1. In 2009 Loft965.com billed you as one of the artists to keep an eye out for in 2010. How was your year been so far?

Its been a great year. VERY busy. First of all I released “Memoirs”, my debut album. Also I have been touring the UK and Europe and have played at some amazing festivals. Oh and yes, forgot to mention, I got to play at the same festivals as Stevie Wonder, Grace Jones, Herbie Hancock!!!!

2. Memoirs is your Debut album. How much time and effort did it take for you to complete it?

Memoirs took a lot of time and efforts for me, I am ultimately very proud of it though so all the hard work paid out. Also it was such a great experience and I am so happy to have had the chance to work and collaborate with many brilliant artists.

3. We know your influences include Joni Mitchell, Sade, Alanis Morissette, Mary J. Blige and Lauryn Hill, but who would your dream collaboration be with?

How about ALL THE ABOVE!

4. “My Baby Left Me” and “I Don’t Believe” are some of our favourite tracks of the year. When will the next single drop and which track will it be?

Thanks! My next single will be Rocksteady and will be released in September. I am looking forward to it. Its the most “Reggae” track out of the whole album and one which emphasizes my Jamaican Roots.

5. Here at Loft965.com we love us some quotes. What’s your favourite quote or proverb?

“If you don’t want anyone to know, don’t do it!”

More on Rox:

• Official website
• ROX at MySpace
• ROX on Facebook
• ROX on Twitter

Click here to head to another blog which will forward you to yet another blog for the mere purposes of investigating the wretched leak!

One of this year’s favorites, Rox, is already on her third single from the  album Memoirs (not Of An Imperfect Angel). The new video and sound is nothing different from “My Baby Left Me.” But, something tells me she is better on slow numbers.

Muchly-hyped new British singer Rox has called her album Memoirs (no relation to Mariah). We are still reeling off the new track “My Baby Left Me,” so our anticipation for the album has heightened. She is touted by many to be the next British soul star. Let’s hope for the best.

This is mariah’s third single and we would not have chosen it to be one, but any sexy video from Mariah rolling around on a beach is a treat and a half. The video is short and it cuts out the fun licks in the song, but it must be the last one from the non-remix album, or maybe there’s some room for “Angels Cry,” which she named the tour after. The video is directed by Brett Ratner and it’s really not that spectacular. But, we’ll take it. All you need is a wind machine!

Trey Songz has just prematurely revealed what LA Reid and Mariah Carey have been keeping from us: There’s another album in the pipeline. When Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel came out we were surprised that there were no “featuring” artists on it. She’s has another artists to collaborate with on every album since her Christmas album back in 1994. So, now we know why. The Timbaland and Jermaine Durpi tracks will be joined by a myriad of remixed tracks from the album itself. Trey Songs has just been commissioned to re-do “Inseparable.”  Let’s see what’s next.

Oh, this is a very good day for us. Just before we decided to leave, we found out that Mariah’s album Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel has leaked in it’s entirety, in full quality.  Yes, the day is here. It’s nice out, too. The album’s supposed to land next week. Mariah releases rarely leak. But, I guess someone got a hold of it.  We pre-ordered many copies of it (it’s a ritual we do every time this happens) but we are still happy to get it.

PURCHASE ONLINE
CD Format
Best Buy $9.99
Amazon $9.99 (International fans can purchase here!)
Target $12.98
F.Y.E. $12.99
Walmart $14.88

Digital Download
Amazon $5.99
Zune $12.50
iTunes $12.99

Imperfections are in the eye of the beholder. You can see them as flaws, or as the very qualities that make us human — and that make us strive to be better people in search of a perfection that we know we can never fully achieve. In the thirteen songs on her spellbinding new album, Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel, Mariah Carey explores those aspects of our shared humanity with a rare depth, honesty and open-heartedness. It’s one of the strongest statements in her long, distinguished career.

The subject of Memoirs is love at all its stages in our lives. Experiencing it for the first time. Losing it. Remembering its most painful moments, and also its times of greatest innocence and joy. Yearning for it. Learning from it. Growing as a result of its profound power. Finding it again and being grateful for so great a gift. And, finally, being humbled, filled with wonder and elevated by love’s mysterious ways. In that sense and more, Memoirs is a full, immensely satisfying journey.

“Each song is like an intimate conversation or entry in a private diary,” Carey says about the album. “A lot of the songs reflect specific, different times in my life. Others were inspired by movies, actual events that happened to me, or the stories of friends who told me about experiences that they’ve gone through.” With just one exception, Carey wrote and produced the entire album in collaboration with The-Dream and Tricky Stewart. The trio clearly shared an inspired sense of what Memoirs should be. Sinuous grooves and instantly memorable melodies flow from track to track, while the wit and intimacy of the lyrics create the feel of one friend talking to another. As well-defined as each song is, Memoirs plays with the beauty and consistency of a classic, start-to-finish album.

“My main goal was to work with people I could collaborate with without it seeming redundant or stale,” Carey says. “In my opinion Tricky is one of the most underrated major producers out there right now. I really enjoyed collaborating with him. And I especially liked writing with The-Dream, basically because we both love having fun with lyrics and melodies, and we’re also capable of getting more serious on deeper songs. There is a particular sense of freedom I feel when we write together — even though I make him stay in the studio all night until he is ready to kill me! LOL!”

Memoirs’ first single is the hard-hitting “Obsessed,” which is accompanied by a video directed by Brett Ratner (the Rush Hour trilogy) in which Carey plays both the glamorous star and her stalker fan. Like the video, the song’s lyrics combine devastating putdowns (“Last man on the Earth still couldn’t get this”) with humor (“See right through you like you’re bathin’ in Windex”). The no-nonsense “Up Out My Face” captures a similar caustic mood, dismissing a former lover with the send-off, “When I break, I break, boy.” “It’s a Wrap” delivers a similar message about the end of an affair: “When it’s gone, it’s gone.” “Standing O,” with its irresistible chorus, sardonically applauds a faithless ex for his signature achievement: “You played the one that loved you the most.” “Betcha Gon’ Know” foresees karmic revenge for a wayward lover, but, once again, the clever lyrics (“Oprah Winfrey whole segment for real, for real / 20/20 Barbara Walters for real, for real”) encourage a smile amid the pain.

The ballad “H.A.T.E.U.,” meanwhile, finds the singer seeing life in the wake of a breakup and longing for the moment when loss and regret transform into a cleansing anger. But the title of the song doesn’t necessarily stand for what you think it might. “H.A.T.E.U. is the first song I wrote for the album,” Carey says, “and it stands for Having A Typical Emotional Upset.”

Always a brilliant technical singer with an extraordinary vocal range, Carey rises to new heights on that track. “I sing a recurring melody in the upper register of my voice; it’s not an ad-lib, but an integral part of the song’s hook,” she says. “That’s not something I’ve done before, and when listening back to it, it reminded me of how Minnie Riperton used her upper register on her hit song `Lovin’ You.’ I thought how ironic that her song was called `Lovin’ You’ and my song is called, ‘H.A.T.E.U.’ – and both use that upper `whistle register’ as a major part of the melody. So it’s sort of an homage to Minnie Riperton, a tribute to her since she has been so influential in my singing style.”

On a tender note, the wistful “Candy Bling” beautifully evokes the blissful realm of young love (“Anklets, name plates that you gave to me/Sweet tarts, ring pops had that candy bling/And you were my world”), while “Inseparable” aches for a love that went wrong for reasons that seem impossible to comprehend. “More Than Just Friends” floats off into a fantasy of what a casual relationship might become (“Permanently paint me in your picture like Picasso/Love me down till I hit the top of my soprano!”). “Ribbon” and “The Impossible” swoon with happiness and thankfulness over redemptive love that has returned to make life rich again. “You did the impossible,” Carey sings. “You rescued my love.”

Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel ends with a spectacularly powerful gospel rendition of Foreigner’s gorgeous ballad, “I Want to Know What Love Is.” Carey’s voice soars into the heavens as a soul-stirring choir makes it clear that the search for love is the closest that any human being ever gets to the divine.
Which brings us back to the angel of the album’s title. “I had written a song called ‘Imperfect,’” Carey says, “but it didn’t make it onto the album. The lyrics of that song address the fact that the world puts so much pressure on us — especially on women — to be perfect and look a certain way, and that is impossible because nobody is perfect. Only God is perfect. I know I’ve tried to be a good person, but I am definitely no angel!”

“But after I put this album together and decided to name it Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel,” she concludes, “I remembered that the Minnie Riperton album that contained ‘Lovin’ You’ was called Perfect Angel. So I felt in so many ways that it was meant to be.”

Mariah Carey has pushed back her album to make room for a second single and now she is going head-to-head with Madonna. Mariah had to postpone Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel to ready up a ballad single and to avoid messing up Whitney Houston’s comeback. Meanwhile, Madonna fans are quick to point out that “Obsessed”  was a flop because it peaked at #11 and didn’t break the top 10 completely omitting the fact that Madonna last three singles didn’t even break the top 50. “Celebration” is currently sitting pretty at glorious and successful #71. Madonna wishes she has an “Obsessed” position. You know she loves commercial success no matter how much she compromises her musical integrity.

That being said, Mariah will most probably beat Madonna to the top spot. I am not saying that because I am a lamb, but because of hard facts. Firstly, Mariah is releasing a full-length album, Madonna is releasing another one of her greatest hits packages. Second, Mariah will have two singles on radio when the album comes out and Madge only has one single that is having fun dancing around the club charts only. Thirdly, Mariah can show her arms on the cover of her album, Madonna can’t (if she wants to shift copies). Finally, nobody wants to listen to “Vogue,” “Like A Virgin” or “Material Girl” anymore.

I am so glad Mariah moved it to that date. I bet Madonna is squirming in her yoga class right about now.

Still, Madonna fans, don’t cry! You have the UK charts to look forward to. That’ll make you happy. Now watch how many queens will get so antsy about this post…

To make up for the fact that she postponed Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel 2 times now, Mariah and her camp have decided to release a box set of all her Island Records albums. From the underrated Charmbracelet,  to the comeback hit The Emancipation Of Mimi, to her latest E=MC2. This would give the fans her entire musical efforts singe Glitter. The package will come  with a nice price tags for all the recessionistas out there and probably a booklet of sorts.

Wow, the recession’s in full force right now that even the biggest of artists are feeling it. Mariah Carey’s next album Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel will be a different release than what we usually expect from the diva. It is going to come with a CD booklet-sized Elle magazine that comes with the first million pressings in the US and first half million pressings worldwide. Yes, it’s going to include the magazine with advertisements and an intimate interview with MC. It’s no longer product placement when it comes to album or videos, it’s full-on advertising. So far, Angel Champagne and the Bahamas Board Of Tourism bought some of the space and L.A. Reid is looking for more by announcing this.

The booklet will be inside the CD case. The package will also include another CD with 2 videos and some remixes. I’m not sure that Mariah should be the first artist to go along with this experiment especially that she has to tread carefully with this album as “Obsessed” has lost its airplay time. Also, I am worried about how the critics will handle this. But, in any case, critics have never been nice to MC and it didn’t stop her from being the best selling female artist of all time.

Next up, rolling credits on music videos. Oh, wait, we have that here.

I would usually have a whole essay on this, but I don’t feel like it with the whole MJ thing.

Another Mariah post, but when it rains it pours. There’s just so much news about Mariah what with the new album and tour and now acting career. Mariah is planning on taking the West End of London sometime soon. She’s getting paid a not so hefty price for it – $15,000, which is bad for a singer that gets a million for a concert date. But, this will be a good ground for her to start upon. With her movies Tennessee and Precious coming out soon. Her world tour and her album Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel. I know I am heading to LHR for it.

Now that “Obsessed” made the airwaves with a sleeve in tact and the album got an early release date of August 25, 2009, many people are speculating about the album cover. The photoshoot that took place for obsessed doesn’t look like album material. In any case, Mariah rarely uses the same photoshoot for her first single as her album. It only happened until “Fantasy” in the Daydream era. Of course, the lagune font will be there even if she didn’t use it on E=MC², which was was “extension” or “dessert” of The Emancipation Of Me. So the similar pose and the armpit galore is going to disappear. Also, I don’t think it’s likely that the album will have a black  background because that would just be overdoing it. The cover should come out July. By the time, the Eminen diss is climbing the chart in its pursuit for #1. It would be her 19th. I’m so excited for Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel.

PURCHASE ONLINE
CD Format
Best Buy $9.99
Amazon $9.99 (International fans can purchase here!)
Target $12.98
F.Y.E. $12.99
Walmart $14.88

Digital Download
Amazon $5.99
Zune $12.50
iTunes $12.99

I just listened to Mariah’s “Obsessed” on the first radio station to debut it – Chicago B96. It’s in the same vain as “Touch My Body,” except it is lower tempo and has fiercer lyrics. It will impact radio just fine and should sell. The release of the album has been pushed to the earlier date of 25th August. This is almost the first time a Mariah album gets this treatment. Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel seems like it is ready to go and they must be confident about it. Listen to it by licking below:

Listen. Listen. Listen.

Highlights:

• The song is definitely about Eminem.
• It’s weaker than “Clown,” lyrically, but still effective
• “I’m a press conference and you are a conversation”
• Mariah melisma in the background
• “You finally met a girl that you can’t impress”
• The chorus
• The song is hot, now that I think about it

It’s amazing what a little tweet can do. Mariah Carey just announced, to many people’s amazement, that the first single off of her upcoming album Memoirs Of An Imperfect Princess is called “Obsessed” and will be released this tuesday. This is how the tweet went:

“The 1st single from my new album “Memoirs of an imperfect angel” is called “Obsessed” and will be at radio next tuesday. I’m a lil’ excited!”

The album was slated for a late September release, but that was tentative and almost every Mariah album has been pushed back before. So, to have the single hit radio (and the blogosphere inevitably) this early was somewhat of a surprise. Who knows? Maybe she is trying to give Whitney Houston a break and not release the album at the same time or maybe she is just so happy with the product that it is ready for a release. Sudden releases are good because they make a bigger impact.

This has 19th #1 single written all over it. She is saying she loves it and all the people on the album are very hot off the trends. The album is a sure-fire #1, but the question is how many singles will go to the top spot. The debut single is usually the most likely to get there. This also makes Mariah eligible for the next award season. A Grammy or two maybe? 

The album is set to include this single, “Hate U” and maybe the track she penned for her critically acclaimed movie Precious. It’s called “100 Percent.”  Also, it is rumored that Mariah had done a cover version of Foriegner’s epic ballad “I Want To Now What Love Is.” Carey’s no stranger to this as she has turned some big-hair rock anthems into big vocal ballads like Journey’s “Open Arms” and Def Leppard’s “Bringin’ On The Heartbreak.”

This is what The-Dream, one of the many talents on the album and the mastermind behind “Touch My Body,” had to say about the album: “I think it’s about just writing an album that includes the focus of all the hits that she’s had. She can’t take a loss; she has to do everything to the T. So it’s basically like we’re trying to make a greatest hits album without using the greatest hits.”

For Mariah to rush an album release means something. She is very excited about the project and, even as the fans didn’t anticipate a new album until 2010, the twitterati are all mega happy about the announcement:

“Seriously, this is one of my favorite songs ever. I love the whole album. I’m completely immersed in it. I can’t wait for you to hear it. LY”

I frankly cannot wait for it and look forward to centering my next compilation around the single. I hope it gets to be a big hit by the time this summer’s over. And i hope she doesn’t release a lackluster single like “Bye Bye” to kill the #1 buzz. She won’t. She’s Mariah.

The album finally got a release date from Arista Records officials. It’s slated for a September 1, 2009 release. No word on the title yet, but the one that has been floating around is Undefeated. But, wikipedia is now reporting that it will be called The Wait Is Over. The latter is a bit boring. The first single is called “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength” and that sounds just like the perseverance ditty that she needs. It’s weird that it’s also coming out around the same time as Mariah Carey’s Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel. Can’t wait!