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And the special isn’t all Apple has planned with Carey: Apple Music Hits will celebrate Mariah Day on Friday, spinning her music all day, including special DJ mixes and guest appearances from MC herself. Plus, stay tuned for an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe on Monday, as well as Carey Clean. At home with playlist.
In BillboardIn Carey’s new interview, we got to glean some roasted chestnuts ahead of Friday’s holiday special, as well as look back on her huge accomplishment last Christmas, when the singer / songwriter scored her 19th No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “All I want for Christmas is you”. Below, check out our video call interview with Carey in a silver sequined dress surrounded by ice-covered silver Christmas trees, in a scene made for a Snow Queen.
Mariah, you look particularly festive!
If I don’t look festive, Katie, I don’t know who will look festive. [Laughs]
From what we know about your Magical Christmas Special So far, you are helping your “great friend” Santa Claus solve the holiday crisis. Where does this concept come from?
Of course, we have to get involved with Santa Claus and make sure that whatever he tries to do, all the joy of Christmas, will be brought to everyone. So we can’t let the gloom of the current place we find ourselves in the world outsmart all the extra fun things we do every year – that I know. I do every year. We spoke with Apple and we were like, listen up, let’s just make sure Santa is good and we’ll find out! And it’s gonna be a magical Christmas special, and I’m here for it.
Besides Santa Claus, you have other great friends accompanying you including Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson in “Oh Santa!” How did you rework the song to become a trio?
I wrote “Oh Santa!” for my album Merry Christmas II you, which was sort of a sequel to my first Christmas album – we have several of them [Laughs] – and so I think this was the actual event, of course, of doing “Oh Santa!” with Jennifer and Ari, but it was also, how do I see that as a producer? How to see these voices having different textures, what are they? Because originally I was blending in with myself which is kinda one of my favorite things, but it was cool to be able to work with the different vocal textures and play with and reinvent them. So that’s what happened. And visually, in the special, it really feels like a girl group moment. I think we all had a great time with it. That was the fun part about it.
[Mariah Carey’s “Oh Santa!” video, featuring Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson, premieres at midnight ET below.]
There are also so many other big moments in the special, like Tiffany Haddish’s narration, reading “The Night Before Christmas”. Come on, can it really get better than that? He’s one of the funniest people I have had the privilege of knowing. … And Billy Eichner, hilarious. Do you know Billy?
Of course! Your Billy in the street with him last christmas was amazing so glad you got together.
Me too! We had so much fun. He was like the light during this time. As much as we love it all, it also takes a lot of energy to show up and say, “I want to be party!” It demands it. And I love that his cynicism and confusion, his character that he created for it, contrasts so well with mine. I really like what he did.
Misty Copeland brings her talent to this special and adds so much to the “Sugar Plum Fairy” – which I had done again, and now we did it again, and it’s longer and it’s kinda like playing d ‘an instrument with my voice, so I really enjoyed that.
So many people showed up and really, really worked hard. [Carey’s twins] Roc and Roe are also in the special, Mykal-Michelle Harris, who we live for Mixed, what I wrote on [theme] song for that. She is friends with Roc and Roe, so I love her character [in the special]. We have Christmas together and she ends up enjoying Christmas even in the gloomy days of the year and even though, in the special, her family doesn’t have a tree this year. It’s kind of a different time for her as a kid going through this. And I wrote this new song, “Little Mariah’s Theme”, in honor of my inner child … and then “Little Mimi’s Theme”, so she squeezes the book. [soundtrack]. I literally wrote it with my dear friend Daniel in the car on the way home from the shoot. Because when [Harris’ character] finally gets her zhuzh back, she places the ornament on the tree and it’s a golden butterfly ornament, and it looked weird to me, it didn’t feel balanced. So we wrote this thing and put it in the car ride – which is a first for me. I haven’t done this yet. But I really like that she inspired me with that.
All that I’m leaving out is just because we want you to watch the special and see some Easter eggs.
Well Jermaine Dupri and Snoop …
Yes!
Can you talk about what they do on the special or the songs they do?
So it was a last minute thing. Jermaine and I wrote “Oh Santa!” together. We also reinterpreted “Here Comes Santa Claus” -slash- “Right Down Santa Claus Lane” -slash- “Housetop Celebration” – it’s a long title [Laughs], because sometimes I put different songs together and do one thing. When we wrote this song, there’s a section that goes [she sings] “Gather around.” I was just like, “Hmm, that could be something great to reinterpret.” And I talked to JD, and there was someone suggesting Snoop, so I said, “Let me just call Jermaine,” because rather than going through the bureaucracy of all of this, he and I have that close relationship, and Snoop was there the next day. He has done his part. This is my new thing. I live for it. I’m waiting to hear from [Snoop] about a very specific Christmas idea I have for him, and I’m giving it away, because I haven’t even told him about it. But he did come – I’m not going to say what he was wearing, but he gave me an idea that I’m ready to share with the world. It’s a big problem. I’m telling you, Katie! I wish someone had offered me this, but I can’t. He is better placed to do so.
OK, we’ll wait more on this! You said your twins were also part of the special. Do we hear Roc and Roe singing?
They sing a little bit at the end of “All I Want”. I actually recorded a song with them when they were 6 that we didn’t release. They were like, “Why didn’t we publish this?” It was so cute, because that was when Rocky had an accent – well not an accent, but couldn’t quite pronounce certain letters yet – and they were both singing over it. So one of these days I need to be encouraged to post this, but there are just other things going on. But yeah, I wanted to do more with them in terms of performance, but they’re definitely on stage, they’re playing there. So I love it. I loved integrating them into this festive world that we have created.
Now that you’ve had almost a full year to think about it, can we say how amazing and crazy it is that “All I Want For Christmas Is You” reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time last year, 25 years after its release?
It was such a strong moment for me, as far as my career is concerned, because of how much I love Christmas, and that’s partly because I’ve always loved it. But I had to go through the obstacles of my difficult childhood, to say the least, of my beginnings in this profession so young and never really having this united family or this type of vacation that I have. always had the impression of seeing on the TV. …
So having # 1 in 2019 with “All I want for Christmas is you” was a time when I sat alone at 3 a.m. staring at the lights of the Christmas tree and looking at it. really take it on a human level, because you work your whole life for something. And… it’s so exciting because it’s Christmas, which is my favorite, but it also feels like a validating thing has happened. I never knew people were going to adapt the song I wrote – my first Christmas song I ever wrote. How did I know it was going to become a thing every year? I couldn’t know it. And I learned to love it more, because I used to always listen to it and distinguish it on Christmas against all the other Christmas songs, like, “Why didn’t I change this party? I wish I could have done it it’s over. “Because I did it so early, so young. But still, it makes me happy every year.
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