We Are All Mariah: The Internet Responds To Mimi’s Astounding Album Title
Me. I Am Mariah… The Elusive Chanteuse. It speaks for itself. You already know what’s about to follow with this post. Mariah Carey unveiled that awkward, strangely self-aware album title and the Internet predictably lost its collective shit. And yes, the Internet is always quick to launch into superlatives and hyperbole any time something slightly unexpected or funny or pathetic happens, but this is one of those times when it all may actually be warranted.
(And let’s get one thing straight, Lambily: the fact that the name of this thing stems from an adorable self-portrait Carey made at age three does not mean this title still isn’t an entirely goddamned insane choice to make.)
Almost immediately after the news hit, one of our contributors, Christina Lee, sent an email to me with the subject line “Me. I Am Christina… The Elusive Wordsmith.” And she wasn’t the only one to react to or spoof the wordy title. Below, find our favorite reactions to the news, including #hottakes from Idolator staffers and other Web denizens.
:: Pop Justice went with the apt headline, “NEWSFLASH NEWSFLASH THE MARIAH CAREY ALBUM TITLE IS INCREDIBLE.”
:: NME asked if it is the worst album title in music history.
:: Time, however, posited the opposite.
Don’t know what “The Elusive Chanteuse” is or why it’s trending but a sick, sad part of me hopes it’s a new serial killer.
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) May 1, 2014
“but … but who will sing the aria?” *door slams open* *gasps* “i will.” “w-w-who are you?” “ME. I Am …… Mariah. The Elusive Chanteuse” — SKINNY FRIEDMAN (@skinny412) May 1, 2014
:: Our own Bradley Stern deconstructed her oddball announcement video at MuuMuuse, calling it “even more insane and amazing than you could have ever imagined,” and concluding, “Nothing makes sense. Everything makes sense. It’s all so #beautiful.”
Mariah Carey took 3 shitty album titles and mushed them together into 1 album title so shitty it circled back around to being brilliant. — cralbert (@cwilliott) May 1, 2014
‘Elusive Chanteuse’ isn’t even Mariah’s weirdest title. Remember the one named after Einstein’s relativity equation? pic.twitter.com/Y26Zg0mI2H
— Craig Jenkins (@CraigSJ) May 1, 2014
:: Over at Chart Rigger, Idolator EIC Robbie Daw echoed Jenkins’ sentiment, writing, “if you really stop and think about it, [this] is no more of a ridiculous title than The Emancipation Of Mimi or Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel or Butterfly or Music Box or…”
:: BuzzFeed said the title “will make you cry and leave you speechless,” compared her voice in the announcement to one you’d hear used “in a planetarium @ a children’s museum” and pointed out how the cover image is so doctored it may actually qualify as a painting rather than a photo.
me. i am maura… the irritable scribe
— maura johnston (@maura) May 1, 2014
Amazing how “Me. I Am Mariah…The Elusive Chanteuse” is both the best and worst record title ever. //t.co/kHAog9L40F
— Jason Diamond (@imjasondiamond) May 1, 2014
Can’t decide what joke I want to tweet about the new Mariah Carey album being called, “Me. I Am Mariah…The Elusive Chanteuse.”
— Jake Fogelnest (@jakefogelnest) May 1, 2014
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