Glitter (Mariah Carey album)
Encyclopedia
Glitter is the soundtrack album
to the film of the same name
, and the eighth studio album
by American singer-songwriter
Mariah Carey
, released on September 11, 2001 by Virgin Records
. The album was a complete musical departure from any of Carey's previous releases, focusing heavily on recreating a 1980s disco
era to accompany the film, set in 1982. Through covering
or heavily sampling several older tunes and songs, Carey crafted Glitter as an album that would help viewers connect with the film, as well as incorporating newly written ballads that would "stand on their own as songs from a Mariah Carey album." Throughout the project, Carey reprised collaborations with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
and DJ Clue
, with whom she produced most of the album.
Musically, the album became one of Carey's most diverse bodies of work, structured to be a retro-influenced album, and more dance-oriented than any of her previous releases. On several songs, critics noted Carey to be more sexually suggestive lyrically than before, in part due to the inclusion of several guest hip-hop
musicians. Aside from the album's predominant feature of dance tracks, Glitter incorporated several lyrically meaningful and vocal ballads. On "Reflections (Care Enough)
", Carey describes an abandoned girl, who in desperation, lashes out to her mother in song, while on "Twister", paying homage to a friend who had committed suicide
. On Glitter, several musical talents were featured, such as Eric Benét
, Ludacris
, Busta Rhymes
, Fabolous
and Ja Rule
.
Glitter and its accompanying film were met with generally mixed reviews from music critics, who while complimenting the album's ballads, felt Carey was over-whelmed by the amount of guest appearances, as well as the failed 1980s theme. Universally, Glitter was viewed as a critical and commercial failure, leading to the annulment of Carey's unprecedented $100 million five-album contract with Virgin. The album debuted at number seven on the US Billboard 200
, with the lowest-first week sales of Carey's career. Although it peaked outside the top-ten in many countries, Glitter debuted atop the album's chart in Japan, and achieved sales of over one million units. To date, Glitter remains one of Carey's lowest selling albums, and has sold over three million copies worldwide.
Several singles were officially released, although following their weak charting, Virgin halted promotion of Glitter. "Loverboy
" served as the first single
from the project, and quickly became Carey's lowest charting lead single throughout many countries globally. Although reaching number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 following the single's price reduction, "Loverboy" was unable to garner sufficient airplay to stay within the top-ten. Internationally, the song peaked outside the top-twenty in most music markets, while failing to achieve a long chart run. "Never Too Far
", the album's second release, failed to chart in the United States, and performed weakly throughout Europe and Asia. Subsequent singles failed to make much of an impact on prominent global charts.
Since her debut in 1990, Carey's career had been heavily calculated and controlled by her husband and head of her label Sony Music Entertainment
, Tommy Mottola
. For years, Carey's albums had consisted of slow and meaningful ballads, devoid of any guest appearances or hip-hop
. In January 1995, as she recorded Daydream, Carey had already began taking more control over her musical style and genre influences. In 1993, Carey's previous release, Music Box became one of the best-selling albums of all time, with sales of over 32 million units. As a result, Carey was given more creative control on Daydream (1995), including being able to choose which song-writers and producers she wanted to collaborate with. She enrolled the production and rap
-styles of Ol' Dirty Bastard
, who was featured on the remix to her song "Fantasy
". While he was hesitant at first, Carey's more commanding position on the album "paid off". It became an international chart topper, with critics calling their joint performance one of the pioneering songs of pop
and R&B musical collaborations. During the recording and production of Carey's Butterfly in 1997, the couple separated, leaving Carey an extended amount of control over her yet unfinished album. Following their separation, she began working with younger hip-hop and R&B
producers and song-writers, aside from her usual work with balladeers Walter Afanasieff
and Kenneth Edmonds. While the album incorporated several different genres and components that were not present in Carey's previous releases, Butterfly maintained a steady balance of her classic ballads and newer R&B infused tracks. However, while Sony accepted Carey's new-found collaborations with writers and producers such as P. Diddy and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
, they still attempted to only allow the ballads to shine. After Carey's "Honey
", the debut single from Butterfly, was released in September 1997, Sony halted the release of the succeeding R&B influenced tracks, only fully releasing a second worldwide single, "My All
".
Following the release of Butterfly, Carey began working on a film and soundtrack project titled, All That Glitters. However, during that period, Columbia Records
pressured Carey to release a compilation album, in time for the favorable holiday season in November. Consequently, Carey put All That Glitters on hold, and released Number 1's
in November 1998. Following an additional studio album
in 1999, titled Rainbow
, in which she fully exerted creative control over the album and its sound, Carey then completed her contract with Columbia Records
. With Rainbow, Carey pushed her music and image farther into hip-hop and R&B than she had ever attempted. Following its strong commercial success, Carey aimed to complete the film and album project for the summer of 2001. As the first record on her unprecedented $100 million five-album record deal with Virgin Records
(EMI Records
), Carey was given full conceptual and creative control over the project. She opted to record an album partly mixed with 1980s influenced disco and other similar genres, in order to go hand-in-hand with the film's setting. As the date grew near, the title was changed to simply Glitter. During early 2001, Carey ended her three year relationship with Latin
singer Luis Miguel
. Aside from the heavy publicized split, Carey had already been filming both Glitter and WiseGirls
, as well as recording the soundtrack for the former film. Due to the pressure from the media, her heavy work schedule and the split from Miguel, Carey began posting a series of disturbing messages on her official website, and displayed erratic behavior on several live promotional outings.
and the release of the soundtrack's lead single
Loverboy
, Carey embarked on a short promotional campaign for the song and its parent album. On July 19, 2001, Carey made a surprise appearance on the MTV
program Total Request Live
(TRL). As the show's host Carson Daly
began taping following a commercial break, Carey began singing "Loverboy" a capella
from behind a curtain. As he questioned the audience, she came out onto the filming stage, pushing an ice cream cart while wearing a large men's shirt. Seemingly anxious and exhilarated, Carey began giving out individual bars of ice cream to fans and guests on the program, while waving to the crowd down below on Times Square
, while diverging into a rambling monologue regarding therapy. Carey then walked to Daly's platform and began a striptease
, in which she shed her shirt to reveal a tight yellow and green ensemble, leading him to exclaim "Mariah Carey has lost her mind!". While she later revealed that Daly was aware of her presence in the building prior to her appearance, she admitted that he was meant to act surprised in order to provide a more dramatic effect for the program. Carey's appearance on TRL garnered strong media attention, with many critics and newspapers citing her behavior as "troubled" and "erratic".
in New York. As the appearance was filmed, she began rambling on several points, leading her to discuss radio-host Howard Stern
, and how his form of humor on his program bothered her greatly. At that point, Carey's publicist Cindi Berger grabbed the microphone from her hand, and ordered the cameras to stop filming. Only days later, Carey began posting irregular voice notes and messages on her official website:
Following the quick removal of the messages, Berger commented that Carey had been "obviously exhausted and not thinking clearly" when she posted the letters. Two days later on July 26, she was suddenly hospitalized, citing "extreme exhaustion" and a "physical and emotional breakdown". News websites and programs began reporting how Carey threatened to commit suicide by slitting her wrists
the night before, and how Patricia, Carey's mother, hastily called for help. When questioned regarding Carey's suicidal rumor, Berger claimed she had broken dishes out of desperation, and as a result, accidentally cut her hands and feet. Patricia later commented that Carey would never attempt to take her own life away, and that she "respects life way too much." Following her induction at an un-disclosed hospital in Connecticut, Carey remained hospitalized and under doctor's care for two weeks, followed by an extended absence from the public.
and 20th Century Fox
delayed the release of both Glitter
, as well as its soundtrack of the same name. The announcement was made on August 9, 2001, that both the film and accompanying soundtrack would be postponed three weeks, from August 21 to September 11, and from August 31 to September 21. When asked regarding the motives behind the delay, Nancy Berry, vice chairman of Virgin Music Group Worldwide, addressed Carey's personal and physical condition:
Consequently, critics suggested that in delaying Glitter, hype for the project would have largely subsided, and would possibly hurt both ticket and album sales. When discussing the project's weak commercial reaction, Carey blamed both her frame of mind during the time of its release, its postponement, as well as the soundtrack having been released on September 11. In 2005, Carey made specific remarks regarding the album's commercial failure, "I released it on September 11, 2001. The talk shows needed something to distract from 9/11. I became a punching bag. I was so successful that they tore me down because my album was at number 2 instead of number 1. The media was laughing at me and attacked me. 'Glitter' was ahead of its time. Today it’s 'in' to make 80’s music."
(EMI Records
) was bought out for $50 million. The decision was brought out due to the low sales of the project, as well as the negative publicity surrounding her breakdown. Prior to Carey's departure from Virgin, the two parties agreed to using the word "canceled" when asked regarding the failed business venture by the media. Less than 24 hours after the settlement was made, Virgin released a statement that they had "terminated" the contract with Carey, as well as only claiming to have paid her $28 million to part ways, far less than the amount agreed upon. Carey's lawyers threatened to sue, with her attorney Marshall Grossman calling their behavior in the matter "deplorable". Virgin replied that in terms of Carey's payout, they only listed the money they gave her for departing, not including the $21 million they already had paid her under contract for Glitter, totaling at $49 million. Additionally, they claimed that while they did not follow the agreed upon terms, they would counter-sue Carey's lawyers for "defamation" following their press release. The matter was resolved outside of court, with Carey nor Virgin opting to take the matter to the judicial system. Soon after, Carey flew to Capri, Italy for a period of five months, in which she began writing material for her new album, stemming from all the personal experiences she had endured throughout the past year. Additionally, she founded her own label modeled after her initials, MonarC Entertainment, and signed a new three-album record deal with Island Records
, valued at over $23 million.
, Carey described the album's content, as well as its influences:
Serving as the project's lead single
, "Loverboy
" features a sample from "Candy
" by American rapper Cameo
, which interpolates the melody into the chorus and instrumental introduction. Additionally, aside from sampling "Candy" as the musical bed for the song, Cameo serves as a featured artist on the song. Sarah Rodman from the Boston Herald
compared it to Carey's previous lead singles, and described its production as "another in an increasingly long line of glitzy, candy-coated, creatively stunted Carey songs". The song's lyrics and vocals were described as "super-sexed" by Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine
when put into comparison with Carey's previous work. The official remix for "Loverboy" also earned a place on Glitter, adding rap
verses from both Ludacris
and Da Brat
to the original version. The album's second release, "Never Too Far
", was written and produced by Carey and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
. Described as an "adult-contemporary, slow-jam love song", the song's lyrics read "Too painful to talk about it, so I hold it in / So my heart can mend and be brave enough to love again", speaking of emotions felt by the protagonist in the film. "Never Too Far" features "a bed of synthesized strings, gentle drums and Spanish-style guitar" as its primary instrumentation, and incorporates violin and keyboard notes prior to the first verse. The third single from Glitter
, "Don't Stop (Funkin' 4 Jamaica)
", was composed by Carey and DJ Clue
, and interpolates "Funkin' for Jamaica (N.Y.)" by Tom Browne. Featuring guest verses from Mystikal
, the song incorporates sexual innuendos and racy lyrics, with the former declaring "Ain't nothin' you could do with the man / Except for shake your ass and clap your hands," while Carey responds "Don't stop bay-beee, its ex-ta-see / Turn me up a little." Serving as the fourth and final single from Glitter, "Reflections (Care Enough)
" was written by Carey and Philippe Pierre, and released as a single towards the end of 2001. Lyrically, the song'a protagonist "laments the end of a relationship", while confronting her mother regarding her early abandonment. Additionally, during its bridge
, Carey "eerily" refers to abortion, "You could have had the decency / To give me up / Before you gave me life", as an option over abandoning the child. Cinquemani felt the song was reminiscent of Carey's ballads during the earlier lengths of her career, and described the song as a "simple beauty". In a review for the album in The Free Lance–Star
, a writer outed the song's first verse "A displeased little girl / Wept years in silence / And whispers wishes you'd materialize / She pressed on night and day / To keep on living / And tried so many ways / To keep her soul alive" as his favorite lyric from Glitter, and described it as an "emotional and heart-wrenching ballad". Conceptualized in 1997, "Lead the Way" was an unused track from Butterfly (1997), written and produced by Carey and Walter Afanasieff
. The ballad was the last song composed by the pair, as they halted work with one another shortly after its completion, due to their growing creative differences. Though written, the song was recorded during 2000, as Carey began producing Glitter. Beginning with a classic and simple piano introduction, Carey starts the song with soft and breathy vocals
, eventually leading to a vocal climax, in which she belts
an 18-second note, the longest from any of her recordings. He descibed it as one of her "best vocal performances", as well as one of her "favorite songs." In an interview with MTV News
, Carey addressed Glitter as well as "Lead the Way":
Carey's cover of the 1982 Indeep
song "Last Night a D.J. Saved My Life" was one of the album's more club-themed songs. It features rappers Fabolous
and Busta Rhymes
, and was composed and produced by Carey and DJ Clue. Michael Paoletta from Billboard
called it a "painful low" on Glitter, and commented how Carey seemed detached and over-powered on the song, due to the inclusion of several male guests. "Twister", another one of the album's ballads, drew strong comparisons to Carey's older work, in light of the very different remainder of the album. Paoletta called it "quietly heartbreaking", in reference to the song's lyrics, which relate to the suicide of Carey's friend and hairstylist, Tonjua Twist. According to Carey, Twist took her own life in the spring of 2000, and was known for her joy of life and her ability to put people at ease. She was "child like and effervescent", but behind her mask of happiness was "a well" of life-long and deep-rooted pain. In "Twister", Carey described the hidden inner-struggle of her friend, and tried to find "closure"; her "way of saying goodbye". Chris Chuck from Daily News described its lyrics as "an airy requiem for a friend lost to suicide" and felt it was "the only memorable song on the album." With lyrics reading "Feelin' kinda fragile and I've got a lot to handle / But I guess this is my way of saying goodbye", David Browne from Entertainment Weekly
felt that Carey was possibly referring to her own suicide rather than her friends, especially in light of the events that were taking place during the album's release. "Didn't Mean to Turn You On" is a cover of the 1984 Cherelle song of the same title. Aside from the heavy sampling of the hook and lyrics, Carey, who produced the song alongside Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, added keyboard notes and synthesizers to enhance the songs club appeal. In the song, Carey sings "I was only trying to be nice / Only trying to be nice / Sooooooo, I didn't mean to turn you on", indicating a woman who is weakly apologetic over fooling a man over intimacy. On the track "Want You", American singer Eric Benét
duets with Carey, while lyrically implying and suggesting the "exploration of bedroom fantasies."
, "Loverboy
". Originally, Carey had sampled the melody and hook from the 1978 Yellow Magic Orchestra
song "Firecracker", using an interpolation
of it throughout the chorus and introduction. In early theatrical trailers for Glitter, the original version of "Loverboy" was still featured. As Carey had ended her contract with Columbia Records
, Jennifer Lopez
was signed by Tommy Mottola
, and had begun recording material for her album, J.Lo (2001). According to The Inc.
's Irv Gotti, Mottola, head of Columbia and Carey's ex-husband, knew of Carey's usage of the "Firecracker" sample, and attempted to have Lopez use the same sample before her. At the time, Carey had become increasingly paranoid over outside executives being informed about Glitter, especially following news of Lopez's "theft" of the song. When the music publisher's for "Firecracker" were questioned, they admitted Carey had licensed usage of the sample first, and Lopez had signed for it over one month later, under Mottola's arrangement. Following the scandal, Carey was not able to use the original sample, as Lopez's album was to be released far earlier than Glitter. She subsequently changed the composition of "Loverboy", and incorporated a new sample, "Candy
" by Cameo
. According to Gotti, Mottola contacted him with instructions to create an additional song that sounded exactly like another Glitter track he produced, titled "If We" featuring rappers Ja Rule
and Nate Dogg
. The "Firecracker" sample was eventually used by Lopez on her song "I'm Real", from her album J.Lo.
, which averages professional reviews into a numerical score, the album received a 59/100, indicating "generally mixed or average reviews." Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine
gave the album one and a half out of five stars, calling it an "utter meltdown -- the pop equivalent of Chernobyl" and wrote "It's an embarrassment, one that might have been easier to gawk at if its creator wasn't so close to emotional destruction at the time of release." Michael Paoletta from Billboard
was less critical, citing it as a "minor misstep in a stellar career that has earned the singer a few free passes. Editor Sarah Rodman from The Boston Herald gave Glitter a mixed review, praising Carey's song-writing and voice, although panning the excess of secondary musical guests. While criticizing the album's roster of appearances, Rodman wrote "the artists contribute mostly distracting, self-promoting jibber jabber all over what could have been Carey's best, most emotionally mature record to date." Daily News editor Chuck Campley rated the album two and a half out of five stars, writing "Maybe this was the best Mariah Carey could muster under the circumstances, but 'Glitter' needed more work." David Browne from Entertainment Weekly
gave Glitter a mixed review, criticizing the abundance of rappers and describing Carey's vocals as "barely there" on several tracks. Concluding his review on a poor note, Browne wrote "'Glitter' is a mess, but its shameless genre hopping (and Carey's crash) makes it an unintentional concept album about the toll of relentless careerism."
Heather Vaughn from The Free-Lance Star gave Glitter a positive review, complimenting both the dance-oriented tracks, as well as the ballads. In reference to their weight on the album as a whole, Vaughn wrote "Sounds like Mariah's other albums, but with more of an 80s twist. The ballads really let you hear how stunning her voice actually is." Los Angeles Times
critic and writer Natalie Nichols gave Glitter two out of a possible four stars, writing how Carey let the album "reflect the synth-driven robo-funk of that wretched decade." Nichols called the album's covers "tepid and pointless", while agreeing that Carey was overwhelmed by the several guest rappers, calling her voice "semi-disguised". Rob Sheffield from Rolling Stone
gave the album three out of five stars, criticizing the ballads as "big and goopy, with zero melodic or emotional punch." Aside from the ballads, Sheffield complimented Glitter, but felt it failed to deliver the success or quality that Carey needed on her debut film and soundtrack. He concluded his review of the album with a comparison to Whitney Houston
's The Bodyguard
(1992), "Mariah still hasn't found her theme song, the one people will remember her voice by. 'Glitter' is good enough to make you hope she finds it. It's not too late, either — Whitney was a veteran if not a has-been when she hit her peak with 'The Bodyguard'." Slant Magazine
editor Sal Cinquemani awarded Glitter three out of five stars, writing "Carey's edgier tracks are inundated with so many guest artists that her sound ultimately becomes muddled; her pop tunes are so formulaic that it's difficult to distinguish one from the next." USA Today
s Edna Gunderson rated the album one and a half out of four stars, criticizing Carey's overall image for the project, as well as the many guest artists on the record. She described Carey as "cheapening her image" and wrote "The whiff of desperation grows more pungent on 'Glitter' in Carey's gratuitous coloratura and transparent enlistment of street-cred boosters such as rappers Ja Rule
and Mystikal
.
with first-week sales of 116,000 copies, far less than the 323,000 her previous release, Rainbow
, opened with in 1999. Glitter became Carey's lowest peaking album in the United States, with her sophomoric album Emotions (1992), coming in at number four. It remained in the album's chart for only eight weeks, and was certified Platinum
by the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) on the day of its release, denoting shipments of one million units throughout the country. As of 2008, Nielsen SoundScan
estimates stateside sales of Glitter at just 636,000 copies. In Canada, the album debuted at number four on the Canadian Albums Chart
, plummeting to number nineteen during its second week. Glitter entered the Australian Albums Chart
at its peak position of number thirteen, during the week dated September 9, 2001. Remaining in the chart for only three weeks, the album made its exit at number forty on September 23. Similarly in Austria, Glitter peaked at number fourteen, remaining on the albums chart for only four weeks.
In both the Flemmish and Wallonian territories in Belgium, Glitter peaked at numbers ten and eleven, respectively, while charting for a total of four weeks. In France, Glitter peaked at number five on the albums chart, during the week dated September 15, 2001. Following seventeen weeks fluctuating in the chart, the album was certified Gold by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique
(SNEP), denoting shipments of over 150,000 units. French sales of the album are estimated at over 121,100 copies. On the Dutch Albums Chart, Glitter debuted at number twenty-six, during the week dated September 22, 2001. Reaching its peak position of number twelve the following week, the album remained a total of six weeks in the albums chart. In both New Zealand and Norway, Glitter peaked at number eleven, staying within the chart for four and one weeks, respectively. In Switzerland, the album peaked at number seven, and stayed within the chart for ten weeks. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) certified Glitter Gold in Switzerland, for shipments of over 20,000 copies. On the UK Albums Chart
dated September 22, 2001, the album made its debut at number ten. The following week, Glitter fell to number twenty-seven, staying in the chart for one more additional week. British sales of the album are estimated at over 54,634 units. In Japan, Glitter saw particular commercial success, debuting atop the albums chart and selling over a 500,000 units within a month of release. For 2001, the album was named the "most popular release by a non-Japanese act" by Sony Music Japan, with eventual sales of over a million copies throughout the country. According to Live Nation
, Glitter has sold over three million units worldwide.
" was released as the first single from Glitter on July 16, 2001. The song received mixed reviews from music critics, with many both criticizing and praising the inclusion of the "Candy" sample. It became one of Carey's weakest charting lead single
s to date, reaching number sixty on the Billboard
Hot 100. Following Carey's publicized hospitalization and breakdown, as well as Virgin's price reduction on the single, "Loverboy" managed to attain a new peak of number two on the chart. Although being propelled by high sales, radio airplay was still weak, due to many radio DJs feeling tepid towards its 1980s retro sound. Accompanied by little promotion from Carey, due to her hospitalization, "Loverboy" quickly descended the Hot 100. Outside the United States, the song attained weak charting, peaking inside the top ten in Australia and Canada, and within the top twenty in Italy and the United Kingdom. The music video for "Loverboy" features Carey dressed in a variation of revealing outfits, while patrolling a large race track as her 'loverboy' wins the race. The video was notable for portraying Carey in a more sexually oriented manner than before.
"Never Too Far
", the album's second release, failed to impact the main Billboard chart, and achieved weak international charting. Carey was unable to film a music video for the single, as she was still recovering from her collapse. Instead, a video was created using a scene taken directly from the film Glitter
, where Billie Frank (played by Carey) sings the song at Madison Square Garden
during her first sold-out concert. Frank's performance of the song in the film omits its entire second verse, and the song's development runs in parallel with the film's love story. The album's third release, "Don't Stop (Funkin' 4 Jamaica)
", mirrored the same weak charting as "Never Too Far", although receiving more rotation on MTV
due to its video. Directed by Sanaa Hamri
, it features the theme of southern bayous and lifestyles, and presents Carey and Mystikal
in "southern style" clothing and hairstyles. Some shots feature three versions of Carey singing into a microphone on the screen at one time. The final single released from Glitter was "Reflections (Care Enough)
", which received a limited release in Japan. Following its limited promotional push from Virgin, and the absence of a music video, the song failed to make much of an impact.
Soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television program. In some cases, not all the tracks from the movie are included in the album; however there are rare cases of songs in the trailers that do not appear in...
to the film of the same name
Glitter (film)
Glitter is a 2001 film starring R&B singer, songwriter Mariah Carey. It was produced by 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures and directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall. It centers on the life and times of a struggling singer from the early club music scene in the 1980s.-Production:Carey has said about...
, and the eighth studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by American singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
, released on September 11, 2001 by Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
. The album was a complete musical departure from any of Carey's previous releases, focusing heavily on recreating a 1980s disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
era to accompany the film, set in 1982. Through covering
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
or heavily sampling several older tunes and songs, Carey crafted Glitter as an album that would help viewers connect with the film, as well as incorporating newly written ballads that would "stand on their own as songs from a Mariah Carey album." Throughout the project, Carey reprised collaborations with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III and Terry Steven Lewis are an American R&B and pop-music songwriting and record production team...
and DJ Clue
DJ Clue
Ernesto Shaw better known as DJ Clue?, is a mixtape DJ.-Biography:For more than 10 years, DJ Clue has proven that he is more than just a beat-thumper. His accomplishments show how a turntable genius precisely puts together different songs to make a concoction of beats and melodies that rule the...
, with whom she produced most of the album.
Musically, the album became one of Carey's most diverse bodies of work, structured to be a retro-influenced album, and more dance-oriented than any of her previous releases. On several songs, critics noted Carey to be more sexually suggestive lyrically than before, in part due to the inclusion of several guest hip-hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
musicians. Aside from the album's predominant feature of dance tracks, Glitter incorporated several lyrically meaningful and vocal ballads. On "Reflections (Care Enough)
Reflections (Care Enough)
"Reflections " is a song written and produced by American singer Mariah Carey and Philippe Pierre for Carey's eighth studio album, Glitter. The ballad has Carey, in character as Billie Frank in the film Glitter, reflecting on how her mother didn't "care enough" for her...
", Carey describes an abandoned girl, who in desperation, lashes out to her mother in song, while on "Twister", paying homage to a friend who had committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. On Glitter, several musical talents were featured, such as Eric Benét
Eric Benét
Eric Benét, is an American singer. His duet with Tamia, "Spend My Life With You" was a number one song for three weeks on the US Billboard R&B chart and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2000....
, Ludacris
Ludacris
Christopher Brian Bridges , better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Along with his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings...
, Busta Rhymes
Busta Rhymes
Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr., better known by his stage name Busta Rhymes ,Smith is an American rapper, producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the alias Busta Rhymes after NFL wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes...
, Fabolous
Fabolous
John David Jackson , better known by his stage name Fabolous, is an American rapper of African American and Dominican descent. He grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Part of his early popularity arose from his hit single "Can't Deny It" in 2001, from his debut...
and Ja Rule
Ja Rule
Jeffrey Atkins , better known by his stage name Ja Rule, is an American rapper, singer, and actor.Born in Hollis, Queens, he began his career in the group Cash Money Click and debuted in 1999 with Venni Vetti Vecci and its single "Holla Holla"...
.
Glitter and its accompanying film were met with generally mixed reviews from music critics, who while complimenting the album's ballads, felt Carey was over-whelmed by the amount of guest appearances, as well as the failed 1980s theme. Universally, Glitter was viewed as a critical and commercial failure, leading to the annulment of Carey's unprecedented $100 million five-album contract with Virgin. The album debuted at number seven on the US Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, with the lowest-first week sales of Carey's career. Although it peaked outside the top-ten in many countries, Glitter debuted atop the album's chart in Japan, and achieved sales of over one million units. To date, Glitter remains one of Carey's lowest selling albums, and has sold over three million copies worldwide.
Several singles were officially released, although following their weak charting, Virgin halted promotion of Glitter. "Loverboy
Loverboy (Mariah Carey song)
"Loverboy" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released on July 16, 2001 by Virgin Records as the lead single from Carey's eighth studio album, Glitter . Written and produced by Carey, Larry Blackmon, Thomas Jenkins, Clark Kent, "Loverboy" is built around a sample from...
" served as the first single
Lead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
from the project, and quickly became Carey's lowest charting lead single throughout many countries globally. Although reaching number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 following the single's price reduction, "Loverboy" was unable to garner sufficient airplay to stay within the top-ten. Internationally, the song peaked outside the top-twenty in most music markets, while failing to achieve a long chart run. "Never Too Far
Never Too Far
"Never Too Far" is a song written and produced by American singer Mariah Carey, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for Carey's tenth album/soundtrack, Glitter. The protagonist of this ballad states that although physical distance can sometimes separate lovers, the love they share will never be too far apart...
", the album's second release, failed to chart in the United States, and performed weakly throughout Europe and Asia. Subsequent singles failed to make much of an impact on prominent global charts.
Background and development
| "I had worked myself very very hard for many many years and I never took a break, and last year, I had just become very very exhausted and ended up just not really in a good place physically and emotionally. I learned a little more about how to work hard but also how to be healthy and take care of myself, and now, in general, in my life, I'm in a really good, happy place." | ||
Since her debut in 1990, Carey's career had been heavily calculated and controlled by her husband and head of her label Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
, Tommy Mottola
Tommy Mottola
Thomas Daniel "Tommy" Mottola is an American music executive, co-owner of Casablanca Records in a joint venture with the Universal Music Group. He is the ex-husband of Mariah Carey and is married to Mexican singer Thalía...
. For years, Carey's albums had consisted of slow and meaningful ballads, devoid of any guest appearances or hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
. In January 1995, as she recorded Daydream, Carey had already began taking more control over her musical style and genre influences. In 1993, Carey's previous release, Music Box became one of the best-selling albums of all time, with sales of over 32 million units. As a result, Carey was given more creative control on Daydream (1995), including being able to choose which song-writers and producers she wanted to collaborate with. She enrolled the production and rap
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
-styles of Ol' Dirty Bastard
Ol' Dirty Bastard
Russell Tyrone Jones was an American rapper and occasional producer, who went by the stage name Ol' Dirty Bastard or simply ODB...
, who was featured on the remix to her song "Fantasy
Fantasy (Mariah Carey song)
"Fantasy" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released on September 12, 1995 by Columbia Records as the lead single for her fifth studio album, Daydream . The song was written by Carey and Dave Hall, both serving as primary producers alongside Sean Combs...
". While he was hesitant at first, Carey's more commanding position on the album "paid off". It became an international chart topper, with critics calling their joint performance one of the pioneering songs of pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
and R&B musical collaborations. During the recording and production of Carey's Butterfly in 1997, the couple separated, leaving Carey an extended amount of control over her yet unfinished album. Following their separation, she began working with younger hip-hop and R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
producers and song-writers, aside from her usual work with balladeers Walter Afanasieff
Walter Afanasieff
Walter Afanasieff is a multiple Grammy-award-winning record producer and songwriter. He is best known for his long association with Mariah Carey, for whom he was producer and co-writer for several years, beginning in 1990...
and Kenneth Edmonds. While the album incorporated several different genres and components that were not present in Carey's previous releases, Butterfly maintained a steady balance of her classic ballads and newer R&B infused tracks. However, while Sony accepted Carey's new-found collaborations with writers and producers such as P. Diddy and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony is an American Hip-Hop/R'n'B band from Cleveland, Ohio formed in 1991. It originally consisted of rappers Layzie Bone, Flesh-n-Bone, Bizzy Bone, Krayzie Bone, and Wish Bone. Rapper Eazy-E of the group N.W.A signed Bone Thugs-N-Harmony to Ruthless Records in 1994, when Bone...
, they still attempted to only allow the ballads to shine. After Carey's "Honey
Honey (Mariah Carey song)
"Honey" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey from her sixth studio album, Butterfly. It was released as the lead single from the album on August 26, 1997 by Columbia Records. The song was written by Carey, Puff Daddy, Q-Tip and Stevie J, all of whom served as the song's producers...
", the debut single from Butterfly, was released in September 1997, Sony halted the release of the succeeding R&B influenced tracks, only fully releasing a second worldwide single, "My All
My All
"My All" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey from her sixth studio album, Butterfly . It was released as the album's fourth and second commercial single on April 21, 1998 by Columbia Records. The song was written and produced by Carey and Walter Afanasieff...
".
Following the release of Butterfly, Carey began working on a film and soundtrack project titled, All That Glitters. However, during that period, Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
pressured Carey to release a compilation album, in time for the favorable holiday season in November. Consequently, Carey put All That Glitters on hold, and released Number 1's
Number 1's (Mariah Carey album)
#1's is the first compilation album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, released by Columbia Records on November 17, 1998. The album contained Carey's thirteen number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as four new songs. In Japan, #1's also included her popular single "All I Want...
in November 1998. Following an additional studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
in 1999, titled Rainbow
Rainbow (Mariah Carey album)
Rainbow is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, released on November 2, 1999, by Columbia Records. The album followed the same pattern as Carey's previous album, Butterfly , in which she began her transition into the R&B market. Rainbow contains a mix of...
, in which she fully exerted creative control over the album and its sound, Carey then completed her contract with Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
. With Rainbow, Carey pushed her music and image farther into hip-hop and R&B than she had ever attempted. Following its strong commercial success, Carey aimed to complete the film and album project for the summer of 2001. As the first record on her unprecedented $100 million five-album record deal with Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
(EMI Records
EMI Records
EMI Records is the flagship record label founded by the EMI company in 1972 and launched in January 1973 as the successor to its Columbia label. The EMI label was launched worldwide...
), Carey was given full conceptual and creative control over the project. She opted to record an album partly mixed with 1980s influenced disco and other similar genres, in order to go hand-in-hand with the film's setting. As the date grew near, the title was changed to simply Glitter. During early 2001, Carey ended her three year relationship with Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
singer Luis Miguel
Luis Miguel
Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri is a Mexican singer. He is widely known only by the name Luis Miguel and is often referred to as "El Sol de México"...
. Aside from the heavy publicized split, Carey had already been filming both Glitter and WiseGirls
WiseGirls
WiseGirls is a 2002 film starring Mira Sorvino, Mariah Carey and Melora Walters as waitresses working at a restaurant run by mobsters. It was directed by David Anspaugh and premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, where it received negative reviews....
, as well as recording the soundtrack for the former film. Due to the pressure from the media, her heavy work schedule and the split from Miguel, Carey began posting a series of disturbing messages on her official website, and displayed erratic behavior on several live promotional outings.
TRL incident
Following commencement for GlitterGlitter (film)
Glitter is a 2001 film starring R&B singer, songwriter Mariah Carey. It was produced by 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures and directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall. It centers on the life and times of a struggling singer from the early club music scene in the 1980s.-Production:Carey has said about...
and the release of the soundtrack's lead single
Lead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
Loverboy
Loverboy (Mariah Carey song)
"Loverboy" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released on July 16, 2001 by Virgin Records as the lead single from Carey's eighth studio album, Glitter . Written and produced by Carey, Larry Blackmon, Thomas Jenkins, Clark Kent, "Loverboy" is built around a sample from...
, Carey embarked on a short promotional campaign for the song and its parent album. On July 19, 2001, Carey made a surprise appearance on the MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
program Total Request Live
Total Request Live
Total Request Live is a television series on MTV that featured popular music videos. TRL was MTV's prime outlet for music videos as the network continues to concentrate on reality-based programming. In addition to music videos, TRL featured daily guests...
(TRL). As the show's host Carson Daly
Carson Daly
Carson Jones Daly is an American television host. He is the host of NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly, a late-night talk show that began airing on January 7, 2002. Before his role as host of that program, Daly was a VJ on MTV's TRL, and a DJ for the Southern California based radio station KROQ-FM...
began taping following a commercial break, Carey began singing "Loverboy" a capella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
from behind a curtain. As he questioned the audience, she came out onto the filming stage, pushing an ice cream cart while wearing a large men's shirt. Seemingly anxious and exhilarated, Carey began giving out individual bars of ice cream to fans and guests on the program, while waving to the crowd down below on Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
, while diverging into a rambling monologue regarding therapy. Carey then walked to Daly's platform and began a striptease
Striptease
A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner...
, in which she shed her shirt to reveal a tight yellow and green ensemble, leading him to exclaim "Mariah Carey has lost her mind!". While she later revealed that Daly was aware of her presence in the building prior to her appearance, she admitted that he was meant to act surprised in order to provide a more dramatic effect for the program. Carey's appearance on TRL garnered strong media attention, with many critics and newspapers citing her behavior as "troubled" and "erratic".
Hospitalization
In the days following her appearance on TRL, Carey had began displaying "erratic behavior" during a public record singing at Tower RecordsTower Records
Tower Records was a retail music chain that was based in Sacramento, California. It currently exists as an international franchise and an online music store....
in New York. As the appearance was filmed, she began rambling on several points, leading her to discuss radio-host Howard Stern
Howard Stern
Howard Allan Stern is an American radio personality, television host, author, and actor best known for his radio show, which was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2005. He gained wide recognition in the 1990s where he was labeled a "shock jock" for his outspoken and sometimes controversial style...
, and how his form of humor on his program bothered her greatly. At that point, Carey's publicist Cindi Berger grabbed the microphone from her hand, and ordered the cameras to stop filming. Only days later, Carey began posting irregular voice notes and messages on her official website:
I'm trying to understand things in life right now and so I really don't feel that I should be doing music right now. What I'd like to do is just a take a little break or at least get one night of sleep without someone popping up about a video. All I really want is [to] just be me and that's what I should have done in the first place ... I don't say this much but guess what, I don't take care of myself.
Following the quick removal of the messages, Berger commented that Carey had been "obviously exhausted and not thinking clearly" when she posted the letters. Two days later on July 26, she was suddenly hospitalized, citing "extreme exhaustion" and a "physical and emotional breakdown". News websites and programs began reporting how Carey threatened to commit suicide by slitting her wrists
Self-harm
Self-harm or deliberate self-harm includes self-injury and self-poisoning and is defined as the intentional, direct injuring of body tissue most often done without suicidal intentions. These terms are used in the more recent literature in an attempt to reach a more neutral terminology...
the night before, and how Patricia, Carey's mother, hastily called for help. When questioned regarding Carey's suicidal rumor, Berger claimed she had broken dishes out of desperation, and as a result, accidentally cut her hands and feet. Patricia later commented that Carey would never attempt to take her own life away, and that she "respects life way too much." Following her induction at an un-disclosed hospital in Connecticut, Carey remained hospitalized and under doctor's care for two weeks, followed by an extended absence from the public.
Project delay
Following the heavy media coverage surrounding Carey's publicized breakdown and hospitalization, Virgin RecordsVirgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
and 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
delayed the release of both Glitter
Glitter (film)
Glitter is a 2001 film starring R&B singer, songwriter Mariah Carey. It was produced by 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures and directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall. It centers on the life and times of a struggling singer from the early club music scene in the 1980s.-Production:Carey has said about...
, as well as its soundtrack of the same name. The announcement was made on August 9, 2001, that both the film and accompanying soundtrack would be postponed three weeks, from August 21 to September 11, and from August 31 to September 21. When asked regarding the motives behind the delay, Nancy Berry, vice chairman of Virgin Music Group Worldwide, addressed Carey's personal and physical condition:
Mariah is looking forward to being able to participate in both her album and movie projects and we are hopeful that this new soundtrack release date will allow her to do so. She has been making great recovery progress, and continues to grow stronger every day. Virgin Music Worldwide continues to give its absolute commitment and support to Mariah on every level.
Consequently, critics suggested that in delaying Glitter, hype for the project would have largely subsided, and would possibly hurt both ticket and album sales. When discussing the project's weak commercial reaction, Carey blamed both her frame of mind during the time of its release, its postponement, as well as the soundtrack having been released on September 11. In 2005, Carey made specific remarks regarding the album's commercial failure, "I released it on September 11, 2001. The talk shows needed something to distract from 9/11. I became a punching bag. I was so successful that they tore me down because my album was at number 2 instead of number 1. The media was laughing at me and attacked me. 'Glitter' was ahead of its time. Today it’s 'in' to make 80’s music."
Departure from Virgin
Following Carey's absence from the public eye, as well as her abandonment of promotional appearances for the film and soundtrack, her unprecedented $100 million five-album record deal with Virgin RecordsVirgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
(EMI Records
EMI Records
EMI Records is the flagship record label founded by the EMI company in 1972 and launched in January 1973 as the successor to its Columbia label. The EMI label was launched worldwide...
) was bought out for $50 million. The decision was brought out due to the low sales of the project, as well as the negative publicity surrounding her breakdown. Prior to Carey's departure from Virgin, the two parties agreed to using the word "canceled" when asked regarding the failed business venture by the media. Less than 24 hours after the settlement was made, Virgin released a statement that they had "terminated" the contract with Carey, as well as only claiming to have paid her $28 million to part ways, far less than the amount agreed upon. Carey's lawyers threatened to sue, with her attorney Marshall Grossman calling their behavior in the matter "deplorable". Virgin replied that in terms of Carey's payout, they only listed the money they gave her for departing, not including the $21 million they already had paid her under contract for Glitter, totaling at $49 million. Additionally, they claimed that while they did not follow the agreed upon terms, they would counter-sue Carey's lawyers for "defamation" following their press release. The matter was resolved outside of court, with Carey nor Virgin opting to take the matter to the judicial system. Soon after, Carey flew to Capri, Italy for a period of five months, in which she began writing material for her new album, stemming from all the personal experiences she had endured throughout the past year. Additionally, she founded her own label modeled after her initials, MonarC Entertainment, and signed a new three-album record deal with Island Records
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
, valued at over $23 million.
Music and lyrics
Musically, Glitter was notably different from anything Carey had ever written or recorded, drawing influence from the 1980s. Due to the parent film taking place in 1982, the soundtrack harbored on recreating an older sound, while incorporating the usual ballads for which Carey was known. While some critics favored the album's retro style, and inclusion of several sampled melodies, many felt that Glitter lacked originality, and its excess of guest artists overpowered Carey's artistry. In an interview with MTV NewsMTV News
MTV News is the news division of MTV, one of the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., as well as some of MTV's related channels around the world. MTV News began in the late 1980s with the program The Week In Rock, hosted by Kurt Loder, the first official MTV News correspondent...
, Carey described the album's content, as well as its influences:
There are songs that are definitely going to take people back and make them go, 'Oh, man, this song from the '80s — I loved it growing up'. Or people who never heard the songs before might be like, 'This is cool.' When you see the movie, you're gonna see the uptempo songs and the songs that are remakes in there as they would have sounded in the '80s, but the album is the way that I would make the record now, and the ballads can stand on their own as songs from a Mariah Carey album.
Serving as the project's lead single
Lead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
, "Loverboy
Loverboy (Mariah Carey song)
"Loverboy" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released on July 16, 2001 by Virgin Records as the lead single from Carey's eighth studio album, Glitter . Written and produced by Carey, Larry Blackmon, Thomas Jenkins, Clark Kent, "Loverboy" is built around a sample from...
" features a sample from "Candy
Candy (Cameo song)
"Candy" is a song by funk group Cameo, released as the second single from their 1986 album Word Up!. It reached number twenty-one on the Hot 100 and number one on the R&B charts in 1987...
" by American rapper Cameo
Cameo (band)
Cameo is an American soul-influenced funk group that formed in the early 1970s. Cameo was initially a 13-member group known as the New York City Players; this name was later changed to Cameo to avoid a lawsuit from Ohio Players, another group from that era. Since then, Cameo has recorded several...
, which interpolates the melody into the chorus and instrumental introduction. Additionally, aside from sampling "Candy" as the musical bed for the song, Cameo serves as a featured artist on the song. Sarah Rodman from the Boston Herald
Boston Herald
The Boston Herald is a daily newspaper that serves Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and its surrounding area. It was started in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States...
compared it to Carey's previous lead singles, and described its production as "another in an increasingly long line of glitzy, candy-coated, creatively stunted Carey songs". The song's lyrics and vocals were described as "super-sexed" by Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
when put into comparison with Carey's previous work. The official remix for "Loverboy" also earned a place on Glitter, adding rap
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
verses from both Ludacris
Ludacris
Christopher Brian Bridges , better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Along with his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings...
and Da Brat
Da Brat
Shawntae Harris , better known as Da Brat, is an American rapper and actress. Her debut album, Funkdafied, sold one million copies, making her the first female rapper to have a platinum-selling album.-Early life:...
to the original version. The album's second release, "Never Too Far
Never Too Far
"Never Too Far" is a song written and produced by American singer Mariah Carey, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for Carey's tenth album/soundtrack, Glitter. The protagonist of this ballad states that although physical distance can sometimes separate lovers, the love they share will never be too far apart...
", was written and produced by Carey and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III and Terry Steven Lewis are an American R&B and pop-music songwriting and record production team...
. Described as an "adult-contemporary, slow-jam love song", the song's lyrics read "Too painful to talk about it, so I hold it in / So my heart can mend and be brave enough to love again", speaking of emotions felt by the protagonist in the film. "Never Too Far" features "a bed of synthesized strings, gentle drums and Spanish-style guitar" as its primary instrumentation, and incorporates violin and keyboard notes prior to the first verse. The third single from Glitter
Glitter
Glitter describes an assortment of very small pieces of copolymer plastics, aluminum foil, titanium dioxide, iron oxides, bismuth oxychloride or other materials painted in metallic, neon and iridescent colors to reflect light in a sparkling spectrum...
, "Don't Stop (Funkin' 4 Jamaica)
Don't Stop (Funkin' 4 Jamaica)
"Don't Stop " is a song written and produced by American singer Mariah Carey, DJ Clue, Duro, and Mystikal, and recorded for Carey's tenth album Glitter . It is built around a sample of the 1980s song "Funkin' for Jamaica " produced by Tom Browne and Toni Smith, and it features rapped parts by...
", was composed by Carey and DJ Clue
DJ Clue
Ernesto Shaw better known as DJ Clue?, is a mixtape DJ.-Biography:For more than 10 years, DJ Clue has proven that he is more than just a beat-thumper. His accomplishments show how a turntable genius precisely puts together different songs to make a concoction of beats and melodies that rule the...
, and interpolates "Funkin' for Jamaica (N.Y.)" by Tom Browne. Featuring guest verses from Mystikal
Mystikal
Michael Lawrence Tyler , better known by his stage name Mystikal, is an American rapper, and actor from New Orleans.-1993-1994: Early career:...
, the song incorporates sexual innuendos and racy lyrics, with the former declaring "Ain't nothin' you could do with the man / Except for shake your ass and clap your hands," while Carey responds "Don't stop bay-beee, its ex-ta-see / Turn me up a little." Serving as the fourth and final single from Glitter, "Reflections (Care Enough)
Reflections (Care Enough)
"Reflections " is a song written and produced by American singer Mariah Carey and Philippe Pierre for Carey's eighth studio album, Glitter. The ballad has Carey, in character as Billie Frank in the film Glitter, reflecting on how her mother didn't "care enough" for her...
" was written by Carey and Philippe Pierre, and released as a single towards the end of 2001. Lyrically, the song'a protagonist "laments the end of a relationship", while confronting her mother regarding her early abandonment. Additionally, during its bridge
Bridge (music)
In music, especially western popular music, a bridge is a contrasting section which also prepares for the return of the original material section...
, Carey "eerily" refers to abortion, "You could have had the decency / To give me up / Before you gave me life", as an option over abandoning the child. Cinquemani felt the song was reminiscent of Carey's ballads during the earlier lengths of her career, and described the song as a "simple beauty". In a review for the album in The Free Lance–Star
The Free Lance–Star
The Free Lance–Star is the principal daily newspaper distributed throughout Fredericksburg, Virginia, with a circulation area including the city of Fredericksburg and all or parts of the counties of Spotsylvania, Stafford, King George, Caroline, Culpeper, Fauquier, Louisa, Orange, Prince William...
, a writer outed the song's first verse "A displeased little girl / Wept years in silence / And whispers wishes you'd materialize / She pressed on night and day / To keep on living / And tried so many ways / To keep her soul alive" as his favorite lyric from Glitter, and described it as an "emotional and heart-wrenching ballad". Conceptualized in 1997, "Lead the Way" was an unused track from Butterfly (1997), written and produced by Carey and Walter Afanasieff
Walter Afanasieff
Walter Afanasieff is a multiple Grammy-award-winning record producer and songwriter. He is best known for his long association with Mariah Carey, for whom he was producer and co-writer for several years, beginning in 1990...
. The ballad was the last song composed by the pair, as they halted work with one another shortly after its completion, due to their growing creative differences. Though written, the song was recorded during 2000, as Carey began producing Glitter. Beginning with a classic and simple piano introduction, Carey starts the song with soft and breathy vocals
Breathy voice
Breathy voice is a phonation in which the vocal cords vibrate, as they do in normal voicing, but are held further apart, so that a larger volume of air escapes between them. This produces an audible noise...
, eventually leading to a vocal climax, in which she belts
Belt (music)
Belting refers to a specific technique of singing by which a singer produces a loud sound in the upper middle of the pitch range. It is often described as a vocal register although some dispute this since technically the larynx is not oscillating in a unique way...
an 18-second note, the longest from any of her recordings. He descibed it as one of her "best vocal performances", as well as one of her "favorite songs." In an interview with MTV News
MTV News
MTV News is the news division of MTV, one of the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., as well as some of MTV's related channels around the world. MTV News began in the late 1980s with the program The Week In Rock, hosted by Kurt Loder, the first official MTV News correspondent...
, Carey addressed Glitter as well as "Lead the Way":
To me, 'Glitter' is one of my best albums. A lot of people got confused, not knowing whether it was a soundtrack or an album or what. There's a song called 'Lead the Way' which I did on Ally McBealAlly McBealAlly McBeal is an American legal comedy-drama series which aired on the Fox network from 1997 to 2002. The series was created by David E. Kelley, who also served as the executive producer, along with Bill D'Elia...
, and it's coming out in January. I sang the song on [the show]. It's one of those ballads that basically everybody that's been following my career says reminds them of a 'Vision of LoveVision of Love"Vision of Love" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It served as Carey's debut single, the first from her self-titled debut album. Written by Carey and Ben Margulies, "Vision of Love" was released on May 15, 1990 by Columbia Records. After being featured on Carey's demo tape for...
'-type record, and that's one of my favorite songs from the record. The cool thing for me is to be able to tie in 'Never Too FarNever Too Far"Never Too Far" is a song written and produced by American singer Mariah Carey, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for Carey's tenth album/soundtrack, Glitter. The protagonist of this ballad states that although physical distance can sometimes separate lovers, the love they share will never be too far apart...
' and 'HeroHero (Mariah Carey song)"Hero" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released on October 19, 1993 by Columbia Records as the second single from Carey's third studio album, Music Box . Originally intended for Gloria Estefan, the song was written and produced by Carey and Walter Afanasieff...
'. Having the Greatest Hits coming out, to be able to tie in both those records is almost like a circle.
Carey's cover of the 1982 Indeep
Indeep
Indeep was a 1980s New York-based R&B/New Wave group, best known for its post-disco song "Last Night a D.J. Saved My Life."-Career:The group was led by its songwriter-musician Michael Cleveland, and it was known for employing a strong disco-esque bass line and early hip hop lyrics backed by two...
song "Last Night a D.J. Saved My Life" was one of the album's more club-themed songs. It features rappers Fabolous
Fabolous
John David Jackson , better known by his stage name Fabolous, is an American rapper of African American and Dominican descent. He grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Part of his early popularity arose from his hit single "Can't Deny It" in 2001, from his debut...
and Busta Rhymes
Busta Rhymes
Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr., better known by his stage name Busta Rhymes ,Smith is an American rapper, producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the alias Busta Rhymes after NFL wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes...
, and was composed and produced by Carey and DJ Clue. Michael Paoletta from Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
called it a "painful low" on Glitter, and commented how Carey seemed detached and over-powered on the song, due to the inclusion of several male guests. "Twister", another one of the album's ballads, drew strong comparisons to Carey's older work, in light of the very different remainder of the album. Paoletta called it "quietly heartbreaking", in reference to the song's lyrics, which relate to the suicide of Carey's friend and hairstylist, Tonjua Twist. According to Carey, Twist took her own life in the spring of 2000, and was known for her joy of life and her ability to put people at ease. She was "child like and effervescent", but behind her mask of happiness was "a well" of life-long and deep-rooted pain. In "Twister", Carey described the hidden inner-struggle of her friend, and tried to find "closure"; her "way of saying goodbye". Chris Chuck from Daily News described its lyrics as "an airy requiem for a friend lost to suicide" and felt it was "the only memorable song on the album." With lyrics reading "Feelin' kinda fragile and I've got a lot to handle / But I guess this is my way of saying goodbye", David Browne from Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
felt that Carey was possibly referring to her own suicide rather than her friends, especially in light of the events that were taking place during the album's release. "Didn't Mean to Turn You On" is a cover of the 1984 Cherelle song of the same title. Aside from the heavy sampling of the hook and lyrics, Carey, who produced the song alongside Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, added keyboard notes and synthesizers to enhance the songs club appeal. In the song, Carey sings "I was only trying to be nice / Only trying to be nice / Sooooooo, I didn't mean to turn you on", indicating a woman who is weakly apologetic over fooling a man over intimacy. On the track "Want You", American singer Eric Benét
Eric Benét
Eric Benét, is an American singer. His duet with Tamia, "Spend My Life With You" was a number one song for three weeks on the US Billboard R&B chart and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2000....
duets with Carey, while lyrically implying and suggesting the "exploration of bedroom fantasies."
"Loverboy" sample controversy
Throughout 2000, Carey had already been writing and recording material for Glitter. During this period, she developed the concept for the album's lead singleLead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
, "Loverboy
Loverboy (Mariah Carey song)
"Loverboy" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released on July 16, 2001 by Virgin Records as the lead single from Carey's eighth studio album, Glitter . Written and produced by Carey, Larry Blackmon, Thomas Jenkins, Clark Kent, "Loverboy" is built around a sample from...
". Originally, Carey had sampled the melody and hook from the 1978 Yellow Magic Orchestra
Yellow Magic Orchestra
Sakamoto first worked with Hosono as a member of his live band in 1976, while Takahashi recruited Sakamoto to produce his debut solo recording in 1977 following the split of the Sadistic Mika Band...
song "Firecracker", using an interpolation
Interpolation (music)
Interpolation in music refers to an abrupt change in musical elements from the main theme.-In classical music:In music and musical composition, especially 20th century and later, interpolation is an abrupt change of elements, with continuation of the first idea...
of it throughout the chorus and introduction. In early theatrical trailers for Glitter, the original version of "Loverboy" was still featured. As Carey had ended her contract with Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...
was signed by Tommy Mottola
Tommy Mottola
Thomas Daniel "Tommy" Mottola is an American music executive, co-owner of Casablanca Records in a joint venture with the Universal Music Group. He is the ex-husband of Mariah Carey and is married to Mexican singer Thalía...
, and had begun recording material for her album, J.Lo (2001). According to The Inc.
The Inc. Records
The Inc. Records , is an American record label, owned by Irv Gotti.In 1999, Murder Inc. released its first album, Venni Vetti Vecci by Ja Rule. The album featured the hit single "Holla Holla". The album was executively produced by Irv Gotti and moved on to go platinum, which rose Ja Rule and...
's Irv Gotti, Mottola, head of Columbia and Carey's ex-husband, knew of Carey's usage of the "Firecracker" sample, and attempted to have Lopez use the same sample before her. At the time, Carey had become increasingly paranoid over outside executives being informed about Glitter, especially following news of Lopez's "theft" of the song. When the music publisher's for "Firecracker" were questioned, they admitted Carey had licensed usage of the sample first, and Lopez had signed for it over one month later, under Mottola's arrangement. Following the scandal, Carey was not able to use the original sample, as Lopez's album was to be released far earlier than Glitter. She subsequently changed the composition of "Loverboy", and incorporated a new sample, "Candy
Candy (Cameo song)
"Candy" is a song by funk group Cameo, released as the second single from their 1986 album Word Up!. It reached number twenty-one on the Hot 100 and number one on the R&B charts in 1987...
" by Cameo
Cameo (band)
Cameo is an American soul-influenced funk group that formed in the early 1970s. Cameo was initially a 13-member group known as the New York City Players; this name was later changed to Cameo to avoid a lawsuit from Ohio Players, another group from that era. Since then, Cameo has recorded several...
. According to Gotti, Mottola contacted him with instructions to create an additional song that sounded exactly like another Glitter track he produced, titled "If We" featuring rappers Ja Rule
Ja Rule
Jeffrey Atkins , better known by his stage name Ja Rule, is an American rapper, singer, and actor.Born in Hollis, Queens, he began his career in the group Cash Money Click and debuted in 1999 with Venni Vetti Vecci and its single "Holla Holla"...
and Nate Dogg
Nate Dogg
Nathaniel Dwayne Hale , better known by his stage name Nate Dogg, was an American musician. He is noted for his membership of rap trio 213 and his solo career in which he collaborated with Dr. Dre, Warren G, Tupac and Snoop Dogg on many hit releases. Nate Dogg released three solo albums, G-Funk...
. The "Firecracker" sample was eventually used by Lopez on her song "I'm Real", from her album J.Lo.
Critical reception
At the time of its release, reviews for Glitter were mixed at best. The album's main criticism layed within its content; many music reviewers felt that through an over-abundance of guest musicians, Carey was overpowered throughout most of Glitter. Additionally, many criticized its 1980s theme, which most felt was poorly conceptualized. On the website MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which averages professional reviews into a numerical score, the album received a 59/100, indicating "generally mixed or average reviews." Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
gave the album one and a half out of five stars, calling it an "utter meltdown -- the pop equivalent of Chernobyl" and wrote "It's an embarrassment, one that might have been easier to gawk at if its creator wasn't so close to emotional destruction at the time of release." Michael Paoletta from Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
was less critical, citing it as a "minor misstep in a stellar career that has earned the singer a few free passes. Editor Sarah Rodman from The Boston Herald gave Glitter a mixed review, praising Carey's song-writing and voice, although panning the excess of secondary musical guests. While criticizing the album's roster of appearances, Rodman wrote "the artists contribute mostly distracting, self-promoting jibber jabber all over what could have been Carey's best, most emotionally mature record to date." Daily News editor Chuck Campley rated the album two and a half out of five stars, writing "Maybe this was the best Mariah Carey could muster under the circumstances, but 'Glitter' needed more work." David Browne from Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave Glitter a mixed review, criticizing the abundance of rappers and describing Carey's vocals as "barely there" on several tracks. Concluding his review on a poor note, Browne wrote "'Glitter' is a mess, but its shameless genre hopping (and Carey's crash) makes it an unintentional concept album about the toll of relentless careerism."
Heather Vaughn from The Free-Lance Star gave Glitter a positive review, complimenting both the dance-oriented tracks, as well as the ballads. In reference to their weight on the album as a whole, Vaughn wrote "Sounds like Mariah's other albums, but with more of an 80s twist. The ballads really let you hear how stunning her voice actually is." Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
critic and writer Natalie Nichols gave Glitter two out of a possible four stars, writing how Carey let the album "reflect the synth-driven robo-funk of that wretched decade." Nichols called the album's covers "tepid and pointless", while agreeing that Carey was overwhelmed by the several guest rappers, calling her voice "semi-disguised". Rob Sheffield from Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
gave the album three out of five stars, criticizing the ballads as "big and goopy, with zero melodic or emotional punch." Aside from the ballads, Sheffield complimented Glitter, but felt it failed to deliver the success or quality that Carey needed on her debut film and soundtrack. He concluded his review of the album with a comparison to Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
's The Bodyguard
The Bodyguard (soundtrack)
The Bodyguard is the soundtrack from the movie of the same name, released on November 17, 1992, on Arista Records and features songs by Whitney Houston, as well as songs from various other artists. The album was co-executive produced by Whitney Houston and Clive Davis...
(1992), "Mariah still hasn't found her theme song, the one people will remember her voice by. 'Glitter' is good enough to make you hope she finds it. It's not too late, either — Whitney was a veteran if not a has-been when she hit her peak with 'The Bodyguard'." Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
editor Sal Cinquemani awarded Glitter three out of five stars, writing "Carey's edgier tracks are inundated with so many guest artists that her sound ultimately becomes muddled; her pop tunes are so formulaic that it's difficult to distinguish one from the next." USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
s Edna Gunderson rated the album one and a half out of four stars, criticizing Carey's overall image for the project, as well as the many guest artists on the record. She described Carey as "cheapening her image" and wrote "The whiff of desperation grows more pungent on 'Glitter' in Carey's gratuitous coloratura and transparent enlistment of street-cred boosters such as rappers Ja Rule
Ja Rule
Jeffrey Atkins , better known by his stage name Ja Rule, is an American rapper, singer, and actor.Born in Hollis, Queens, he began his career in the group Cash Money Click and debuted in 1999 with Venni Vetti Vecci and its single "Holla Holla"...
and Mystikal
Mystikal
Michael Lawrence Tyler , better known by his stage name Mystikal, is an American rapper, and actor from New Orleans.-1993-1994: Early career:...
.
Commercial performance
Glitter became Carey's least commercially successful album to that point. It debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
with first-week sales of 116,000 copies, far less than the 323,000 her previous release, Rainbow
Rainbow (Mariah Carey album)
Rainbow is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, released on November 2, 1999, by Columbia Records. The album followed the same pattern as Carey's previous album, Butterfly , in which she began her transition into the R&B market. Rainbow contains a mix of...
, opened with in 1999. Glitter became Carey's lowest peaking album in the United States, with her sophomoric album Emotions (1992), coming in at number four. It remained in the album's chart for only eight weeks, and was certified Platinum
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
(RIAA) on the day of its release, denoting shipments of one million units throughout the country. As of 2008, Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan is an information and sales tracking system created by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett. Soundscan is the official method of tracking sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada...
estimates stateside sales of Glitter at just 636,000 copies. In Canada, the album debuted at number four on the Canadian Albums Chart
Canadian Albums Chart
The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS...
, plummeting to number nineteen during its second week. Glitter entered the Australian Albums Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
at its peak position of number thirteen, during the week dated September 9, 2001. Remaining in the chart for only three weeks, the album made its exit at number forty on September 23. Similarly in Austria, Glitter peaked at number fourteen, remaining on the albums chart for only four weeks.
In both the Flemmish and Wallonian territories in Belgium, Glitter peaked at numbers ten and eleven, respectively, while charting for a total of four weeks. In France, Glitter peaked at number five on the albums chart, during the week dated September 15, 2001. Following seventeen weeks fluctuating in the chart, the album was certified Gold by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique
Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique
The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry...
(SNEP), denoting shipments of over 150,000 units. French sales of the album are estimated at over 121,100 copies. On the Dutch Albums Chart, Glitter debuted at number twenty-six, during the week dated September 22, 2001. Reaching its peak position of number twelve the following week, the album remained a total of six weeks in the albums chart. In both New Zealand and Norway, Glitter peaked at number eleven, staying within the chart for four and one weeks, respectively. In Switzerland, the album peaked at number seven, and stayed within the chart for ten weeks. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) certified Glitter Gold in Switzerland, for shipments of over 20,000 copies. On the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
dated September 22, 2001, the album made its debut at number ten. The following week, Glitter fell to number twenty-seven, staying in the chart for one more additional week. British sales of the album are estimated at over 54,634 units. In Japan, Glitter saw particular commercial success, debuting atop the albums chart and selling over a 500,000 units within a month of release. For 2001, the album was named the "most popular release by a non-Japanese act" by Sony Music Japan, with eventual sales of over a million copies throughout the country. According to Live Nation
Live Nation
Live Nation is a live-events company based in Beverly Hills, California, focused on concert promotions. Live Nation formed in 2005 as a spin-off from Clear Channel Communications, which then merged with Ticketmaster in 2010 to become Live Nation Entertainment....
, Glitter has sold over three million units worldwide.
Singles
"LoverboyLoverboy (Mariah Carey song)
"Loverboy" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released on July 16, 2001 by Virgin Records as the lead single from Carey's eighth studio album, Glitter . Written and produced by Carey, Larry Blackmon, Thomas Jenkins, Clark Kent, "Loverboy" is built around a sample from...
" was released as the first single from Glitter on July 16, 2001. The song received mixed reviews from music critics, with many both criticizing and praising the inclusion of the "Candy" sample. It became one of Carey's weakest charting lead single
Lead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
s to date, reaching number sixty on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot 100. Following Carey's publicized hospitalization and breakdown, as well as Virgin's price reduction on the single, "Loverboy" managed to attain a new peak of number two on the chart. Although being propelled by high sales, radio airplay was still weak, due to many radio DJs feeling tepid towards its 1980s retro sound. Accompanied by little promotion from Carey, due to her hospitalization, "Loverboy" quickly descended the Hot 100. Outside the United States, the song attained weak charting, peaking inside the top ten in Australia and Canada, and within the top twenty in Italy and the United Kingdom. The music video for "Loverboy" features Carey dressed in a variation of revealing outfits, while patrolling a large race track as her 'loverboy' wins the race. The video was notable for portraying Carey in a more sexually oriented manner than before.
"Never Too Far
Never Too Far
"Never Too Far" is a song written and produced by American singer Mariah Carey, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for Carey's tenth album/soundtrack, Glitter. The protagonist of this ballad states that although physical distance can sometimes separate lovers, the love they share will never be too far apart...
", the album's second release, failed to impact the main Billboard chart, and achieved weak international charting. Carey was unable to film a music video for the single, as she was still recovering from her collapse. Instead, a video was created using a scene taken directly from the film Glitter
Glitter (film)
Glitter is a 2001 film starring R&B singer, songwriter Mariah Carey. It was produced by 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures and directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall. It centers on the life and times of a struggling singer from the early club music scene in the 1980s.-Production:Carey has said about...
, where Billie Frank (played by Carey) sings the song at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
during her first sold-out concert. Frank's performance of the song in the film omits its entire second verse, and the song's development runs in parallel with the film's love story. The album's third release, "Don't Stop (Funkin' 4 Jamaica)
Don't Stop (Funkin' 4 Jamaica)
"Don't Stop " is a song written and produced by American singer Mariah Carey, DJ Clue, Duro, and Mystikal, and recorded for Carey's tenth album Glitter . It is built around a sample of the 1980s song "Funkin' for Jamaica " produced by Tom Browne and Toni Smith, and it features rapped parts by...
", mirrored the same weak charting as "Never Too Far", although receiving more rotation on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
due to its video. Directed by Sanaa Hamri
Sanaa Hamri
Sanaa Hamri is a Moroccan American music video and film director. She is one of the few prominent female film and music video directors of color.-Early life and breakthrough:...
, it features the theme of southern bayous and lifestyles, and presents Carey and Mystikal
Mystikal
Michael Lawrence Tyler , better known by his stage name Mystikal, is an American rapper, and actor from New Orleans.-1993-1994: Early career:...
in "southern style" clothing and hairstyles. Some shots feature three versions of Carey singing into a microphone on the screen at one time. The final single released from Glitter was "Reflections (Care Enough)
Reflections (Care Enough)
"Reflections " is a song written and produced by American singer Mariah Carey and Philippe Pierre for Carey's eighth studio album, Glitter. The ballad has Carey, in character as Billie Frank in the film Glitter, reflecting on how her mother didn't "care enough" for her...
", which received a limited release in Japan. Following its limited promotional push from Virgin, and the absence of a music video, the song failed to make much of an impact.
Track listing
Credits and personnel
Credits for Glitter adapted from Allmusic.- Mariah CareyMariah CareyMariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
– arrangerArrangementThe American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
, composerComposerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, executive producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, vocal arrangementArrangementThe American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, background vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists... - Walter AfanasieffWalter AfanasieffWalter Afanasieff is a multiple Grammy-award-winning record producer and songwriter. He is best known for his long association with Mariah Carey, for whom he was producer and co-writer for several years, beginning in 1990...
– composer - Jeffrey Atkins – composer
- Eric BenétEric BenétEric Benét, is an American singer. His duet with Tamia, "Spend My Life With You" was a number one song for three weeks on the US Billboard R&B chart and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2000....
– performer - Larry Blackmon – composer
- Elliott Blakey – assistant
- Lee Blaske – string arrangementsString instrumentA string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
- Busta RhymesBusta RhymesTrevor Tahiem Smith, Jr., better known by his stage name Busta Rhymes ,Smith is an American rapper, producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the alias Busta Rhymes after NFL wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes...
– performer - CameoCameo (band)Cameo is an American soul-influenced funk group that formed in the early 1970s. Cameo was initially a 13-member group known as the New York City Players; this name was later changed to Cameo to avoid a lawsuit from Ohio Players, another group from that era. Since then, Cameo has recorded several...
– performer - Michael Cleveland – composer
- Da BratDa BratShawntae Harris , better known as Da Brat, is an American rapper and actress. Her debut album, Funkdafied, sold one million copies, making her the first female rapper to have a platinum-selling album.-Early life:...
– composer, performer - DamizzaDamizzaDamion Young, better known by his stage name, Damizza, is a record producer, artist & author known for producing artists such as Ice Cube, Shade Sheist, Snoop Dogg, Korn, Nate Dogg, Ca$his, and Mariah Carey, including Carey's single "Crybaby."...
– producer - DJ ClueDJ ClueErnesto Shaw better known as DJ Clue?, is a mixtape DJ.-Biography:For more than 10 years, DJ Clue has proven that he is more than just a beat-thumper. His accomplishments show how a turntable genius precisely puts together different songs to make a concoction of beats and melodies that rule the...
– composer, producer, background vocals - FabolousFabolousJohn David Jackson , better known by his stage name Fabolous, is an American rapper of African American and Dominican descent. He grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Part of his early popularity arose from his hit single "Can't Deny It" in 2001, from his debut...
– performer - Tony Gonzales – assistant
- Kevin Guarnieri – assistant engineerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
, digital editingDigital mediaDigital media is a form of electronic media where data is stored in digital form. It can refer to the technical aspect of storage and transmission Digital media is a form of electronic media where data is stored in digital (as opposed to analog) form. It can refer to the technical aspect of... - Nathaniel Hale – composer
- Fernando Harkless – fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
- James Harris – composer
- Michael Herring – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Howard Hersh – composer
- Steve Hodge – engineer, mixing
- Ja RuleJa RuleJeffrey Atkins , better known by his stage name Ja Rule, is an American rapper, singer, and actor.Born in Hollis, Queens, he began his career in the group Cash Money Click and debuted in 1999 with Venni Vetti Vecci and its single "Holla Holla"...
– performer - Jimmy JamJimmy Jam and Terry LewisJames Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III and Terry Steven Lewis are an American R&B and pop-music songwriting and record production team...
– arranger, executive producer, producer, production assistant - Rick James – composer
- Thomas Jenkins – composer
- John Kennedy – violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
- Clark Kent – producer
- Anthony Kilhoffer – assistant
- Terry LewisJimmy Jam and Terry LewisJames Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III and Terry Steven Lewis are an American R&B and pop-music songwriting and record production team...
– arranger, composer, executive producer, producer, production assistant - Bryan Loren – keyboardsMusical keyboardA musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument, particularly the piano. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, shorter keys that repeats at the...
- Trey LorenzTrey LorenzTrey Lorenz is an African American singer and songwriter. He was born in Florence, South Carolina and is a graduate of Wilson High School.-Biography:...
– background vocals - LudacrisLudacrisChristopher Brian Bridges , better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Along with his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings...
– composer, performer - Bob LudwigBob LudwigBob Ludwig is an American mastering engineer.He is a well known and respected figure within the music industry. His name is credited on the covers of albums released across the world, and he has won numerous awards....
– masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced... - Brenda Mickens – violin
- MystikalMystikalMichael Lawrence Tyler , better known by his stage name Mystikal, is an American rapper, and actor from New Orleans.-1993-1994: Early career:...
– performer - Jon Nettlesbey – assistant
- Pete Novak – assistant
- Tim Olmstead – assistant
- Derek Organ – drums
- Pierre PhilippePeter PhilipsPeter Philips was an eminent English composer, organist, and Catholic priest exiled to Flanders...
– composer - Alice Preves – violin
- Alexander Richbourg – drum programmingProgramming (music)Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices, often sequencers or computer programs, to generate music. Programming is used in nearly all forms of electronic music and in most hip hop music since the 1990s. It is also frequently used in modern pop and rock...
- David Rideau – engineer
- Torrel Ruffin – guitar
- Leslie Shank – violin
- Shawnna – composer
- Pitnarry Shin – celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Ryan Smith – assistant
- Toni Smith – composer
- Xavier Smith – assistant, assistant engineer, mixing
- Jason Stasium – assistant
- Tamas Strasser – violin
- Mary Ann Tatum – background vocals
- James "Big Jim" Wright – composer
- Bradley Yost – assistant, assistant engineer, mixing
- Damion Young – composer
Charts
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
13 |
| Austrian Albums Chart | 14 |
| Belgian Flandres Albums Chart Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... |
10 |
| Belgian Wallonia Albums Chart Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... |
11 |
| Canadian Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
4 |
| Danish Albums Chart Tracklisten Tracklisten is a Danish top 40 record chart that is presented every Thursday midnight at .The weekly Danish Singles Chart also known as Track Top-40 combines the 40 best selling tracks from legal music downloads and the sales of music singles on either CD or vinyl... |
12 |
| Dutch Albums Chart Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
12 |
| French Albums Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
5 |
| German Albums Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
7 |
| Italian Albums Chart Federation of the Italian Music Industry The Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy.... |
5 |
| Japanese Albums Chart Recording Industry Association of Japan The Recording Industry Association of Japan is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved the music industry... |
1 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
11 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
11 |
| Polish Albums Chart Polish Music Charts The Polish Music Charts are two official album charts and seven singles charts in Poland, provided by ZPAV, the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry . The first, the Top 100, is a monthly chart based on data received from the album companies... |
23 |
| Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
30 |
| Swiss Albums Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
7 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
10 |
| US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
7 |
| US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
6 |
Certifications
| Country (Provider) | Certification Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales thresholds) |
|---|---|
| France (SNEP) | Gold |
| Switzerland (IFPI IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland... ) |
Gold |
| United States (RIAA) | Platinum |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
AUS ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
CAN Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007... |
FRA Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
GER Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
NL Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
NZ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
SWI Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
|||
| 2001 | "Loverboy Loverboy (Mariah Carey song) "Loverboy" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released on July 16, 2001 by Virgin Records as the lead single from Carey's eighth studio album, Glitter . Written and produced by Carey, Larry Blackmon, Thomas Jenkins, Clark Kent, "Loverboy" is built around a sample from... " (featuring Cameo Cameo (band) Cameo is an American soul-influenced funk group that formed in the early 1970s. Cameo was initially a 13-member group known as the New York City Players; this name was later changed to Cameo to avoid a lawsuit from Ohio Players, another group from that era. Since then, Cameo has recorded several... ) |
2 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 54 | 57 | 35 | — | 66 | 12 |
|
| "Never Too Far Never Too Far "Never Too Far" is a song written and produced by American singer Mariah Carey, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for Carey's tenth album/soundtrack, Glitter. The protagonist of this ballad states that although physical distance can sometimes separate lovers, the love they share will never be too far apart... " |
— | — | 36 | — | — | 97 | 51 | — | 65 | 32 | ||
| "Don't Stop (Funkin' 4 Jamaica) Don't Stop (Funkin' 4 Jamaica) "Don't Stop " is a song written and produced by American singer Mariah Carey, DJ Clue, Duro, and Mystikal, and recorded for Carey's tenth album Glitter . It is built around a sample of the 1980s song "Funkin' for Jamaica " produced by Tom Browne and Toni Smith, and it features rapped parts by... " (featuring Mystikal Mystikal Michael Lawrence Tyler , better known by his stage name Mystikal, is an American rapper, and actor from New Orleans.-1993-1994: Early career:... ) |
— | 42 | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Reflections (Care Enough) Reflections (Care Enough) "Reflections " is a song written and produced by American singer Mariah Carey and Philippe Pierre for Carey's eighth studio album, Glitter. The ballad has Carey, in character as Billie Frank in the film Glitter, reflecting on how her mother didn't "care enough" for her... " |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes a title that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||
External links
- Glitter at MetacriticMetacriticMetacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...