E=MC² - 6th ANNIVERSARY: E=MC² is the eleventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released in the United States on April 15, 2008 by Island Records. 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 several notable songwriters and producers during the course of the project, including Jermaine Dupri, Bryan-Michael Cox, Stargate, The-Dream, Tricky Stewart, Scott Storch and Danja. The album revealed a more personal and intimate side of the singer, illustrated in its declarative theme of emancipation from her previous marriage, and from her personal and professional setbacks. 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. It was meant to be a continuation, or a second part of her tenth studio album, The Emancipation of Mimi (2005). 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 records broad genre influences, and musical and production styles. Some critics, however, felt that the album was too similar to The Emancipation of Mimi, and didnt offer anything new from the formula. 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 Careys career. It opened inside the top-five on the albums chart in Australia, Canada, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, as well as the European chart. The album finished as the 26th best-selling album of 2008 throughout the globe, and as of July 2009, achieved worldwide sales of over 2.5 million copies worldwide. Four singles were commission in promotion of the album. The albums lead single, Touch My Body, became Careys eighteenth chart topper on the Billboard Hot 100, making her the solo artist with the most number one singles in United States history, surpassing the record held by Elvis Presley. 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 albums 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. Both the third and fourth singles, Ill Be Lovin U Long Time and I Stay in Love failed to garner success in any prominent music market. The album was supposed to be released in late 2007, but Carey spoke about reason the album got delayed: You cant really put records out in December if you want the whole world to have a chance to actually hear it, [and] my fans all over the world are very important to me, adding that she also wants to put out a pair of singles before the album drops. In a separate interview, she elaborated further: This happened to me with The Emancipation of Mimi, I started writing more songs, I was like OK let me get these done, then I wrote four more songs and you know how it goes, so now Im like 22 songs in and clearly I have to cut some of those down. It was then reported that the album will be released in February 2008. However, the release was later pushed back yet again to April 2008. Prior to the its release, the albums working title had been That Chick, taken from a song on the album with a similar name, Im That Chick. As the release date drew near, the title was changed to E=MC², in reference to Careys previous studio effort, The Emancipation of Mimi (2005). The title signifies (E) Emancipation (=) of (MC) Mariah Carey (²) to the second power. It is a word play on Albert Einsteins famous mass–energy equivalence formula and has been dubbed as the sequel and improved counterpart to The Emancipation of Mimi. - Mariah Carey Community
Posted on: Tue, 15 Apr 2014 13:29:54 +0000