Mariah Carey's landmark album Butterfly recently turned 25. The album is certified five

times platinum and includes singles like Honey and My Personal Favorite Breakdown. So we

thought it would be a good time to revisit our conversation about the one and only Mariah

Carey. It's been over 30 years since her debut and the singer's songwriter seems as omnipresent

as ever thanks to a perennial holiday hit and her devoted and social media savvy fan base.

What is it about Mimi? That's made her one of the most enduring pop stars of our time.

I'm Aisha Harris and in this encore episode of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour, we're talking

about the music and meaning of Mariah Carey.

Joining us today is Brittany Loose. She's the co-host of For Colored Nerds and the

soon to be host of NPR's It's Been a Minute. Hey Brittany. It's going to be back especially

today. Yes. And also here from his home in Brooklyn is Rich

Jesuac, Senior Writer for Jesubell. Hey Rich. Hey thanks for having me. Yeah I'm excited

to have you on too. Both of you it's going to be a fun conversation. For sure.

Now if you follow Mariah Carey on social media, you are well aware of her hashtag MC30

campaign, A Celebration of 30 Years in the Music Business. In recent months she's brought

previously unreleased music from the vault and reissued a bunch of her albums and vinyl

for her diehard fans. She's also released a memoir and audiobook, The Meaning of Mariah

Carey, which provides detailed backstories for beloved songs like The Fantasy Remix,

Featuring, Older Dabaster, which is one of my personal favorites. So we figured it's

a good time to dive into all things Mariah Carey and reflect on her impressive career by

examining a few tracks from her deep catalog. Now first I want to start off with finding

out where we, the three of us are all coming from when it comes to our respective

...