Mom & 'Mimi'

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Mariah Carey's "The Emancipation of Mimi," I reflect on my mother's love for the album and our contrasting musical perspectives.

When Mariah Carey dropped The Emancipation of Mimi 20 years ago today, my Mom was in love. It was so cute to watch Mom, Donna Allen, gravitate to an artist, a song, or an album. Growing up, she was strict and no-nonsense, which is necessary when raising six children. So, I enjoyed seeing my mom get excited when music clicked with her. She would loosen up and show me that there was more to her than just being, well, my Mom.

On the opening song, “It’s Like That” with Fatman Scoop (RIP), Mom would do this little dance she always does when the beat hit her just right; she clench up her shoulders tight, raise on the balls of her feet, bend her back down ever so slightly, and do a little two step. I’d always smile and chuckle to myself every time I’d see her do this.

Mom LOVED The Emancipation of Mimi. By the time the album dropped, I’d moved to Brooklyn, having graduated from college nearly a year before. So, whenever I came back to Syracuse to visit, she would have a new favorite song from Mimi. It got to the point when I would straight up ask her, “Mom, what’s your favorite song on Mimi now?” Her eyes would light up, and she’d laugh before she’d bright up, “Get Your Number” or “Shake It Off.”

My appreciation for Mimi didn’t really blossom until years after the fact. I was fully aware of the big singles - “It’s Like That,” “We Belong Together,” “Say Something,” and “Fly Like a Bird” - but I never really took the time to listen to the album front to back with full attention because I was too busy listening to my new obsessions: Miles Davis and John Coltrane!

It’s not unusual for a mother and her son to have different musical tastes. So, to say that my Mom and I didn’t listen to the same kind of music most of the time seems typical. However, in our case, the generation gap went in reverse. I was listening to old music, and she liked the new stuff.

I was born in 1982. My formative years were a great time for music. As a family, we all connected with Michael Jackson, Evelyn “Champagne” King, Cherelle and Alexander O’Neal, Bobby Brown, Al B. Sure, Levert, and Babyface. I was also listening to Hip-Hop. I gravitated to Public Enemy, Heavy D and The Boyz, and Special Ed. Somewhere down the line, I put myself into a bubble of exclusively listening to The Jackson family only. But then, I was introduced to the Soul and Funk of the 1960s and 1970s. I shut all contemporary music out of my life and became obsessed with looking up albums by Earth, Wind and Fire, Stevie Wonder, The Isley Brothers, etc.

During the time I was becoming a Motown and Funk historian, Mom was listening to Dr. Dre’s The Chronic and 2Pac. Back in the 1990s, we had cassettes and CDs, and that’s how we listened to singles. Mom had the maxi-single of 2Pac’s “How Do You Want It” featuring K-Ci and JoJo. Unlike a 45 or a cassette single, which had two songs, maxi-singles had up to four songs. “How Do You Want It” included “California Love,” “2 of Americaz Most Wanted” and the vile “Hit ‘Em Up.” Mom ran that CD into the ground, often using it as her work-up soundtrack. “2 of Americaz Most Wanted” was her FAVORITE. She loved rapping 2Pac’s opening line, “Picture perfect, I paint a perfect picture, pop my hoochies with precision, my attention’s to get with cha.”

While Mom’s dancing and vibing to Death Row’s greatest hits, I’m digging in heavy into Stevie Wonder’s classic 1970s albums. Fulfillingness’ First Finale and Songs in the Key of Life were life-changing for me. Once I got Innervisions, I knew Stevie was the GOAT. Mom and I clashed a little on it, though. She experienced Stevie Wonder’s music in real time, and she told me that that era of “Superstition,” “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” “Higher Ground,” and such, was overplayed for her. Mom preferred Stevie’s 1960s material, like “I Was Made to Love Her” and “You Met Your Match.”

Mom was dumbfounded by how much I connected with older music. When she’d get in the mood to listen to Marvin Gaye or The Ohio Players, it would puzzle her when I knew all of the songs. When Mom heard me singing all the words to “Contradiction” or mimicking all the background vocals on “I Want You,” she’d cry out, “Where are you from!” She and Dad still indulged my need to listen to old music, buying me old Jackson 5 albums and Earth, Wind and Fire CDs, but I’m sure mom dreaded the day that I would run a song from her adolescence into the ground like it was a new joint on Power 105.1 FM.

In hindsight, I realize that my parents were in their 30s in the 1990s. I saw them as old people back then, but now, as a 42-year-old father to a 13-year-old, I get it. They were young adults who liked contemporary music, just like me, eventually. So, I started playing catch-up with albums and artists who were hot when I was a teen or a 20-something. Thanks to my mom, I went back to Mimi. I couldn’t believe how much I loved the album. I knew Mariah’s music - she was pretty ubiquitous when I was a teen, even as I was purposely avoided new music. Like Mom, I’d have a new favorite song each week.

My routine for listening to albums was to skip the singles. Mimi was chocked full of incredible, classic-level material. “Stay The Night” was excellent, thanks to how Kanye West flipped this sample of Ramsey Lewis’ “Betcha By Golly, Wow.” “I Wish You Knew” and “Circles” were the songs I thought should’ve been the singles. But THE song on Mimi to me is “Mine Again,” co-written by James Poyser. Hell, that should’ve been the opening track, to me. It reminded me of those amazing ballads from the 1980s that I loved from The Jets, Lisa Lisa, and Keith Sweat.

Every time I listen to Mimi, I think of my mom, with tight shoulders, swaying back and forth with a wide smile, singing along. I’ll blast “Mine Again,” “Joy Ride,” and “Fly Like a Bird” a little louder today in your honor. Not just because she loves Mimi, but because she taught me that every parent is more than a parent. Love you, Mom. See you soon!

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