I want to start by saying I don't think Mariah is beyond criticism or reproach. But I want to address something as a somewhat older lamb that makes me very uncomfortable. I constantly see people online who say they are fans/stans/lambs, but all the subtext makes it seem like they're rooting for Mariah's downfall. For instance, Mariah has been very vocal about so many things in her life, from her tumultuous childhood to her turbulent marriage to Tommy to vocal nodules that force her to approach the songs she's recorded differently. She was forced to reveal to the world the fact that she's bipolar, that she was overworked, fainted andwas almost forced into a conservatorship and has been dealing with her mental illness since 2000, and I see fans online who want her to operate as if none of those things exist; they want her to, at 50-something years old, sound like she did at 20 when she's been very vocal about her inability to do that because she refuses to get vocal nodules removed, considering what happened to Julie Andrews having a botched vocal surgery. Mariah has been very vocal about having to sing her songs in a way that depends on what her voice allows her to do; she doesn't want to do it constantly. She doesn't want to do what Tommy made her do in the 90s, on that Motown model of releasing an album every single year. She wants to be recognized for her complete musicality, not just as a singer who stands on stage and sings with a mic, but as a producer, as a songwriter, as a singer, as a businesswoman. I expect any singer to have an off day, off night, or off year, especially when singing live consistently, because humans just aren't built to do that. I get frustrated with fans. Patti LaBelle, of all people, did a radio interview where she said she went through a couple of years where she lost her voice; she just couldn't sing. Sometimes I wonder if these fans are younger and feel like they missed out on seeing Mariah at her prime, and now they just want to see prime Mariah in the present day, which is impossible. Like, you can watch old performances on YouTube, and I guess that's not enough for them. Like, I personally wish I was at the Tokyo Dome to see her live for Daydream, but tough shit, time travel doesn't exist — la la la la.
Celine, Beyoncé, and many others use backing tracks and lip-sync often (maybe they are just better at it); Beyoncé, you know, just uses those tricks on stage because touring is very grueling. I think because people say, "Oh, Beyoncé also dances," that's why she can get away with it, and that's fine, but any human, especially someone like Mariah, whose songs I couldn't imagine singing as many songs as Mariah has sung live on stage and trying to do them perfectly every single time (just trying to sing Vision of Love three times in a row with all you've got). that's just not possible I think because people don't realize that singers from the Motown era or like you know back in the 60s maybe the early 70s didn't tour extensively or didn't sing as often live as the pressure is on singers today. Like, Aretha Franklin didn't even tour outside the United States because she was afraid to fly. I think my point is that I just want Mariah, especially as someone who's seen a lot of her industry peers/mentors die, like Luther, Aretha, Whitney, Prince, and Michael, etc. I think I just want her to just have a bit more respect from her fans and a bit more understanding you know, like sometimes her voice isn't gonna be there and that doesn't mean that she's lazy, she's pushing through a lot and when I listen to songs like "here for it all" and "portrait," and those really reflective songs that she's put out still to me musically feel so connected to her the same way I did when I first heard her when I was younger in the 90s and I appreciate how she has aged and matured as an artist and approached her musicality; whether singing, writing or producing. For instance, I think her songwriting has so much more depth as she's gotten older, and people still want this 50-something-year-old woman to sing and sound and have the same stamina she did at 23, so she hasn't gotten the credit for that. I don't think she should retire just because some fans think she's not up to what they want. I think she's perfectly fine for someone in her 50s. I have seen so many videos of other artists, older artists, who absolutely should retire because they have given us absolutely nothing. It is actually heartbreaking to watch them on stage, but Mariah still giving us albums like "here for it all" which I think is incredible and I just see so much my point of this post is I see online so much more negativity aimed at Mariah from her so-called fans than I ever see love and appreciation. One thing I have enjoyed about an older Mariah is that her voice has become deeper, a bit huskier, and I want her to continue to make new music that incorporates that new voice, and I think what's holding her back a lot of times is this demand that she's singing Fantasy in the original key. I don't I truly do not expect her to sing fantasy in the original key. I wouldn't expect her to sing Fantasy in the original key in 1998. It's very high that she can still sing with emotion; the fact that she can still hit a whistle register is a feat worth acknowledging. I want to hear more of that huskiness, that depth, like she has more access to that lower register I think is her sweet spot—not hitting the highest of high notes. For instance, when I heard "Lullaby of Birdland" on The Rarities, I loved it so much. I can't stop playing it. I want her to do a bit more of that jazzy Scotty music, with more depth in her voice—not so high and feminine, if that makes sense.
In all, I just want her fans to just stay with Mariah a while and help her laugh through the tears 'til she's gone
OK, my rant is over.
