Pop superstar Mariah Carey has denied recent claims by a US tabloid that she has spent over $150,000 on plastic surgery, saying, "What in the ham sandwich do they think I did?" The National Enquirer called in a "Detroit-area plastic surgeon" named Dr. Tony Youn to analyze a photo of Carey, with Youn determining from the image that "Part of the reason she looks so natural is that she might have been having various moderate procedures over the years, instead of a few huges ones all at once that cause one's appearance to look unnatural and jolting."

The doctor estimated that the 38-year-old singer had spent approximately $150,000 to maintain her almost flawless appearance. However Carey has denied the article, tettling satellite radio show "Yo! On E!", "One of the rumors I just heard about was that I spent $150,000 in plastic surgery. What in the ham sandwich do they think I did? It's very annoying."

Carey also revealed that motherhood is not on the agenda anytime soon, saying, "Obviously, having a kid is a commitment for life. I really would have to be very, very positive that I was in a place where I could completely focus and put everything into the job of being someone's mommy, because it's hard enough to have a puppy."
(The Celebrity Truth)

Singer Mariah Carey shows off her new toned body in her latest music video which sees her cavorting about semi-clothed in a nerd's fantasy. The video for the aptly named single Touch My Body was shot by X-Men director Brett Ratner. "Mariah looks better than she has ever looked. It's ridiculous," Ratner said.

It wasn't just scribes who were affected by the recent writers' strike. Everyone in Hollywood felt the pinch, from film crews and florists to Peacock pages. So, imagine our relief when we discovered 30 Rock's Kenneth the Page workin' it in Mariah Carey's latest video, "Touch My Body". (Or at least in this 45-second preview.)

In what we can only hope is a dream sequence (because what would Mother say?), Kenneth and Mimi share a naughty romp in the boudoir and a flirtatious frisbee game. Our favorite page sheds his tidy blazer for a Viking hat and a Paulie Bleeker track outfit, while Mariah prances around in her usual collection of snug minidresses - including a Britney "Baby One More Time" schoolgirl outfit. (We just hope this Bleeker is using protection.)

Mariah, though we're not crazy about the song, we gotta admire your attempt to bring the funny. But we'd like our page back now, please. Tracy Jordan needs some nachos!
(E! Online)

MTV Hits (UK) aired a short segment about Mariah's new video "Touch My Body". Footage from behind the scenes was shown as well as a short clip in which Mariah explains her decision to release "Touch My Body" as the first single from E=MC².

"It was really difficult choosing a first single. This time, it's just like okay, I have 20-something songs, and I'm like there's a lot of potential singles, so we all kind of struggled with it. We ended up with Touch My Body because up-tempo is one specific way, and a ballad is really specific, so we decided to just go with the mid-tempo and everybody kinda liked the song 'cause it's just fun and cute and sexy and sweet."
(Mariah Daily Journal)

Drumroll please... not only does Mariah Carey have a beautiful voice and an incredible new album coming out (and we should know, we just listened to it), she's also got a great sense of humor. In this sneak preview of Mimi's video for her first single off of E=MC², "Touch My Body", she invites the delightfully dorky Jack McBrayer (who you might know as Kenneth from 30 Rock) to, uh, touch her body, have a lingerie pillow-fight and play frisbee. And that's just from the 45 seconds we've seen.

When Rush Hour director Brett Ratner isn't busy with big-screen projects, he takes a trip to the small screen - at least when Mariah Carey comes calling. The filmmaker called in to Ryan Seacrest's Los Angeles radio show to talk about his upcoming video for Carey's latest single, "Touch My Body".

Instead of going the serious route, as he did on Mimi's "We Belong Together" clip, starring Wentworth Miller from Prison Break, Ratner opted for a funny video. He said, "Mariah is hysterical, and this record is kind of funny. There's no way we could do a video with a cute guy and Mariah, so... we got one of the funniest guys in the world: Jack McBrayer from 30 Rock."

The video shows McBrayer imagining what it would be like to be with Mariah, who, according to Ratner, "looks better than she's ever looked."
(MTV.ca | The Mariah Carey Archives)

Mariah will be appearing on TRL this Wednesday, February 27 to premiere her video for 'Touch My Body,' and [Mariah Carey's official website] giving away a pair of tickets to the taping to 2 HBF members.
(Mariah Carey.com)

Oh, Mariah, where have you been? It's been four long years since your triumphant return with "We Belong Together", and three since last hit "Don't Forget About Us", Granted, you disillusioned once or twice, tip-toeing into hip-hop - but you've long been forgiven for the likes of "Boy (I Need You)" with Cam'ron and "I Know What You Want" with Busta Rhymes.

"Touch My Body", the first single from 11th studio album "E=MC2" (April 15), is a No. 1 just waiting to pounce the Billboard Hot 100. Written by Carey with The-Dream - who penned Grammy Award-winning radio staple "Umbrella" for Rihanna - this sensual jam is 100% Mariah, packed with satisfying harmonic layers and hooky background "oh's", supersonic verses and a chorus as catchy as a winter sniffle.

According to mariahdaily.com, 65 stations played the song five hours after its digital release to radio. Smells like a smash and looks like 2008=MC's 18th year of chart-toppers.
(Billboard | The Mariah Carey Archives)

Yesterday, Island/Def Jam honcho L.A. Reid hosted a few journalists in his office for a special preview of Mariah Carey's upcoming E=MC² album, tentatively due April 15. While Reid looked on, Mariah's A&R man and long-rumored beau Mark Sudack played 12 of the album's cuts from his laptop, often passionately (and adorably!) singing along. On the album, there was drama, there was death, there was disco. What follows is a track-by-track breakdown of our impressions of the album. Note that this isn't the final track sequence, that L.A. ticked off the producers list to us but it is by no means etched in stone and the tracks that we heard weren't always mastered.

One final note: so much of this album is sung in Mariah's chest voice. The vocal gymnastics and whistle notes, while there ('cause, duh, it's Mariah!), take a backseat to clear, purposeful singing, and Mariah sounds better for it. Oh yeah, Mimi's back.

1. "Migrate" (co-produced by Danja) - After announcing itself with Mariah's patented whistle notes, this club track gets to bangin' and it takes that task really seriously. It's about as meta as a banger gets, with Mariah explaining during the chorus how her night goes: "From the car to the club / We migrate / From the bar to the V.I.P. / We migrate." And so it goes, from the party to the after party, from the after party to the hotel. There's a slight autotune effect on Mariah's voice on the last "migrate" of each chorus, which I assume is to put her on equal ground with the man she shares the mic with here. T-Pain, mercifully shows up for just a guest verse - this is not a full-blown duet. It's a feisty track, with tough Storch-esque beats that Mariah's bravado attempts to match: "If you're inked up thuggin', that's what I like", she says. See, I always thought she went for the pretty boys. Already we're learning stuff!

2. "Touch My Body" (co-produced with Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and The-Dream) - There isn't much to say about this ultra-femme track that wasn't said when it leaked. Hard to believe that that was only a little more than week ago - in the time since, it's become so ubiquitous that it's kind of hard to imagine what radio was like before it. Even L.A. seemed taken aback by how quickly it has caught on - he described the track's out-of-the-gate success as virtually accidental.

3. "Last Kiss" (co-produced by Jermaine Dupri) - One of the album's many declarations of eternal love, this one is "We Belong Together, Part 35". It's nice but extremely safe. One thing that's very much in its favor are Mariah's vocals, which are nimble as they are in "We Belong Together" (she changes up her flow more times than I could count) and maybe more robust than they've sounded in over a decade. There's a nice little duet at the end of this one between Mariah's full chest voice and her higher register. Of course, if she didn't show off that stellar natural resource, this wouldn't be a Mariah Carey album.

4. "Lovin' You Long Time" (co-produced by DJ Toomp) - Pure and utter joy is this one, which is most reminiscent of the lovely Mimi outtake "When I Feel It". Except this one's, like, 10 times better. The chorus of DeBarge's "Stay With Me" is the foundation of this track (as opposed to the verses, which provided the foundation for the single remix of Biggie's "One More Chance" and Ashanti's "Foolish", among tracks). However, the sample sounds more weathered, and overall, the track comes off as a '60s throwback rather than an '80s one. One hundred percent feel-good and packing in a killer breakdown and conclusion that's a wall of Mariah voices, this was the first song that felt like the work of unstoppable pop genius.

5. "Thanx for Nothin'" (co-produced by Jermaine Durpri) - A mid-tempo ballad that sports a beat rougher than anything Jermaine Dupri has laid down for Mariah and a guitar line not unlike Mimi's "So Lonely" (though this track is more sassy and less dour than that), "Thanx" suggests that Mariah and Jermaine aren't sentenced to live in the shadow of their former glory and can actually make relatively new sounds together. Lyrically, this break-up track is a cross between the self-deprecating "Mine Again" ("I never knew enough about you, babe / And I guess I only have myself to blame") and the streetwise posturing of "Get Your Number" ("Seems like all I do is think about your pseudo-romance / While you're somewhere burnin' diesel in the streets, havin' laughs"). Mariah packs in so many lyrics that she barely has time to sing them, and sort of just growls them. It's not nearly as ridiculous as that description might make it sound.

6. "That Chick" (co-produced by Stargate) - Instant. Classic. An absolutely brilliant disco track that plays on Mariah's strengths and sexiness without ever crossing the line into indulgence. It's slick, it's chic (and Chic, with its slap-you-on-the-ass bass line), it's silly ("La da da a oooh wee-wee" goes the bit between the chorus and the verses) and it carries a killer middle 8 that's as exhilarating as the one in Michael Jackson's "P.Y.T." (you know, the best part of one of the best songs ever that goes, "Don't you know nowwwww / Is the perfect time..."?). Mariah makes references to 2Pac and Biggie, compares herself to ice cream and the lottery and maybe even references the long-lost track from the Charmbracelet sessions "Touch the Sky". Oh, and also she delivers the most her line of her career, complete with a 10-cent word: "I brings that levity." Maybe one day they'll bottle the essence of Mariah, but until then, we have "That Chick" and I seriously am counting down the days till I can hear this track again. This needs to be a single, like, now, and Mariah needs to dust off those "Heartbreaker" remix roller skates for the video, pronto.

7. "Cruise Control" (co-produced by Jermaine Dupri) - Another J.D. track that deviates from what could have been a detrimental pattern, this is a reggae-lite extended car metaphor ("I need a caddy wit some cruise control," belts Mariah). The chorus consists of her spelling out, "C-R-U-I-S-E control" and the second verse finds Mariah adopting a Jamaican affect for kicks: "When da door open I de gals pon de block / They be hop-on, to rob the clock / Me say no mam / Step up step up / Bottle broken / Tink I'm jokin'." Seriously, she says that. Damien Marley gets a guest verse, and I have to say, his shtick is a little more convincing.

8. "Side Effects" (co-produced by Scott Storch) - You know how sometimes Southern rap almost has a heavy metal feel? Mariah and Storch exploit that by turning out a Southern-fried power ballad that's a thinly veiled portrait of her time under Tommy Mottola's reign ("Hell we built, and I dealt with it... Kept my tears inside 'cause I knew if I started, I'd keep cryin' for the rest of my life with you / I finally built up the strength to walk away / Don't regret it..."). For someone as guarded as Mariah is publicly, it's shockingly frank (she alludes to "violent times") and really naked (the titular side effects refer to the toll the relationship has taken on her: she's "still a little depressed inside" and "still a little defensive thinkin' folks be tryin' to run my life"). This is another highlight, and having a rapper so associated with drugs (Jeezy) on a track called "Side Effects" that isn't about drugs at all, only makes things cleverer.

9. "Love Story" (co-produced by Jermaine Dupri) - Anther ode to endless love ("This ain't no fairy tale or fiction / This is truly ours for eternity"), this ballad is more of the baby-making ilk. It's like Prince-lite with a synthesized beat a la "The Beautiful Ones", but not as effects-laden (i.e. the beat doesn't have the backwards sound). The melody is reminiscent of Mimi's "Joyride", and that should give you an indication of how sweet this track is.

10. "OOC" (co-produced by Swizz Beatz) - This one has a pummeling thump so pronounced, it's somewhat surprising that it's not the work of Stargate or Tricky. "OOC" stands for "out of control", and while the track isn't exactly wild, it's a fun mix of The-Dream's "Ditch That N..." with a melody like Blu Cantrell's "Hit 'Em Up Style". Besides the hypnotic refrain of "Forever and ever", the track is most notable for including the word motherf***er. As in, "I know y'all motherf***ers feel like we / When you're messin' with the one true lova / That makes you OOC." Hardcore!

11. "Bye Bye" (co-produced by Stargate) - When Mariah first started promoting Mimi, she described "We Belong Together" as a cross between "Breakdown" and "One Sweet Day". That description is infinitely more appropriate for "Bye Bye", a song about death that's "for my people who just lost somebody", "for my people who lost their grandmothers" and seemingly for Mariah's departed father, Alfred Roy ("You never got to see me back at No. 1"). It's nice that Mariah's on a confessional kick, although a track with the "We Belong Together" sonic template and lyrics tailored appeal to everyone on such a basic level seems like too easy of a combination for someone as established as Mimi. This one's like insurance - in case nothing else is a hit, here's a sure-shot. But ultimately, it turns out that the album is too good for that.

12. "I Wish You Well" (co-produced by James Poyser) - We were told that this was hot off the presses and a very rough version of the song, but even in its unpolished state, it was a stunner. A piano ballad that features Mariah, some gospel-tinged backing vocals, a piano and that's it, this track is a throwback to the fan-favorite "Vanishing" from her 1990 debut. Part feisty ("You can't manipulate me like before") and totally spiritual (Mariah name-checks a bible verse in the chorus, although I couldn't catch exactly what it was, and she ends the song repeating, "The Lord is my salvation / I will trust in him"), "I Wish You Well" will have fans wetting themselves. It's gorgeous and in its simplistic way, the type of risk that Mariah should take more often.

The risky moments on the album ("Lovin' You Long Time", "That Chick", "Side Effects" and "I Wish You Well") bode well for the future. Though E=MC² feels extremely safe, there's enough variation to signify some artistic growth. She's cranking out hits and that's fine because that's what she's always done (hitmaking is her medium), but when she goes out of the Top 40 comfort zone, the album truly soars. Over 10 years after she first sang about it, it's only now that Mariah has worked up the courage to really spread her wings. The next question is: how high can they take her?
(VH1 Blog)

Now that so many exciting things are happening in Mariah Carey's world, we are looking for people to join the Mariah Hero dot com team. The new member of our team only has to update this section three days a week. He or she should also be a frequent visitor and, most importantly, a HUGE Mariah Carey fan! If you think you are the one, do not hesitate and contact us with the following information!

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(Mariah Hero)

It's been almost two years since a Mariah Carey song debuted on the Hot 100, but the hiatus is over as "Touch My Body" (Island) opens at No. 57. It's the highest-debuting Carey single since "It's Like That" entered at No. 53 the week of Jan. 29, 2005 and it is the first Carey song to chart since "Say Somethin'" peaked at No. 79 in May 2006.

"Touch My Body" could turn into an historic recording for Carey. If the song reaches the No. 1 spot, it will be Carey's 18th chart-topper on the Hot 100 and it will push her past Elvis Presley's 17 No. 1s in the rock era -- which would make her second only to the Beatles, who have 20 No. 1s to their credit.

Extending that "what-if?" scenario a bit further... if "Touch My Body" achieves pole position and there are two other No. 1 songs on Carey's forthcoming "E=MC²" release, Carey will tie the Beatles for the most No. 1s in the rock era. It should be noted that Carey's most recent album, "The Emancipation of Mimi," contained two chart-topping tracks: "We Belong Together" and "Don't Forget About Us." If "E=MC²" equals "Mimi," Mariah will be one tantalizing No. 1 hit shy of the Beatles' record.
(Billboard's Chart Beat)

Mariah Carey's brand-new single "Touch My Body" debuts this week in the Billboard Hot 100 Chart.

Billboard Hot 100: #57 (New Entry)
Billboard Hot 100 Airplay: #23 (New Entry)
Billboard Pop 100 Airplay: #34 (New Entry)
Billboard Pop 100: #46 (New Entry)
Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs: #20 (Last Week #78)
Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay: #20 (New Entry)
(Billboard | Mariah Daily Journal)

Also this past week, the first single from Mariah Carey’s new album E=MC2, "Touch My Body," hit radio stations. The new single is a reflection of the R&B direction that Carey has taken as pop has gone more urban. "Body" is a single that I wanted to hate from my first listen but found more and more irresistible each time that I heard it.

This comes hand-in-hand with the catchy slow beat of the song, a rhythm that really hooks listeners from its beginning, building to a strong climax. The song almost oversteps its boundaries when Carey coos the ridiculous line, "I will hunt you down." But the lyrics represent true pop gold. They have an innate guilty-pleasure factor built in, and while they border on overly erotic, they beautifully walk the line. Still, the track, while sure to be a radio mega-smash, does not play to Carey’s strength; it contains mostly smaller vocals until her explosive ending in lieu of accentuating her powerhouse pipes throughout.
(The Heights | Mariah Connection)

"Touch My Body" is this week's Hot Shot Debut on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart at #57. This is Mariah's highest debut on the chart that is based on first week's airplay alone. In comparison, after their first week of airplay, "We Belong Together" debuted at #81 and "It's Like That" was #104 (#4 on the bubbling under Hot 100 chart).

On the Hot 100 Airplay chart, the song debuts at #23 this week and becomes Mariah's highest debut on the chart since 1997's "Honey" which debuted at the same position. "Touch My Body" also rockets up to #20 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, an incredible 58 spots jump from its last week's debut at #78.

An All Access banner from Island Def Jam announces "Touch My Body" at #23 on Billboard's Hot 100 Airplay (Greatest Gainer) as well as the fact it is the #1 most added record across all formats this week.
(Mariah Daily Journal)

Billboard.com writes: Mariah Carey makes a triumphant return to the charts with her new single "Touch My Body". After less than six days at radio it blasts onto a whopping four airplay charts. "Touch" storms CHR/Top 40 (No. 32), Rhythmic Top 40 (No. 26), Urban (No. 23) and Urban AC (No. 39). By debuting on the CHR/Top 40 chart, Carey takes the lead for most hits in the list's 15-year history: "Touch" is her 26th entry, breaking a tie with Madonna.

Mariah's magic "touch" doesn't end there... With just one day of airplay "Touch My Body" earned enough airplay to jump onto the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at No. 78. "Body" is Carey's 41st song to appear on this survey. Her run began almost 18 years ago with "Vision of Love", which became the first of her 10 R&B No. 1 hits to date. "Touch My Body" previews Carey's 15th album, "E=MC2", due April 15.
(Mariah Carey.com)

My favorite celebrity who ever existed, Mariah Carey, has unleashed her first single (the hilariously titled "Touch My Body") from her (equally hilariously titled) upcoming album E=MC², and it fits her like the tight jeans she (hilariously!) uses as imagery in the song. "Touch My Body" is as wonderfully ridiculous and ridiculously wonderful as Mariah herself (hear it here if you haven't yet). It's a pink, ruffled pillow of a track, snappy like T-Pain's "Buy You a Drank", mincing and minimal like co-writer The-Dream's own "Shawty Is Da Shit", and obsequiously polite, bouncing with the tempered oomph of her own "Always Be My Baby".

A lot of people hate this track (check the scathing reception at ONTD, for example), and that doesn't surprise me one bit. Besides being lite enough to fit easily onto adult-contemporary radio in a few months (once the country's acclimated to it - as is usually the case with AC radio, time makes the lite sound lite-r), it's more brazenly femme than anything off Mariah's wonderful (but overly safe) 2005 comeback smash, The Emancipation of Mimi. To love Mariah (like to really, really love her and not just appreciate her music) is to embrace the fact that she is the girliest visible woman on the planet. Excessive femininity, even via actual females, is regularly frowned upon, and yet in good times and bad, in multi-platinum success and utter floppage, Mariah has soldiered on, all music box-/butterfly-/rainbow-/glitter/charm bracelet/teddy bear-loving and pneumatic and high-voiced and eternally 12. She's so unwaveringly feminine that she makes being soft seem like an act of bravery.

That same seemingly paradoxical dynamic is going on lyrically in "Body" (though musically it's just plain soft, right down to the music-box twinkling that crops briefly up now and then, as though she can't stop stealing glimpses of that pretty little ballerina that guards her rings from Claire's). "If there's a camera up in here / Then it's gonna leave with me / When I do (I do)," she sings, effectively telling whomever she's singing to that she'll submit to his fantasy as long as he realizes that she's ultimately in control of it: she's never more sound like a Russ Meyer character come to life. Underlining that point are mentions in the chorus of her (considerable) curves, thighs that go on long enough to wrap around a dude's waist and interest in being wrestled and thrown around the bedroom. If that isn't the picture of a supervixen, I don't know what is. Even the title itself can be read as an assertion of her femininity. Instead of the more concise "Touch Me", she chooses to emphasize her anatomy, and considering how much of it her tits take up, that might as well be code for "Touch My Womanness". When she commands her object of lust, "Come on and give me what I deserve", I get the feeling that she's referring to her birthright.

"Touch My Body" is Mariah in (and busting out of) a nutshell. The estrogen-loading, the infatuation with detail (dig those glorious "Huh-oh" background vocals that coquettishly ricochet from speaker to speaker during the chorus), the eagerness to please (it's so listener-friendly, your mom could love it, even if the Wendy Williams reference is aimed to sail over her head). All of her is there, naked for the world. But of course it is - how else is she supposed to show off her body?
(Fourfour)

At age 37, it would seem that Mariah Carey might have to struggle to remain relevant in a pop music world that reveres youth in the form of a Chris Brown or Rihanna. On the contrary, Mariah Carey makes stardom look effortless and sexiness sound eternal. On her latest single she has delivered a simple, elegant performance that has already sent pop radio programmers scrambling to add "Touch My Body" to their playlists.

Terius "The-Dream" Nash, and Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, key members of the team that helped make "Umbrella" a smash, deliver songwriting and production with a sure-handed if light pop sensibility. Lryically, "Touch My Body" is overtly sexy without being dirty and clever in its warning to keep the song's tryst off YouTube. The gentle finger-snapping beat will send countless fans dancing in private reveries.

Mariah Carey has described her upcoming album E=MC2 as the dessert to The Emancipation of Mimi's main course. If "Touch My Body" is representative of what is to come, the chefs have hit the target just right with sweet, frothy sexiness that will titillate the palate while never feeling too heavy.
(About.com)

Mariah Carey, in a sexy silver dress, works the camera while on the Los Angeles set of her new music video "Touch My Body," directed by pal Brett Ratner and guest-starring 30 Rock funnyman Jack McBrayer.

Billboard reports: Mariah Carey's new single, "Touch My Body," debuts on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at No. 78, despite only garnering a few hours with of airplay in the chart tracking period. Her next album, "E=MC ?," arrives April 15. "Body" is Carey's 41st song to appear on this survey. Her run began almost 18 years ago with "Vision of Love," which became the first of her 10 R&B No. 1 hits to date.
(Mariah Carey.com)

Alicia Keys' long run at the top of the charts is about to be threatened. On Thursday I spent more than an hour at Island/DefJam Records previewing the new CDs from Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey. Each is highly anticipated, and with good reason. They're pretty damn good.

Carey's CD, "E=MC2", probably is the more anticipated if only because her prior release, "Emancipation of Mimi", was such a phenomenal success. Buoyed by several hits including "We Belong Together" and "Don't Forget About Us", "Emancipation" spent months on the charts and won a number of Grammys. It re-established Mariah as a superstar after her failed "Glitter" project and subsequent "Charmbracelet".

"E=MC2" (a play on the previous album's title) should have a pretty big impact when it hits the world on April 15. Already the single "Touch My Body", with its refrain, "I will hunt you down", has taken off on the radio. It doesn't hurt that it bears a resemblance to "We Belong Together". But the new single is catchy in its own right and has an independent hook designed to be addictive.

I heard eight other tracks on Thursday, but since the album isn't sequenced I can't tell you where they fall in order. In the order I enjoyed them came first "Bye, Bye", a powerful ballad that should be a single and probably will close the album. It's a natural singalong in concert, too, which could make it not only wildly popular but a possible Grammy contender next year. Look out.

The next most commercial number is "Thanks for Nothing", a witty and rueful tune with another great melody, courtesy of Jermaine Dupri and Carey. As on "Bye Bye", Carey's vocals are superb. Her infamous eight-octave range has suffered a little wear and tear over the years, but Carey still can flutter from great highs to mellow lows like no one else.

Some other highlights included "Cruise Control", featuring Damian Marley with a driving reggae subtext; "Migrate" with T-Pain, which should be a single and perhaps the album's kick-off track; "Last Kiss", with Dupri on vocals; a breathy disco dance hit called "I'm That Chick"; and out-and-out pop song "Loving You a Long Time", which samples DeBarge's "Stay with Me" and recalls the melodic riff of the "Hill Street Blues" theme music.

From track to track I kept thinking that Carey and her crew have put a lot of work into making "E=MC2" not just a hit, but a sustainable success. There's enough in the package that it will last as long as "Emancipation", spinning off singles, remixes and videos.
(Fox 411)

Mariah Carey is getting back in the game and this time, she's got hit making down to a formula. While there have been times that Mimi has taken to stylistic risks and changes in the past, industry sources say that she is sticking to what has brought her recent success. Ms Carey will be singing the soft sweet ballads that we all love her for. Knowing what works for her and having things down to a science, it only seems appropriate that her current album is titled E=MC2. Some of the other elements added to this equation are the facts that she is reportedly working with Damian Marley, and will have production handled by usual suspects, Jermaine Dupri and Rodney Jerkins.

While I do want to take into account what the press release says because they want to emphasize key facts to promote the project, I have to make clear how surprisingly impressed I am with the album's first single, "Touch My Body". After listening to it's eased in balance of intense sexuality and womanhood, I am reminded of the circumstantial honesty that the song presents for Ms Carey. In the song Mariah is able to capture the core emotional feeling that every woman I've known tends to have when it comes to their relationship and sexuality.

The song is lyrical soft core, discussing the joys of an evenly mixed blend of sexual desire, emotional self-esteem and security that any two people guy or girl would want. It is quite poetic, and a great example of how overt sexuality can be done in a classy way. No taboos here as far as I'm concerned. To prove it, listen to the lyrics and see how it makes you feel about that special someone. Hey media, see what happens when you lay off some one and allow them to get themselves together? It wasn't that long ago that the tabloids were calling her "Mariah Scary" as she broke down on TRL. After her emancipation, she's making quality music that empowers women and creates female inspired desire in the bedroom. How can you be mad at that? Happy Valentines Day!
(Clizbeats)

R&B diva Mariah Carey returns to the spotlight this spring with her newest release E=MC². SOHH caught up with the Grammy award-winning producers Bryan-Michael Cox and DJ Toomp - who collaborated with M.C. on the project - to get the details on the album that everyone is buzzing about.

E=MC² follows Mariah's hugely successful 2005 Grammy award-winning album, The Emancipation of Mimi, which sold over 10 million copies worldwide. While that success will be difficult to match, the album is already generating praise from mega-hitmaker Jermaine Dupri, who claims the quality of E=MC² surpasses Carey's last album, and the other producers she's worked with on the album.

"I'm telling you she's in a great space, man. It feels like it's going to be better than Emancipation," Bryan-Michael Cox told SOHH exclusively. "She has a lot of the same producers. Jermaine gave her some really incredible records. I came in and gave her some real dope records. She got some really really dope stuff."

DJ Toomp, who just took home a Grammy for his work on Kanye West's Graduation, agrees. "It's incredible," he says. "I've only heard snippets of a few songs but Jermaine Dupri, pulled me to the side and was like, 'Yo man, we bout to be here at the Grammys next year too.' He's like, 'You're on a classic album and you got a classic song.' So it feels good."

Along with JD, Cox and Toomp, will.i.am, Stargate, Nate "Danjahandz" Hills, James Poyser, C. "Tricky" Stewart and The-Dream also collaborated with MC on the project. Carey has already announced plans for a Brett Ratner-directed video for her first single, "Touch My Body", which was written and produced by Carey alongside Tricky Stewart and The-Dream. "Touch My Body" hit the radio earlier this week.

The project will be the 11th studio album for Carey, who has finally set a release date of April 15th for the set. E=MC² was executive produced by Mariah Carey and Island Def Jam Chairman, Antonio "LA" Reid.
(SOHH)

Hey, can we get a whoop-whoop out there for Albert Einstein? What about you nerds in the back? A little Albie love? No? Fine. We'll just turn to the person we always turn to when we need some mad science props: Mariah Carey. You see, girlfriend's got herself a new album coming out in April called E=MC2. Before you get too excited like we did, just know that there probably isn't anything to do with Einstein's Theory of Relativity on there.

We took a little listen to the first single, Touch My Body, so we can tell you there's probably nothing to do with anything on there. Okay, so maybe we haven't had a record number of hit songs for a bunch of years in a row like Mariah Carey did, and maybe our legs aren't insured for a billion dollars like Mariah Carey - the most we could get our legs insured for was about 50 bucks with a pop tart thrown in for the peg leg - but we still give ourselves full ridiculing rights when it comes to Mariah Carey.

And so, we commence with a review of her just released single, Touch My Body. Of course it sucks. It's not our style. We're not actually 13-year-old girls with little parental supervision smoking behind the school with our bare midriff muffin-topping over our Baby Phat brand jeans. It's left us wondering why we even bothered to listen in the first place. Oh, yeah. The whole ridiculing thing.

We've kind of always carried the suspicion that Mariah Carey just wanted millions of crazed fans to rub their grimy, pervy hands all over her, but now she's just come out and said it. And said it in a pretty studio canned way. See, the thing that was surprising about the song is the fact that Mariah Carey is a talented singer - we recognise the talent, loathe the presentation, alright? - and yet, her voice sounds like it's received the Ashlee Simpson studio treatment where the voice is altered beyond recognition in an effort to be somewhat bearable to the listener. Maybe the production people are just doing that to all of the singers these days. Could we crank up that effect a notch with James Blunt, please? Thank you.

Anyway, sometimes a song can be saved by the lyrics, sometimes by a catchy tune, and in this case, neither. Here's a sampling of our favorite set of lyrics.
They're so moving and deep:
If it's a camera up in here
Then its gonna leave with me when I do, I do
If it's a camera up in here
Then I best not catch this flick on youtube, youtube
Cause if you run your mouth and brag about this secret rendezvous
I will hunt you down
Cause they be all up in my business like a Wendy interview
But this private between you and I

Okay, everybody got that? Mariah Carey's just laid down the rules for lovin' her. Tape it? Yes. YouTube? No. And then let's go gets some Wendy's afterwards.
(Hecklerspray)

Somebody hit me with this as an explanation as to the title of Mariah's new CD, E=MC2. "Just to clarify your Mariah E=MC2 comment, it has nothing to do with Eminem. E stands for Emancipation (as in the title of her last album), MC is self explanatory and the 2 or squared simply means part 2. Emancipation of Mariah 2 but doesn't E=MC2 sound alot better." Ddot the King hit me with that.

Charlamagne from Wendy Williams said this: "Come on illseed! Mariah's album title is E for Emancipation, the MC for Mariah Carey and the 2 represents the Sequel - Emancipation Part 2." LMAO. I didn't really think that the E meant Eminem, but it's more interesting that way. Sorry Mimi.
(AllHipHop)

Mariah's new album, E=MC2, is set to be one of the year's biggest, this introductory single is downright subtle - yet effective. Co-written by The-Dream and produced by Tricky (a.k.a. the dudes behind "Umbrella"), "Touch My Body" rides the same never ending snap blueprint T-Pain used to brilliant effect on last year's feather-light super hit "Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin')".

You won't mind hearing it on the radio and TV every 10 minutes for the next few months - this thing sooths as it repeats. Here, Mariah is focused on one thing: "Come on and give me what I deserve and touch my body," she coos. And make no mistake, she wants to be touched on her terms only: "Cause if you run your mouth and brag about this secret rendezvous, I will hunt you down."

She even thinks about the possible ramifications of her touchy tryst when she sings, "If there's a camera up in here then I best not catch this flick on YouTube" (nevermind the fact that the video in question would never get past YouTube censors). A pop genius making genius pop. (Blender)

With only 6 hours (approximately) of airplay on Tuesday, February 12, "Touch My Body" recorded an incredible total of 498 spins (Pop - 218, Rhythmic - 180, Urban - 89, Urban A/C - 9, Hot A/C - 2) that account for a total of 7.009 million audience impressions.

In comparison, after one day of airplay, "It's Like That" had 44 spins and a total audience impressions of 1.491 million (January 4, 2005). A cumulative amount of 545 spins was reached by "It's Like That" after four days of airplay.

As for "Don't Forget About Us", after its first week of airplay (ending October 2, 2005), the song has registered 7.705M audience impressions via 356 spins.
(Mariah Daily Journal)

Pop star Mariah Carey unveiled today her new single and the science-friendly title of her new album, "E=MC²," due April 15. The title alone already does Janet Jackson one better. The latter went all sci-fi with her latest video, "Feedback," but Mariah is cutting out the B-movie trappings and going straight to the equation.

So is Mariah unveiling her inner Albert Einstein with the title? Or is she leaking the formula that goes into crafting a mega-hit?

E = extreme, acrobatic-like wailing.

M = multimillion-dollar production team. (Billboard.com writes that the A-list lineup cooking with Mariah in the M lab includes Jermaine Dupri, will.i.am, Stargate and Bryan Michael Cox, among others.)

C2 = Club songs multiplied by colossal ballads.

All right, so the title is certainly a not-so-subtle nod to her top-selling 2005 album, "The Emancipation of Mimi." The first single, "Touch My Body," hit radio today. It was produced by C "Tricky" Stewart and The Dream, the pair who worked on Rihanna's Grammy-winning "Umbrella."

So how is it? "Touch My Body" rides a relatively restrained slow-dance groove, with some light, orchestral-synth flourishes thrown in. The rhythm is almost completely carried by an effortless keyboard bump, the easygoing repetitiveness of which eventually wears the listener down, and sets up a delicate frame for Carey to sing around.

She pulls back when the song picks up the pace, and Carey keeps it simple here, playing with tempos rather than range. Indeed, she almost quietly slides into the chorus. "If you run around and brag about this secret rendezvous, I will hunt you down," she sings, letting the last line trail off. But you don't necessarily believe her, as the feel is more playful that sinful.

The song will be getting the full blockbuster treatment, as "Rush Hour" director Brett Ratner shot the video for the cut.
(Los Angeles Times)

Mariah Carey is again banking on a mid-April release date for an album, in this case "E=MC2" which will be released on tax day. It's the same week she released her "Emancipation of Mimi", the album that made the world forget about her breakdowns, "Glitter" and divorces (from Tommy Mottola, Columbia Records and EMI).

Sure "Mimi" topped 5 million in sales in the U.S. and she returned to playing arenas, but it was also three years ago. The RIAA was not even two years into filing lawsuits against music fans with computers. Mariah is a breed apart and she looks like one of the industry's few superstars capable of still posting significant sales numbers. But will she feel the pinch in a manner similar to other star acts?

Carey sold 404,000 copies of "Mimi" in its first week after its April 12, 2005 release, which one would think is not the best day to make an album available. A year later, the majors even avoided the April 15 week. Last year, RCA mailed their returns and issued Avril Lavigne's "The Best Damn Thing", getting a return of 286,000 sold. That was only 75% of the 381,000 that her previous album, "Under My Skin", sold in its debut session.

The question becomes: Can Mariah do what few other artists can do, post similar or better sales marks with the follow up a multi-million seller? Kanye West and Carrie Underwood are about the only recent additions to that list.

Not that we know anything about math, but it seemed like a good exercise to create an over/under just like the oddsmakers in Vegas. Initial inclination is to set the number at 303,000 - 75% of the sales of her last disc - but that seems a little low, especially considering the way she has handled herself over the last couple of years.

As a bonus, it looks like she won't have much competition among new releases; right now, she is only up against week two of Leona Lewis's debut. "Mimi" probably set a mark that can't be topped but she could come close if the first single "Touch My Body" does well at radio and online. (It was released Tuesday.) If "Touch" shoots into the top 10 and lingers there, I would put the line at 365,000. If the single stalls, that o/u will drop to 320K or so.

By the way, what's with the title? "E=MC²"? Not to be catty, but perhaps she should realize Einstein had to live 50 years after devising the theory of relativity, never coming close to topping it. "Butterfly", anyone? And considering the title of the first single, "Touch My Body", it's surprising she didn't call the album "C5H11ONO."
(Variety)

Those wondering how Mariah Carey could possibly top the inane title of 2005's The Emancipation of Mimi need wonder no more. Yesterday it was announced that the singer's 10th album, which drops on Tax Day, will be titled Energy Equals Mass Times the Velocity of Light Squared, or more specifically, E=MC². It's either a stroke of sheer self-effacing brilliance or a sign that Mimi has officially fallen off her rocker. The album's lead single, "Touch My Body," isn't exactly filled with combustible energy and it lacks the full-throttle belting that accompanied the Return of the Voice three years ago, but it features all of the characteristics one expects from a latter-day Mariah track: rapid-fire verses (she slows down only to warn her clandestine lover about his loose lips: "I will hunt you down"), coquettish vocals (the lyrics are racy without being raunchy, so that means no mentions of heavy-flow days, but there is a reference to a sex tape popping up on YouTube), and of course, a memorable hook.

There are shades of both "Always Be My Baby" (good) and "Shake It Off" (bad), but "Touch My Body" also harks back to, dare I even say it, Like a Virgin-era Nile Rodgers. Think "Angel"--that is, not a whole lot of bass but plenty of plinky, synthetic-sounding keyboards and bouncy rhythms. The song's biggest flaw is its attempt at hip, pop-culture-referencing lyrics: "They be all up in my business like a Wendy [Williams] interview," she sighs. "Touch My Body" strikes me more as good album filler than lead single material (it's no "Fantasy" or "Honey"; hell, it's not even another "It's Like That"), but it's worth noting that I found "We Belong Together" a little boring the first time I heard it too--and that thing tanked faster than Glitter.
(Slant Magazine)

Hey, check out the Mariah Carey world premiere of "Touch My Body," the first single of the new album right here, courtesy of z100. Click on the banner below:

Performer and songwriter Mariah Carey has set April 15th as the in-store date for the most eagerly anticipated album of the year, E=MC². The 11th studio album of her career, E=MC² is the follow-up to The Emancipation Of Mimi, Mariah's worldwide 10 million selling #1 album, which generated three Grammy awards (including Best Contemporary R&B Album), 2 #1 singles and countless more industry honors during its 18-month stay on the charts.

The first single from E=MC² is "Touch My Body", written and produced by Mariah Carey, C. "Tricky" Stewart, and The-Dream, hit radio stations worldwide on February 12th. The video for "Touch My Body" was directed by feature filmmaker Brett Ratner, and internet, cable and network premieres for the video will be announced in the weeks ahead.

In addition to C. "Tricky" Stewart and The-Dream, other guest producers joining Mariah on E=MC² will include Jermaine Dupri, DJ Toomp, Stargate, Will I Am, Bryan Michael Cox, Nate "Danjahandz" Hills and James Poyser. E=MC² is executive produced by Mariah Carey and Antonio "LA" Reid, Chairman, Island Def Jam Music Group.

The Emancipation Of Mimi, released April 12, 2005, was an industry phenomenon for the mega-platinum award-winning superstar - Soundscan's biggest-selling album of the year, bringing total sales of Mariah's albums, singles and videos to more than 160 million worldwide, making her the most successful female recording artist in history. Mariah is now positioned as the only active recording artist in the 48 years of the Hot 100 (which began in 1958) with the potential to surpass the Beatles' all-time high of 20 #1 hits.

Stay tuned for more exciting Mariah album news, and more music!
(MariahCarey.com)

Mariah was in Los Angeles this weekend to shoot the video for her much anticipated single "Touch My Body." The video was directed by feature filmmaker Brett Ratner ,who previously directed Mariah's "I Still Believe," "Heartbreaker," "Thank God I Found You," "It's Like That" and "We Belong Together" videos. "Touch My Body" co-stars actor Jack McBrayer, known for his role as Kenneth on NBC's 30 Rock.

In addition to celebrating his recent Grammy win, Atlanta producer DJ Toomp is excited about a coveted spot he recently landed on Mariah Carey’s upcoming album E=MC². Toomp, who was nominated for two Grammy’s for his production work on Kanye West’s "Good Life" featuring T-Pain and "Can’t Tell Me Nothing," ultimately took home a Grammy for Best Rap Song for "Good Life."

"I felt like I won when I was nominated, but to actually win feels even better," Toomp said.

Carey is banking on the DJ Toomp produced track "Lovin’ You Longtime" to produce similar results for her highly anticipated 11th studio album E=MC², which was reportedly titled That Chick. "Having a record on a Mariah Carey album is huge as a producer and especially for me since this is one of the first songs I’ve placed on an R&B album," DJ Toomp told AllHipHop.com. "It’s definitely an honor."

E=MC² is the follow up to Carey’s album The Emancipation of Mimi, which sold over 10 million copies worldwide.

In addition to work on Carey’s’ album, DJ Toomp, who produced Glasses Malone’s current single "Certified" featuring Akon, is also working on new albums coming from T.I., Ludacris and Nas.

In related news, the first single from Carey’s album will be "Touch My Body," which was written and produced by Carey, Tricky and The Dream. The video will be directed by veteran Brett Ratner, the eye behind movies like Rush Hour, Rush Hour 2 and Hip-Hop videos for rappers like LL Cool J, Sean “Diddy“ Combs and The Wu Tang Clan.

“Mariah is musically at the top of her game and has never looked better,” Ratner assured AllHipHop.com. “This will be our 5th music video we have collaborated on and definitely the best one yet visually, as well as musically. The video [for “Touch My Body”] is the perfect combination of fantasy and comedy with Mariah looking more beautiful than she has ever looked, ever.”

Mariah Carey’s E=MC² is due in stores on April 15.
(AllHipHop)

Mariah Carey is still That Girl, but her album won’t be titled that anymore. The singer said in a statement Tuesday (February 12) that her upcoming album, will now be called E=MC2 instead of the previously announced That Girl. The forthcoming 11th studio album, the follow-up to her critic-approved The Emancipation of Mimi, is due April 15 on Island Def Jam.

The album’s first single, "Touch My Body," which she wrote and produced with Tricky Stewart and The-Dream (the duo behind Rihanna’s "Umbrella"), is set to hit radio Tuesday. The video for "Touch My Body" will be directed by longtime collaborator Brett Ratner, who helmed prior Carey clips such as "We Belong Together," "Heartbreaker" and "I Still Believe."

When Carey appeared on "TRL" in October, she offered a few hints regarding her album. She was promoting her fragrance, M by Mariah Carey, and said that creating the perfume and working on her album influenced each other.

"I’ve been working on this record while I’m working on the fragrance," she said. "I wanted [the fragrance] to be sensual. ... It’s really been like writing a song. ... This was almost the same creative process."

Carey also mentioned in October that she "just had a really, really hot session with somebody in Miami." She didn’t name names, but producers Cool & Dre told MTV News about various sessions they had with the singer.

"With Mariah, one of her favorite records is `New York’ [by Ja Rule], and she asked us to do a record like that," Dre said. "It was like, we got an opportunity to work with Mariah, and she wants us to do something we already did. But we said, `You know what? You don’t get too many opportunities to work with a Mariah Carey.’ And to know you have her ear, you got to impress. So me and Cool decided not to do `New York.’ We wanted to show her we could do big pop records too. We turned it in, and her A&R came back and asked us to go gutter instead. So we made the hardest beat ever in history. We had a bunch of rappers trying to steal the beat, and they couldn’t believe we made the beat for her. Jadakiss, Busta Rhymes, all saying they couldn’t believe we were giving it to her. And then, she ended up taking the first record anyway."

Other artists scheduled to contribute to E=MC2 include Jermaine Dupri; DJ Toomp (Kanye West, T.I.); Stargate (Ne-Yo, Trey Songz); Will.I.Am; Bryan-Michael Cox (Usher, Mary J. Blige); Danjahandz (Justin Timberlake); and Philadelphia soulster James Poyser (Erykah Badu).
(MTV News)

">How does an artist follow-up one of their biggest selling albums that included two number one singles when most had written the artist off as a causality of being relevant or not? If you’re Mariah Carey, you keep it simple, and that’s one thing MC has done with her debut single from her forthcoming album, E=MC². “Touch My Body” (co-written and produced with Tricky Stewart and The-Dream) is the perfect lead track to re-ignite her most passionate fan base, who’ve kept her relevant through good times and bad… times are pretty good for Mariah nowadays!

His mid-tempo track is pure fun, sounding at times reminiscent of another Carey gem, “Always Be My Baby,” but yet different enough to sound like something totally fresh and new. Mariah’s vocal range is also kept in check and fits the song to perfection. The hypnotic “Touch My Body…My Body” hook is sure to stick after one-listen. While the thought of Mariah Carey exceeding expectations remains a question, simply because the bar she’s set is so high, matching them is a good way to start. This “body” of work sounds like a hit! BET ON IT!
(FMQB)