Mariah Carey’s “Me I am Mariah” got the best reviews for the singer in about ten years. But sales have not immediately translated. Carey came in at number 3 this week with around 56,000 copies sold. That’s over 100,000 less than her last studio release did in its debut week.
Also known as “The Elusive Chanteuse,” the album is suffering more from a marketing problem than anything else. While all the tracks are strong and there are plenty of possible singles, the release may have been hampered.
For one thing, the album was due a year ago. Then Carey announced it would be released on May 6th. As that date approached, and it was clear there was no album, there was also silence. Then the singer announced May 27th.
There’s little a record company can do when chaos ensues. A more planned attack would have given DefJam 90 days to set the record up, place songs in movies or commercials, work a real single at radio. Carey had already had two singles early on. “#Beautiful” and “You’re Mine (Eternal)” were not big hits. Given time, DefJam could have worked “You Don’t Know What to Do” or “Thirsty” a few weeks ahead of the album. But it didn’t work out that way.
Now it’s a matter of radio catching up to those two new tracks. No one is better at entertaining radio stations than Mariah. She has charm to spare. “Me I am Mariah” is not over, by a long shot. But it’s going to take some old fashioned elbow grease to get it moving.
Who’d ever a-thunk it? Mariah as the Underdog. I’m rooting for her.
