STACK #193 Nov 2020

MUSIC FEATURE

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In his 2013 memoir, Mottola admits his relationship with Mariah was “absolutely wrong and inappropriate”, adding, “If it seemed like I was controlling, I apologise. Was I obsessive? Yes, but that was also a part of the reason for her success.” Mimi begs to differ. Music Box ’s calling card is definitely the airy R’n’B/hip-hop swoon of Dreamlover , built from a sample of Blind Alley by The Emotions (1972) that had previously been used on Big Daddy Kane’s Ain’t No Half-Steppin’ (1988). This masterpiece started a trend for Mariah, with samples also forming musical beds for other hits including Fantasy, Honey, Heartbreaker and Loverboy . During an interview, Mariah bemoaned, “I hate it when people are like [adopts a dramatic voice]: ‘She’s taking a new direction with hip-hop.’ I’m like, ‘Will you please freakin’ research?’ I’ve been doing this for a long time – working with [writer-producer] Dave Hall on Dreamlover , using the Ain’t No Half-Steppin’ loop... It was just digging in the crates with Dave Hall and coming up with, ‘Hey, let’s use this loop!’ And from then on, I did it anytime I could...”

soles that were procured from her mother. Make It Happen ’s lyrics are autobiographical: “No proper shoes upon my feet/ Sometimes I couldn’t even eat/ I often cried myself to sleep.” Mariah’s discovery by Sony Music CEO Tommy Mottola – who she describes as “a potent combination of father figure, Svengali, business partner, confidant, and companion” – is the stuff of

as a background singer in NewYork, Mariah was sleeping on friends’ floors, survived on a diet of occasional bagels (if she could afford to buy one), and only owned one pair of ill- fitting, hand-me-down black boots with split

music industry legend. While at an industry party with her friend Brenda K. Starr, Mariah locked eyes with Mottola, who later asked Starr, “Who’s your friend?” After Starr handed over Mariah’s demo, Mottola immediately left the party and headed directly to his limo so that he could listen to these songs on the car stezza. Suitably impressed, Mottola tracked Mariah down, signed her, and then married her a few years later. She was 23 and he was 44. “This was the first of what would be a strange and fantastical series of Cinderella stories in my life,” Mariah explains in her book. “But I was not swept off my feet, and trust and believe me, Tommy Mottola was no Prince Charming.”

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Chilling in the studio, 1993

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