit of a mess. We hadn’t seen this much of it on wax, and as a result she comes off more human, accessible, and truly emancipated. Now, depending on who you are, you either really enjoyed her first single, or got triggered and began plotting revenge against her.
As the blaring lead off, “Obsessed” was packed with cheeky humor, club hype, and sly clapbacks (“You a mom-and-pop, I’m a corporation / I’m the press conference, you a conversation”). The ballsy, bassy track sounds like when you’re confident you can afford bottle service. In its Brett Ratner-directed, Mean Girls-inspired video clip, Carey portrays a very slim, rather shady character who stalks her. The similarities weren’t lost on one unhinged rap agitator and the diametrically-opposed icons would exchange barbs and disses for years concerning an alleged dalliance they once had. Carey laughed hardest in the end, making her missive a #1. And it wouldn’t be the only time she got under a rapper’s skin.
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Before they had the bitterest of fallouts, hot newcomer Nicki Minaj added verses to “Up Out My Face.” Carey’s then-husband Nick Cannon directed (and made a Drumline cameo in) its visual where the ladies merge aesthetics perfectly: Minaj calls her supporters Barbz, Carey styles herself like a true-life Barbie. Their synergy worked until it didn’t. When they later shared duties as American Idol judges in 2012, their relationship quickly soured. Oh, to ride a DeLorean back to the original where the only feature was the million ways Carey tells her ex they are done (“If we were two Lego blocks, even the Harvard University graduating class of 2010 couldn't put us back together again”). Making that line the length of a Fiona Apple album title is a prime example of the hammy flamboyance that makes this record decadent fun.
And “It’s a Wrap” reinforces that point. Co-produced by “Big Jim” Wright and Cannon—under the alias “Heatmyzer”—it was a standout on Memoirs long before its sped-up version went viral in 2023. Doo wop and discontent are an unbeatable pair here. Drained of her patience, Carey nearly ends up in jail after a night of sipping Patrón awaiting the return of an unfaithful lover (“I know you seen me callin’ and callin’ / I should crack you right in your forehead”). Hardly demure, it’s delicious, raucous, and hood. Compared to jazz chanteuse Dinah Washington’s 1962 torch song “Drinking Again,” they’re not too different, except Washington might actually have taken the tequila bottle to a cheater’s forehead.
Now, as is the case with the funniest folks, they are often deeply steeped in agony. Memoirs mines this underside thoroughly. For instance, the slow-motion “H.A.T.E.U.”—an acronym for “having a typical emotional upset”—is satisfyingly heartbreaking. Like “Breakdown,” its despondency is addictive, the kind of sadness that’s also sweet. Her frustration is palpable (“I can’t wait to hate you / Make you pain like I do”) even more so as she slumps her shoulders into lamenting, “Still can’t shake you off.” Following this with the warm, snapping “Candy Bling” is a one-two punch of sadgirl superiority. For its refrain, Carey emo-dips Ahmad’s hip-hop nostalgic “Back in the Day” to eulogize a love long gone (“Back in the day / We were in love / We’re not in love anymore / But somedays I sit and wish we was”).
Taking gold at the crying-in-the-club Olympics is “Inseparable.” Embodying the denial stage of the relationship grief as did “We Belong Together,” it looks away, refusing to acknowledge the rubble of a destroyed romance (“Now I see that no one is inseparable / Except for us / One of us just gotta pick the phone up”). It’s not all tears and drama though. Wry delivery is the star of “Standing O,” as Carey applauds an ex the way patrons clap for a waiter who drops a tray of dishes. It’s a perfect match for a beat that pounds the table like it aims to be the next “Grindin’” by Clipse.
Atypically, Carey saves her ballads for the end. After the sunny midtempo “More Than Just Friends” gives way to the sexy, Jodeci-allusive, pole-danceable “The Impossible,” “Angels Cry” leads us into familiar mainstream AC territory. But the mother of them all is a cover of Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is.” She reinterprets this hold-hands-and-sway rock anthem as breathy pop-soul, but preserves its gospel choir finish. Launching this as her second single maintains the format of chasing a summer banger with sweeping, powerful downtempos such as “Can’t Let Go,” “Hero,” “One Sweet Day,” or “Butterfly.” Though conservative and radio short, “I Want to Know” is cut from the very same cloth.
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Unfortunately, Island Def Jam seemed to abandon promoting Memoirs after only two of the five singles managed to climb up the charts on their own. That also foiled Carey’s planned Angels Advocate remix companion with bonus material like Jermaine Dupri’s “H.A.T.E.U.” remix with Big Boi, Gucci Mane, and Gucci’s protégé OJ da Juiceman. Other intended guests included Mary J. Blige, Ne-Yo, R. Kelly, Trey Songz, T-Pain, and Timbaland. Perhaps Eminem’s invitation somehow got lost in the mail.
For its honesty, levity, and sheened musicality, Memoirs deserves to be more highly regarded in Carey’s catalog. The only thing missing is statistical bragging rights. It merely went platinum. It only topped Billboard’s R&B Albums list. Lately, if a project doesn’t knock Taylor Swift or Beyoncé off their perches and outsell Thriller (1982), it’s considered a “flop.” Meanwhile, “I Want to Know What Love Is” became the longest running #1 in Brazil, dominating for 27 consecutive weeks, but regional stats are too easily overlooked.
The same fans who rallied passionately to reevaluate Glitter (2001) should champion Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel. It’s the type of high-quality output that keeps one from having to rewind to the 1990s to justify her enduring popularity.
If this is a “flop,” it’s the best one I’ve ever heard. Can we get another just like it?
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