MARIAH

MARIAH CAREY
BUTTERFLY
Columbia Records
1997

Like most singers who've flourished across multiple decades, Mariah Carey can be broken down into phases and moods. In this case, there's Ballad Mariah, Bubblegum Mariah, Hood Mariah.Butterfly was her earliest synthesis of all three styles. As a work of R&B, pop, and hip-hop, the range between even Butterfly's first two tracks, "Honey" and "Butterfly," typifies this. Likewise, "The Roof" interpolates Prodigy's vocals and Havoc's canny "Jessica" loop from "Shook Ones Pt II." "Breakdown," a low-key favorite of homegirl's catalogue, is MC's signature whisper song paired with appropriately understated Bone Thugz vocals. After '97, she'd never again be shy about flaunting her more vulgar influences. A butterfly, indeed. —Justin Charity