Mariah Carey

Insanely, criminally underrated artist. I won't mention anything about her singing because there's no debate here, but Mariah is incredibly underappreciated when it comes to her overall artistry, comprising her songwriting, producing, background vocals, remixes, samples, collaborating, diversity, etc. She always gets assimilated to the likes of Whitney Houston and Céline Dion, when in fact, outside the big-voiced singing/diva persona, she has nothing to do with them. I know it sounds uncharacteristic, but she truly always was a singer-songwriter before she was a bombastic diva. Her background/personal life story and career journey is so interesting and different than what you'd expect. Dig deeper and you'll be surprised. She deserves the kind of credibility that female R&B pioneers such as Mary J. Blige, TLC and Lauryn Hill possess, but she doesn't get it because of her showy, outsized diva persona and huge pop hits. Sometimes I wish she wasn't so much into the bling and dazzle, but then it's also what makes her so paradoxical and complex. She's also a very eloquent and quick-witted person, funny and intelligent. I highly recommend her song 'The Roof', a deep album cut that fully showcases her songwriting prowess, vocal harmonies, as well as her signature blend of "female" R&B and Hip-Hop. She can create the most moody, atmospheric songs. No one talks about the fact that she started out being seemingly just another adult contemporary female balladeer to gradually turning into a full-blown, legit R&B/Hip-Hop star. She earned her legitimacy in both soul/gospel-tinged R&B/pop and Hip-Hop. She's all the rappers' favorite little sister. Other highlights include 'Breakdown', 'Fantasy', 'Always Be My Baby', 'Heartbreaker', 'Slipping Away', 'Honey', 'Long Ago', and 'Dreamlover'. Also, 'My All' is considered by many her greatest achievement.

The queen of Babyface era pop

She has a nice voice, but that's it. The songwriting, the music and everything about her (Except her vocals) aren't really impressive, and sometimes quite mediocre. 70/100 at best.

From Fischman 01/20/2019 22:58 | #230152

Big voice, but not all that. Songs mostly weak musically and lyrically.

For all of her success, Mariah Carey is still highly underrated as a vocalist, songwriter, and producer. She has written classic songs that still sound fresh on the radio today. There's no denying that after nearly 22 years, "Always Be My Baby," doesn't sound incredible on the radio. No one has come onto the scene in the last twenty-five years who has been able to truly master the range, soul, and vocal prowess of Mariah Carey.

From zags7000 08/16/2015 08:09 | #147758

No denying Carey's talent and has had some great great songs. However, like most pop albums, none of her's really come together for something great. Her 90's material though is far better than anything she's done recently.

She has a great voice and clearly has talent, but all of her songs are basic RnB/pop ballads.

From ilovelctr 04/26/2015 07:13 | #140282

There is no doubt that Mariah Carey is one of the greatest voices that have ever happened in history, as far as all that's been recorded. I don't think it is necessary to compare her voice to that of Whitney Houston, Alison Krauss, Sainkho Namtchylak, or even Lara Fabian, because they're all different. Mariah Carey's ability to pull off long, expansive notes without noticeable breathing is remarkably striking.

Of course some of the music she produces is too boring for most people and poor lyrics or even poor themes fall all over the place, but there are also some genuinely great moments which are truly enjoyable, and indeed better than some patronizing 'masterpieces' from those 'greats'. Anyway I like her for what she has to offer.

From iloveblackmusic 01/17/2015 03:42 | #131718

Mariah is a great singer, composes songs, angel voice, R&B Soul influences, Mariah is fantastic!

Mariah Carey is the greatest singer/songwriter/producer/music pioneer of our generation. Mariah Carey is legit a legend of music. 18 #1’s and counting!