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Mariah Carey was not respected in the 90s?

GeneLana1234

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I’ve been listening to her music for the past few weeks and I like her music especially her daydream 1995 but I read that apparently she was snubbed at the Grammys because she was the wife of the ceo head Tommy mottola who wasn’t liked by many and obviously this was seen as a great advantage over other artists

Also some thought her image was fake and therefore inauthentic. So critics were not kind to her? Is this true or is it revisionist history

Unrelated but I like glitter and the original version of lover boy is great smh why didn’t she release it instead of getting another sample she should have told ppl that the mob guy was harassing her and trying to ruin her career
 

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Iloveyoutoo

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I loved Glitter as well. I never understood why people gave her such a hard time about it. I saw an interview she did somewhere saying that Jlo released "I'm real" (I think that's the song Jlo & Tommy Mottola stole the sample for) in a rush before she could release Loverboy. She was worried that it sounded too similar and that people would say she copied Jlo. When in reality, her ex husband was sabotaging her career.

I feel like Mariah definitely does not get the respect she deserves today. However, I believe she is legendary. Even though she has her "diva" antics, we never know what's going on behind closed doors. Mariah has always acted like that since the 90s and I dont understand why people are SO bothered by it. She still makes amazing music and sounds better than alot of artist out today imo.

The Grammy's has snubbed her multiple times... I don't take the
Grammys seriously Prince has seven and MJ has13 and it doesn't get any better than that musically.
 

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Mariah is an icon. She wrote a Christmas jingle that is a part of American culture and used all over the world. In the 90's she was more so a xes symbol and yeah, they don't get a lot of respect. It wasn't well known that she wrote her own music. And her sexiness distracted people. When she got overwhelmed the media called her "crazy" which is what they do to most women, similar to what they did to Britney. But she pulled through and kept making hits. Her work speaks for itself and it will last long after she's gone. She has the respect she deserves now.
 

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I feel like she was sometimes not respected because of the whole "sleeping with the boss" thing. She also was a suspected "studio singer" who had to prove she actually had vocal ability. What bothers me the most is people don't acknowledge her as one of the greatest songwriters.
 

YUNGJUDAH

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It was what it was I really wasn't feeling mimi until One Sweet Day came out. Early on she came off as a whitewashed version of Whitney and her live performances were shaky but she eventually won everyone over.
 

DivaLasVegas82

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She was obviously a respected vocalist, but I do think people in the industry thought she somehow had her career handed to her because she married to the CEO of her label.
 

DivaLasVegas82

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I feel like she was sometimes not respected because of the whole "sleeping with the boss" thing. She also was a suspected "studio singer" who had to prove she actually had vocal ability. What bothers me the most is people don't acknowledge her as one of the greatest songwriters.
People thought she was a studio singer because of her initial reluctance to tour. She struggled with stage fright early in her career.
 

sppa125

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Personally, I like Mariah. But I do remember a issue with some music critics was that she did too many vocal runs to the point her songs lost melody. I remember reading one article that talked about her being someone who puts "showing off the voice" ahead of the song/melody and the songwriting. Personally, I don't know that I 100% agree that she always does this, but maybe that's why some don't acknowledge her as a songwriter as much, or that her vocal prowess tends to outshine it? I don't know.

It actually reminds me of another critic who said something similar about Whitney's version of "I Will Always Love You," not that it was bad at all, but he said when you listen to Whitney's version your more blown away by the power of the voice, where as you listen to Dolly's more stripped down version, you pay more attention to the songwriting and lyrics.

As for the whole record label thing, I remember Diana Ross had similar issues. They said she never won a grammy because many felt she got to where she was because of who she married and there was resentment amongst her peers.
 

Complexe

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She was acclaimed for her voice, but not respected as an artist. Quite similar to Madonna (bitchy diva behaviour).
Maybe it was her persona. If we compare her to Celine Dion or Whitney Houston she always had this mean and not humble attitude. She’s not an underrated artist clearly but many people were praising these women more instead of Mariah, i think it’s something with her personal life more than her music.
 

Scorpio Jawn

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Mariah is an icon. She wrote a Christmas jingle that is a part of American culture and used all over the world. In the 90's she was more so a xes symbol and yeah, they don't get a lot of respect. It wasn't well known that she wrote her own music. And her sexiness distracted people. When she got overwhelmed the media called her "crazy" which is what they do to most women, similar to what they did to Britney. But she pulled through and kept making hits. Her work speaks for itself and it will last long after she's gone. She has the respect she deserves now.
For the majority of the decade she had a modest image. It wasn't until the last 3 years of the 90s that she became more sexier.
 

Juny.B.Jones

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The Grammy's has snubbed her multiple times... I don't take the
Grammys seriously Prince has seven and MJ has13 and it doesn't get any better than that musically.
The Grammys had less categories back then. Many artist now have so many because there are more chances to win
 

Juny.B.Jones

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She got backlash for being married to Tommy. Also pop artist didn’t get critical acclaim like they do now even if the work was good. They got knocked for being mainstream and commercial.
 
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It's crazy how her albums back then didn't really score well with critics... Rolling Stone even gave an album like Emotions two stars!! But critics back then favored more alternative rock music... It wouldn't have been seen as "cool" to support a mainstream pop artist. Personal ego can be a factor too - reviewers have a reputation to hold, especially back then. They're waaaaaaay nicer today.

It's unfortunate the Tommy situation overshadowed her talent too, because how many artists commercially release album after album year after year (writing and producing those records as well). In the 90s, Mariah really did the work in one decade most artists do in two, if not longer lol. I think, to an extent, she knew she had to work even HARDER to compensate for marrying him. She never rests on her laurels.
 
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Rere84

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People thought she was a studio singer because of her initial reluctance to tour. She struggled with stage fright early in her career.

In terms of her live performances, I think people have the unrealistic expectation that everyone should be a dance/give choreography, they do that to her and others
 
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hm, i was a kid in the 90s and from my angle she was absolutely at the top.
maybe not by music critics but when it came to popular/music culture few made a bigger impact than her in that era.

fantasy was my first "favorite song". she was also my first crush lol
 

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For the majority of the decade she had a modest image. It wasn't until the last 3 years of the 90s that she became more sexier.

Yeah, I was a baby for most of Mariah's conservative years. I only remember sparkly dress, boobies out, Glitter, fighting herself in the bathroom Mariah. To me that's the best Mariah of all.

Glitter forever
 

sppa125

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It's crazy how her albums back then didn't really score well with critics... Rolling Stone even gave an album like Emotions two stars!! But critics back then favored more alternative rock music... It wouldn't have been seen as "cool" to support a mainstream pop artist. Personal ego can be a factor too - reviewers have a reputation to hold, especially back then. They're waaaaaaay nicer today.

It's unfortunate the Tommy situation overshadowed her talent too, because how many artists commercially release album after album year after year (writing and producing those records as well). In the 90s, Mariah really did the work in one decade most artists do in two, if not longer lol. I think, to an extent, she knew she had to work even HARDER to compensate for marrying him. She never rests on her laurels.
That's another thing to consider. Rock music by white men for white men got more accolades cause it was what appealed to white men who made up the industry. Not necessarily always cause it was any better. (not to put it down, because there was some great stuff, but some stuff was hailed better than it was and gems were overlooked cause they were not white man rock music.) Women in general seem to be not taken seriously as song writers and musicians in the industry.
 

imjustbait

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the grammy snub in the 90s was unfortunate but people forget the competition was fierce back then! same for whitney! y’all forget the people who was dominating back then too. although I do feel like politics played a role in it aswelll
 

lilangel420

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In terms of her live performances, I think people have the unrealistic expectation that everyone should be a dance/give choreography, they do that to her and others
It's not just the non-dancing. It was the lipsyncing/playback mess that caused people to not respect her as a live artist. I remember reading about a concert reviewer comparing her to Britney Spears. A tad dramatic, but watching some of Mariah's old concerts, It's hard to disagree.
 

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It's not just the non-dancing. It was the lipsyncing/playback mess that caused people to not respect her as a live artist. I remember reading about a concert reviewer comparing her to Britney Spears. A tad dramatic, but watching some of Mariah's old concerts, It's hard to disagree.
That was like 1999 and 2000. We're talking about the early and mid '90s, when there was no lip-synching tomfoolery.
 

sandrajane

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She was obviously a respected vocalist, but I do think people in the industry thought she somehow had her career handed to her because she married to the CEO of her label.
The industry backlash started the second they started dating and before Mariah's debut album came out. George Michael, Cheryl Pepsii Riley and Cyndi Lauper have all made similiar comments on the preferential treatment Mariah was receiving from the label over artists who have already had success. That 1991 NY Times article on this very subject was quite eye opening.
 

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She lived in Whitney's shadow for the longest, plus everything else people are talking about regarding TM and her live performances.
 

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She lived in Whitney's shadow for the longest, plus everything else people are talking about regarding TM and her live performances.
Maybe for the first few years of her career but she definitely respected in her own right and was very much her own artist by the mid 90s. Obviously the rumors of them being rivals didn't help
 

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The Grammys had less categories back then. Many artist now have so many because there are more chances to win
Actually, that's not true.

There used to be over 100 categories, now there are like 80 or so.

Artists used to win gender specific Grammys, ex. Best Male & Female R&B, Pop, and Country Vocal Performance. Now, men and women compete head to head in these categories (since 2012).

The problem back then was The Grammys were EXTREMELY COMPETITIVE thus making it difficult for artists like Mariah to win. For AOTY she lost to Quincy in 1991, Alanis in 1996, and U2 in 2006. If she was nominated today, she would win easily.

I agree with everyone else that Mariah wasn't respected in the '90's because she was sleeping with her boss and the negative perception that came with it (easy road to success).
 

anonimuswan

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The Grammys had less categories back then. Many artist now have so many because there are more chances to win
Actually, that's not true.

There used to be over 100 categories, now there are like 80 or so.

Artists used to win gender specific Grammys, ex. Best Male & Female R&B, Pop, and Country Vocal Performance. Now, men and women compete head to head in these categories (since 2012).

The problem back then was The Grammys w EXTREMELY COMPETITIVE thus making it difficult for artists like Mariah to win. For AOTY she lost to Quincy in 1991, Alanis in 1996, and U2 in 2006. If she was nominated today, she would win easily.

I agree with everyone else that Mariah wasn't respected in the '90's because she was sleeping with her boss and the negative perception that came with it (easy road to success).
 

Juny.B.Jones

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Actually, that's not true.

There used to be over 100 categories, now there are like 80 or so.

Artists used to win gender specific Grammys, ex. Best Male & Female R&B, Pop, and Country Vocal Performance. Now, men and women compete head to head in these categories (since 2012).

The problem back then was The Grammys w EXTREMELY COMPETITIVE thus making it difficult for artists like Mariah to win. For AOTY she lost to Quincy in 1991, Alanis in 1996, and U2 in 2006. If she was nominated today, she would win easily.

I agree with everyone else that Mariah wasn't respected in the '90's because she was sleeping with her boss and the negative perception that came with it (easy road to success).
It is true. All Those categories didn’t exist until the 00s. They just recently got rid of many of them.
That’s why artist of MCs era and before don’t have tons of Grammys.
 

anonimuswan

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It is true. All Those categories didn’t exist until the 00s. They just recently got rid of many of them.
That’s why artist of MCs era and before don’t have tons of Grammys.
It isn't true.

Again, there were more categories during the height of Mariah's career than there are now. The Grammy categories were gender specific. They aren't now. It was more competitive back then. It's easier to win now. That's why Beyonce has all those Grammys (despite her mediocre music).

You can look it up on Wikipedia under Grammy categories if you don't believe me. There are less categories now. There is also less competition.
 

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She started lipping regularly in '98, the earliest was one instance in '97 on Oprah.
I remember that Oprah performance. I didn't get why she lip synced the Butterfly song on her show, yet sang it live on SNL and David Letterman (I think). Maybe it was for vocal rest?

By the way, you definitely know Mariah! You're right that she didn't start with the lip syncing/pre recorded vocals until the late '90's. I think she overworked her vocals in the early years causing vocal decline by the late '90's to present.
 

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I remember that Oprah performance. I didn't get why she lip synced the Butterfly song on her show, yet sang it live on SNL and David Letterman (I think). Maybe it was for vocal rest?

By the way, you definitely know Mariah! You're right that she didn't start with the lip syncing/pre recorded vocals until the late '90's. I think she overworked her vocals in the early years causing vocal decline by the late '90's to present.
That was her first performance for the whole "Butterfly" promotion cycle, so maybe her voice was metaphorically cold and she was too tired from having finished recording the album. She sang live on David Letterman and SNL a couple of months later like you said, so I don't think pre-recorded vocals had yet become a crutch at that point in time.

I think so too, particularly during late '96 she started showing some fatigue. Overworking herself is a big factor, but I think that her style of "whisper register" (as she calls it) on top of her increasing alcohol use, must have dried out her vocal cords and contributed to that audible decline in tone quality (being hydrated and well-rested is hugely important for singers). But that's my informed opinion/estimate, she could've had some other problem as well.
 

Breepo

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It is true. All Those categories didn’t exist until the 00s. They just recently got rid of many of them.
That’s why artist of MCs era and before don’t have tons of Grammys.
Ehh, I'm checking the Wikipedia page here (not the most reliable source, I know) and from what I can tell the Grammys have mostly simplified and shortened their list of awards and honors as time has passed. I think it's probably the changing standards in how the Academy reviews and chooses their nominees that have affected how their wins and snubs come out the most, not the amount of options for their artists.
 

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Mariah puts real work in her music, with an exceptional voice and songwriting talent.

Therefore kids WILL respect her, look up to her and learn from her:


That kid grows up to be Ariana Grande and blows up doing freakin Emotions, the song from a "2-star" album.



Matter of fact, Michael Jackson wrote and sang the heck out of Dirty Diana and the song got slammed by critics when it released.

Yet the kids loved it to bits. Those kids grow up to be:

The Weeknd


Bruno Mars


Linkin Park



Music critics never raised artists. No current artists will say they learned a thing from reading Rolling Stone. They learned everything from listening to legends like Mariah and Michael.

FACT.
 

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