I had to go get what I wanted, and I wanted freedom. I needed not just freedom from mymarriage to Tommy, but freedom from Sony, as they were inextricably linked.
The executives at Sony used to call me “the Franchise1” (crazy, right?), so when I wasready to get off the label, they made it difficult for me. We went back and forth2 with thelawyers about what obligations I would be expected to fulfill3. We agreed to an unnamedstudio album (which would eventually become Rainbow).
They wanted a greatest- hits album too. I was resistant4 to this because it felt sopremature, as if they were trying to sew me up with the nineties.
No matter who I was talking to at the label, Tommy was still in control. There was noone above him at Sony Music—everything had to go through him. When I began to haveconversations about getting off the label, I was blocked at every turn. Tommy had avendetta against me, and he used his power to hold me hostage. When things still weren’tmoving along, I felt I had no more options, so I decided5 it was time to pay a visit to NorioOhga, the president and chairman of Sony Corporation. I had never done anything likethis. Tommy was the biggest boss I’d ever faced until then. Going above his head seemedlike a wild, dangerous idea and was certainly a last resort. But I had no choice: this wasmy freedom, my career, my life.
I knew I was the most successful artist in Japan that Sony had at the time, so I figured Icould at least get a sit-down. My executive assistant made the travel arrangements for thetwo of us—nobody else, not even my lawyer.
I called ahead and said, “I’m going to be in Japan. I’d like to come see Mr. Ohga.”
Meanwhile, the people at Sony were probably busy working on the next big globaltechnology or whatever. At the time, I wasn’t thinking that what they made from themusic business was small potatoes compared to everything else. All I was thinking wasthat there had to be someone above Tommy. There had to be some way out, and I waswilling to do anything. So, I decided to pack my bags, fly to the other side of the world,and talk face-to-face with the man who was really running things.
Mr. Ohga’s assistant was a woman who was very kind to me and helped methroughout the trip. We remained friendly for years after. Mr. Ohga spoke6 English, butthere was always an interpreter present. I had been to Japan several times and wassomewhat familiar with their cultural norms, particularly with regard to showing respectand never losing face. What was more difficult to navigate7 were the cultural expectationsaround gender8. Mr. Ohga was very old school, and I’m sure being confronted by a youngwoman was startling to him, even if that young woman was the best-selling artist on hislabel. And honestly, I don’t even think he knew that I was mixed race, so he didn’t know ayoung Black woman was coming to his headquarters, petitioning for her freedom. It was aballsy move, but I had the numbers to back me up. Back then it wasn’t about streamingnumbers. Sales were physical objects, things that people had to go out and buy — ahundred million albums, DVDs, CDs, VHS tapes! They bought products and posters.
After all, I was “the Franchise.” To this day I still don’t know how much money I madefor Sony. I’ve been told it’s billions.
Like the man himself, Mr. Ohga’s office was serious and elegant, dimly lit with alarge, traditional black lacquered table as its centerpiece. Mr. Ohga was formal and laserfocused. I wasn’t quite prepared for the extent of his formality, honestly. I hadn’tconsulted with a prep team or advisers9. So there was no preparation, but I did have a clearpurpose. My intention for the meeting was for us to decide on an exit strategy. We wouldneed to figure out the terms of a deal, and I wanted to make sure there would be marketingsupport from Sony for the work I would deliver. Despite how badly I wanted to get off ofSony, I knew my fans deserved the highest-quality music I could make, and I would givethem nothing less. I wanted Sony to know that I would work hard and promote tirelessly. Iwanted to be seen and heard; I wanted them to know that I was here, I was payingattention, I was serious, and I was willing to speak up for myself.
I had to be sure that if I fulfilled my end of the bargain with these new albums, theywouldn’t cheat me by failing to support them. If I was going to put my heart and soul intothis work, I needed to have their word that they would throw everything they had behind itas they used to do. It was a brief meeting that would have long-lasting impact.
Tommy himself had once gone straight to the Japanese executives to oust11 WalterYetnikoff, a former mentor12 turned rival. These powerful men were not only well versed13 inthese kinds of cutthroat business dealings, they were encouraged to stand up forthemselves. Though I wasn’t a male artist and I had no parental14 support or lawyer in theroom, I was stronger now, and I wasn’t going to let myself be played ever again.
I may have had big boss energy, but I was also deeply saddened by the whole process.
I wanted to stay on at Sony, but I didn’t know how to move forward in the midst of mymarriage to its CEO coming to an end. Deep down I was hoping they’d just fire him so Icould stay. It wasn’t the first time he had caused problems—there was a lawsuit15 withGeorge Michael, and Michael Jackson eventually launched a campaign againstexploitation of Black artists, explicitly16 aimed at Tommy, with Reverend Al Sharpton at theNational Action Network’s Harlem headquarters.
Mr. Ohga may not have agreed to fire Tommy the very next day, but when I went toJapan, people took notice. They were now listening. My music had made an impact in thatculture, in that country, and in that company. Going to Japan was a stretch for me, but itchanged my life. I took a stand, by myself and for myself. I had made it happen, and soonI would be free.
Though I expected to have more time and a more in-depth meeting, ultimately I wasgrateful Mr. Ohga respected me enough to take that meeting and make a deal with me; it’swhy years later I was able to return to the company with Caution, which interestinglyenough is my most critically acclaimed17 album. When I got back home to deal with thepowers that be in America, we arrived at a final deal that included four albums to bedelivered over the next five years: #1’s, Rainbow, Greatest Hits, and The Remixes. #1’s,which I had conceptualized and proposed to Columbia, would be the first to come out, in1998.
I was reluctant to rerelease old music, so in addition to the thirteen number-one hits I’dhad by then, I added four brand-new tracks to the album. Brian McKnight and I recorded atotally new duet version of “Whenever You Call,” from Butterfly. I also did a duet withJermaine, a cover of Rainy Davis’s “Sweetheart.” I did a cover of “I Still Believe.” Last,but certainly not least, #1’s included my duet with Whitney Houston from The Prince ofEgypt, “When You Believe.”
The recording18 of that song was interesting. Jeffrey Katzenberg, from DreamWorks,brought me the song and asked if I would consider recording it for the soundtrack for ananimated film. The soundtrack was heavily laden20 with R & B and gospel influences andfeatured K-Ci & JoJo and Boyz II Men. After I saw the movie, I knew it was somethingspecial that I wanted to be a part of (it went on to gross $218 million worldwide, making itthe most successful non-Disney animated19 feature of the time). But most of all I wasexcited by the prospect21 of working with Whitney!
It was a major pop-culture moment that Whitney and I were collaborating22, but I waspersonally so happy we did because we ended up having a wonderful time together.
Everybody wanted to pit us against each other in some “battle of the divas”—a tired butpervasive pathology in music and Hollywood that makes women compete for sales likeemotional UFC fighters. This narrative23 just supports the stereotype24 of all women beingpetty and not in control of our feelings, yet totally controllable by the boys in the industry.
Obviously, Whitney was formidable. Who wasn’t inspired by her career, who she wasas an artist and as an anointed vocalist?! But we were very different. I loved (and stilllove) layering the background vocals26, writing, producing, and doing behind-the-scenesstuff like that. She was kind of born into it, like a royal singing princess. To us, it neverfelt like a competition. We complemented27 each other. We both had our hearts anchored inthe Lord, and that was real, even though so much of what was happening around us wassurreal. After the initial iciness (built up by outside forces) wore off, we developed a realfondness for each other. She had a marvelous sense of humor. She started using my wordsand calling me “lamb”—it was just pure fun.
Bobby Brown was around, and I don’t know what else was going on, but that wasn’tmy business. I just know we had fun and laughed a lot. Doing the video was great fun too;we had many incredible moments together. Every day we spent together was special, andI’ll always cherish the memory of that time and of all that she left behind. “When YouBelieve” stands as a testimony28 to the power of faith and, to me, sisterhood here on earth asit is in heaven.
Rainbow was released the following year and was a very different endeavor than #1’s,which was a compilation29 album. It was much more involved. For obvious reasons, therewas a huge push to get it done, so I wrote and recorded Rainbow in three months. I wasdesperate to work without distraction30. My longtime friend Randy Jackson suggested Icheck out a very cool and secluded31 recording studio in Capri (which I love more than anyplace on Earth). In this paradise tucked in ancient limestone32 mountains towering out of theGulf of Naples, I had a lovely little studio apartment that was flooded with sunlight andprivacy every morning. I’d sit in a room in the studio filled with candles and creativity andhunker down for hours, just writing and laying down tracks. I wrote by myself andoccasionally with the incomparable Terry Lewis, whom I love as a writer, while theJimmy Jam added his brilliant musicianship. (Together they are responsible for forty-oneUS top-ten hits.) Without them, the album would not have come together so smoothly33.
The three of us worked together all the way through “Can’t Take That Away (Mariah’sTheme),” which I brought to Diane Warren, who plucked it out on the piano as I sang thelyrics and melody to the first verse. We wrote the second verse together. That song wasactually about the professional and personal situation I was going through:
They can say anything they want to say
Try to bring me down, but I will not allow
Anyone to succeed hanging clouds over me
And they can try hard to make me feel
That I don’t matter at all
But I refuse to falter35 in what I believe
Or lose faith in my dreams
’Cause there’s
There’s a light in me
That shines brightly
They can try
But they can’t take that away from me
—“Can’t Take That Away (Mariah’s Theme)”
Since I was a child, I had often had to turn to the “light in me / That shines brightly”
just to get through, just to survive. So that was a song about many things, but when I wroteit, I was thinking about all that was going on at the time, about Tommy and the manyyears I had spent under his control. That was my theme—“They can try / But they can’ttake that away from me / From me, no, no, no.”
The video (which I produced and paid for), while not the slickest in terms of tricks andproduction values, was a real change. We shot it in Japan. At the time, it was uncommonto incorporate real fans and user-generated content into videos. It was important for me tocenter my fans and express how they felt about the songs I was writing about my life forthem. We collected a bunch of materials: footage of everyday people, real people who hadovercome the odds36 to accomplish extraordinary things. The video also included superstarchampions like Venus and Serena Williams, but mainly people in my life who I careddeeply about, like my nephew Shawn, who, despite being the child of a troubled teenagemother, went on to graduate from Harvard Law, and Da Brat37’s grandmother. It showedtriumphant moments, emotional moments—and it was real and raw. I wanted to utilize38 thetheme of my core belief that all things are possible. I wanted the video to be a tribute to allthe fans who helped me get through everything.
The song didn’t do anything on the charts because the label barely promoted it—andthis marked the beginning of their sabotage39 campaign. But it mattered for the fans. Itmattered for the people who needed to hear it. And it matters for me. To this day, I stilllisten to it every once in a while. I still need it.
Another important song on Rainbow was “Petals.” It was, and still is, a painful piece forme. It’s about my life, my family, my growth. It was both a thank-you and a farewell tothe toxic40 influences in my life.
I’ve often wondered if there’s ever been a perfect familyI’ve always longed for undividedness and sought stability—“Petals”
In a way, “Petals” told part of my life story through snapshots of the formativerelationships that touched and changed me. With that song, I wanted to offer forgivenessand to imagine another possible life in the future—one with less hurt and more healing. SoI wrote the song to release some of the pain. But there are still times when the hurt chokesme and I cannot sing the song.
Rainbow had two number ones—“Heartbreaker” (my fourteenth, featuring Jay-Z) and“Thank God I Found You” (my fifteenth, collaborating with Joe and 98 Degrees, and withNas on the remix). It was important to me to pull together the artists I felt were definingthe time, and Usher41, Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, Da Brat, Missy Elliott, Mystikal, and Master Pwere also part of the album.
After working at Jimmy and Terry’s Minneapolis studio, I returned to New York to do“Heartbreaker” with DJ Clue. Jay-Z jumped on that track, and it became the hit we allknow and love. We did the “Heartbreaker” remix between New York and Los Angeles. DJClue brought in all kinds of cool artists, like Joe and Nas on “Thank God I Found You(Make It Last Remix).” Rainbow closed out the twentieth century and, for me, was thebridge to freedom. But as they say, freedom ain’t free.
Recording the album was a whirlwind, but it was fulfilling as well. By then I had a realsense of my rhythm and specific preferences for how I would craft a song. I would oftencreate different parts of a song in different places. I really love the process of writing in acollaborative way, but doing my vocals is a more intimate process for me. While writing Ilike to do a scratch (first draft) vocal25, sometimes without lyrics34 or with partial lyrics, andthen take that basic track, complete the lyrics, finish the vocals, perfect it, and layer inbackground vocals. I like to do the lead when no one else is there, just me and myengineer. If I could do my own engineering, I would record like Prince and be completelyalone. I prefer not having to consider other people’s opinions in the development ofvocals. I like a calm space where I can get to work and focus; I need to be able to hear mythoughts and see the vision in my head. I need to be able to play with the song, tweak it,and I definitely need a chance to sing it through a couple of times. Where does it feelnatural to go up? Where doesn’t it? Making records is kind of a spiritual science comparedto a live vocal performance. I’m at my best when I can take my time and really live with arecord.
We put out the Greatest Hits album for Columbia in 2001. It was a double album,which included the commercially successful hits and some personal and fan favorites like“Underneath the Stars” and my duet with the truly legendary42 Luther Vandross, a remakeof “Endless Love.” My last album for Columbia, which would mark the end of myobligation to Sony, was The Remixes. By the time it came out, in 2003, Tommy hadstepped down from Columbia/Sony, so I had more creative input43 into the album and wasmore invested.
The concept of the compilation was unique: It was a double album like Greatest Hits,only the first disc was all the club mixes, and the second was all the hip-hop collaborationsand remixes, from “Honey” to “Loverboy (Remix)” to “Breakdown,” featuring BoneThugs-N-Harmony. It even included the So So Def remix of “All I Want for Christmas”
with Lil’ Bow Wow (he was still lil’ then) and my hit song with Busta Rhymes andFlipmode Squad44, “I Know What You Want.”
But before these final two albums, I sealed the new deal on my freedom. After meetingwith all the major record labels, I settled on the more eclectic Virgin45 Records, which wasvery artist friendly (they had Lenny Kravitz and Janet Jackson). I believed if I had enoughmoney and marketing10 support, we would have success. With a fresh, historic record deal, Iwas about to embark46 on the project that changed my life—Glitter.
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1
franchise
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| n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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fulfill
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| vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意 | |
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resistant
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| adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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navigate
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| v.航行，飞行；导航，领航 | |
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gender
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| n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性 | |
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advisers
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| 顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授 | |
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marketing
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| n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西 | |
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oust
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| vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐 | |
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mentor
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| n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导 | |
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versed
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| adj. 精通，熟练 | |
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parental
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| adj.父母的；父的；母的 | |
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lawsuit
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| n.诉讼，控诉 | |
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explicitly
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| ad.明确地，显然地 | |
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acclaimed
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| adj.受人欢迎的 | |
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recording
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| n.录音，记录 | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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laden
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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collaborating
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| 合作( collaborate的现在分词 )； 勾结叛国 | |
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narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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stereotype
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| n.固定的形象，陈规，老套，旧框框 | |
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vocal
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| adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目 | |
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vocals
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| （乐曲中的）歌唱部份，声乐部份( vocal的名词复数 ) | |
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complemented
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| 有补助物的，有余格的 | |
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testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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compilation
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| n.编译，编辑 | |
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distraction
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| n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐 | |
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secluded
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| adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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limestone
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| n.石灰石 | |
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smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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lyrics
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| n.歌词 | |
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falter
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| vi.(嗓音)颤抖，结巴地说；犹豫；蹒跚 | |
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odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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brat
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| n.孩子；顽童 | |
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utilize
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| vt.使用，利用 | |
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sabotage
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| n.怠工，破坏活动，破坏；v.从事破坏活动，妨害，破坏 | |
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toxic
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| adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的 | |
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usher
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| n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员 | |
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legendary
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| adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学） | |
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input
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| n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机 | |
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squad
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| n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组 | |
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virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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embark
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| vi.乘船，着手，从事，上飞机 | |
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