The Re-Introduction of Mimi: The Story of Mariah Carey's We Belong Together

There was no artist bigger than Mariah Carey in the 1990s. She was the Artist of the Decade, according to Billboard, the ​​World Music Awards’ Female Artist of the Millennium, and the owner of 15 number one singles in the ‘90s alone. And that doesn’t even include “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” arguably her biggest song ever. That song didn’t become a #1 hit until 25 years after its release. And it has continued to top the Billboard Hot 100 every year since.

On the surface, Mariah was on top of the world, but as the new millennium struck, Mariah was going through some changes, both privately and professionally.

After years of trying she was finally exiting her tumultuous marriage to record executive Tommy Mottola. Despite filing for a separation in 1997, it wasn’t until the end of 2000 that Mariah was granted her divorce. At the same time she was leaving a bad situation with her label Columbia, where her husband was the Chairman and CEO.

As she was gearing up for the release of Glitter, her feature film debut, Mariah reportedly suffered a physical and emotional breakdown. 

Glitter’s theatrical release was delayed three weeks as a result, but it didn’t really matter - nothing could have saved the film from the savage critics, who called it “heroically bad” and “infinitely mockable.” 

Glitter became one of the decade’s biggest box office flops, winning Mariah Worst Actress at the Golden Raspberry Awards, aka the Razzies. The film’s failure didn’t help Glitter’s soundtrack either. Her first release for new label Virgin, Glitter was neither a hit with fans or critics. One writer called it an "utter meltdown -- the pop equivalent of Chernobyl." 

Mariah’s official follow up to Glitter came out in December 2002. Charmbracelet was her opportunity to make a fresh start, a “new lease on life,” she called it. Unfortunately, Charmbracelet didn’t exactly get things back on track for Mariah. While the album was one of her highest debuts on the Billboard Albums chart, sales dropped off quickly.

Then at the beginning of 2004, famed music executive L.A. Reid left his job at Arista to become the new chairman and CEO of The Island Def Jam Music Group. This would prove to be a pivotal moment for both Reid, who was forced out of Arista following the merger of Sony and BMG, and Mariah, who was in need of some career rehabilitation. 

Reid had just orchestrated a career makeover for Usher, who was riding atop the Billboard Hot 100 with his hit “Yeah!” - With that song, Usher had become the biggest artist on the planet, and Reid was looking to do the same for Mariah. 

The first step was to set her up with the right producer. Enter Jermaine Dupri, Usher’s longtime mentor who co-wrote and produced Mariah’s 1996 #1 hit “Always Be My Baby.” More collaborations followed and Mariah was hooking up with the Neptunes, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, and more.

In November 2004, Mariah presented an album’s worth of songs to L.A. Reid, but Reid felt she needed a few more bangers. Mariah went back to Atlanta to work with Jermaine Dupri again and guess what? They created some magic. In just two days they came up with two songs that would end up being her album’s first two singles: “It’s Like That” and “We Belong Together.”

This is the True story of Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together" with newly unearthed audio from Mariah Carey.

Also contains audio from Genius' Interview with Mariah, Released November 16, 2018.