Suddenly she's busting out all over with "Heartbreaker," a Jay-Z-enhanced number that's sure to send a warm breeze through your speakers when it hits radio. It's the first single from her upcoming album Rainbow, which is tentatively due out in the fall. (First Butterfly, now Rainbow… does it get any girlier?)
When MTV caught up with Carey on the set of the video shoot for "Heartbreaker," the sassy lassie was pretty secretive about everything from her producers and collaborators to where she was going to finish up recording. (Who could blame her?)
Yet we still managed to get a few choice items out of her, including the photographer behind those ultra-suggestive promo shots you've been seeing… indeed, the same artist responsible for those Britney Spears pics that caused such a stir a few months back.
So sit back, relax, and get ready to relish a quick one with Mariah Carey…
So you've been quietly working on this new album. What can you tell us about it?
I don't want to tell the title of the album yet, because I'm not 100 percent sure of the title of the album, but I have something in my head. [Note: On August 13, it was announced that the title of Mariah's record would be Rainbow, with a tentative release date set for November.]
I'm actually really excited, because I'm doing a photo shoot with David LaChapelle… I've never worked with him, but he's really genius and really innovative, so I think it's gonna be a whole new twist to [my image].
I have done a lot of collaborations. I'm working on collaborations, I don't want to talk about them, because they are not done, and you never know what could happen when you are dealing with other political stuff. But I'm into it.
I'm on my way to a studio… on an island kind of in the middle of nowhere, and I'm gonna lock myself in a room and I'm not gonna leave until I'm done.
Are you producing it yourself? Who are you working with?
I always pretty much co-produce everything I do. I'm pretty much involved in every aspect of my career, but the first single I did with DJ Clue, and it's called "Heartbreaker."
The original features Jay-Z. A lot of people say it's pretty much [in] the classic style of my up-tempos, like "Fantasy" or "Dreamlover." But it's kind of fun, and it has a new edge to it, I think, and definitely having Jay-Z takes it to a whole 'nother level. And Clue makes it really fun and stuff.
And then the remix… I'm so excited about the remix. It's also gonna go on the album, and it features Missy Elliott and Da Brat, and it's kinda like a girl-power answer record, and it's to the loop of Snoop [Dogg]'s "Ain't No Fun." They're not ready for that one! And I gotta do the remix video. Everyone is dying for me to do the remix video for that, because it's really, really hot.
Last question. What do you think about the whole Latin pop explosion?
I think it's great that people are embracing [Latin pop], especially Americans. A lot of times we tend to think that our world only exists within America, and our frame of reference is kind of there. So I think it's great… it's not like it's something new. It's great that people's minds have been opened, and people are starting to embrace another culture musically.