Original subtitles

[CHATTER]

[RUSTLING, CHEERING]

[PENCIL ON PAPER]

[CLANKING]

[RAIN FALLING]

MARIAH CAREY: I was in a car in New York,

driving back up to upstate New York,

where I was living at the time, not very happily.

And "Shook Ones, Part II" came on the radio.

(RAPPING) Yeah.

To all the killers and the $100 billers--

MARIAH CAREY: In that moment, I started

thinking like, wow, I really need

to write a song over this beat.

And that's how it started to happen.

[VOCALIZING]

(SINGING) It wasn't raining yet.

Yeah.

But it was definitely--

Mariah Carey, you made it cool for rappers

to jump on R&B tracks.

Music was trying to figure out how to blend hip hop with pop

and R&B and couldn't do it.

You had a vision.

JENNIFER HUDSON: She's a trailblazing hitmaker,

an instantly recognizable voice, and she is truly one of a kind.

As the decades go by, Mariah remains on the top.

MARIAH CAREY: (SINGING) Prayed through the nights,

prayed through the nights, so faithfully so faithfully--

When we talk about the power of your voice,

there can be power in anything from a whisper

to a scream literally.

And then there's the power of self-expression,

and I want to do this because this is

what I'm feeling in my heart.

I love songwriting.

For me, that's my talent.

Having melodies run through me, that's a gift.

[SHE HOLDS LONG NOTE]

[VOCALIZING]

I've grown up loving music since the day

I can remember hearing music.

I used to steal a little radio and bring it into my room

and listen and learn.

I would listen to Al Green and Gladys Knight.

Like for me, music saved my life.

I knew this is what I was going to do.

When I was a little girl, my mother

introduced me to the world of sitting in with musicians,

improvising, vibing, and singing.

Learning and listening to live jazz helped train my ear

and shape my creative writing.

I was learning how to feel, when to modulate, when to scat.

My mother was a vocal coach.

She was an opera singer.

One thing I can say that I'm very thankful to her for,

she didn't force me to do classical,

and I think that helped me become my own person.

If I did know the rules, some of these songs wouldn't exist.

"All I Want for Christmas Is You"

would not exist 'cause that was just me doing whatever.

"Vision of Love" wouldn't exist.

I didn't know the rules.

What are you supposed to do?

I just did whatever I wanted.

(SINGING) To the one that was waiting for me--

In the beginning with my first album,

I didn't know that I was producing,

and mind you, like, I'm a teenage girl at this point.

And I'm sitting there with grown men going

can you raise the strings here.

I want to do just an a cappella moment right here,

and then we'll bring the beat back in.

That is production.

There's power in that.

I love being in a studio.

I really love creating music.

You know and I've been able to whip the Butterfly Lounge take

my time, write my lyrics, sing whatever I feel like singing.

Just being able to kind of ride that musical wave

and go through that journey.

[VOCALIZING]

I like to be free.

I don't like to be told what to do.

Sorry.

Until now, I have never let cameras

in when I'm really creating, not when I'm writing and especially

not when I'm singing.

But now I want to take you into my creative sanctuary,

the Butterfly Lounge, where I'll take one of my favorite songs

that I've written, "The Roof," and use

it to show how you can write and produce music using your voice.

[VOCALIZING]

With the help of a string quartet,

we'll be working on a new intro to the song

and showing how to use instrumentation

to communicate your emotions.

And as a special treat, I've invited my friend Brandy

to record new vocals with me.

(SINGING) But it was something else with him.

Think students will see you're able to kind of hear

all these different incarnations of this one particular song--

[SINGING]

And how music is fluid and it can become anything as you

create, recreate, re-imagine, reinvent.

I'm Mariah Carey, and this is MasterClass.

[VOCALIZING]

We'll do it.

To me melody is the greatest gift.

Yes.

To receive a melody when there's silence

and then suddenly you're hearing a melody in your head

and you're able to then articulate that

or you're able to sing that, even if I didn't write lyrics,

having melodies run through me is, like,

an incredible feeling.

[VOCALIZING]

Let's say I'm working with a very talented piano player.

Or we could-- yeah, that's nice.

[VOCALIZING]

I'll sing and show the person I'm

working with what I'm actually hearing in my head, which

is difficult when you don't know how to say, you know,

oh, just go from the A minor to like-- so I feel like, you

know, I do use my voice as an instrument

because I don't play an instrument.

I have the ability to like semi play instruments if I need to,

but it's an honor and a privilege

to be able to sing to somebody you

know here's what I'm thinking in my head

and then have them articulate that.

Can you go [VOCALIZING]?

Yeah.

Yes.

And we're not always on the same page, but we get there.

[VOCALIZING]

Oh, come on, girl.

Yes.

In this working session, I'm going

to guide the quartet to replace the original synth

strings from "The Roof" and experiment

with a new intro for the song.

[VOCALIZING]

Yes.

[LAUGHING]

Wow, that could be a beautiful intro though.

Yeah, that's amazing.

MARIAH CAREY: We could do something really

pretty with that.

That's really nice 'cause I was thinking-- yes.

We were taking something that Daniel and I had already

been working on, some ideas that I was singing into his phone.

[VOCALIZING]

When we were first starting to work on,

like, what we were going to do differently with "The Roof"

this time around, and we had been talking about a string

quartet for a while.

And so working with the quartet, I really, really was just--

it was, like, everything to me.

[VOCALIZING]

Yeah.

Yeah.

[VOCALIZING]

G flat.

Yeah.

[VOCALIZING]

MARIAH CAREY: People have no idea

how amazing it is to be able to sing something to somebody

and have them play it back to you.

[VOCALIZING]

Yes.

[VOCALIZING]

A flat, B flat.

MARIAH CAREY: See that's what he do that I can't do.

And D flat C.

MARIAH CAREY: But not everybody here's what I'm hearing,

so it really depends on who I'm collaborating with, what it is.

Beat.

What if it went [VOCALIZING]?

When you know that Daniel Moore is

there and he can play exactly what I'm hearing, when he knows

I'm doing something slightly different than the string

players are playing, he plays it,

and then we go back and forth.

Can we sing it together?

DANIEL MOORE: Uh huh.

Sing it.

Sing, sing, sing.

Oh, that's beautiful though.

DANIEL MOORE: All right, let's try to play it.

1, 2, go.

[VOCALIZING]

MARIAH CAREY: Is it a beat in--

is it-- is it a--

So just a four quarter rest.

So--

[VOCALIZING]

Rest.

MARIAH CAREY: Yes.

DANIEL MOORE: Yeah, to the F.

That could be the intro.

Mighty fat.

MARIAH CAREY: It's interesting.

I've tried to take piano over the years.

I'm really the worst, but at one point,

I studied piano with a classically trained--

a woman who was a child prodigy.

And she was incredible, but she would

say I've noticed you do this and that

and that, like, breaking down how she heard structurally how

I would sort of-- most of my songs or some of my songs,

I would tend to go in certain directions.

And she's like I've noticed do to that.

What was your reasoning behind that?

I'm like I don't know.

This is just what I hear in my head.

And I said to her, you're so amazing.

Like, don't you-- what about when you're writing and stuff,

and she's like, no, I've never done that.

She literally said that she had never written a song before,

and it was amazing to me because she's so great at interpreting,

you know, classic standards, anything you know what I mean.

And yet she just didn't have that.

It wasn't a gift that she had.

So I have to realize, like, you know,

when people that I admire that are, you know,

just come up with these melodies that I love and I sit back

and listen to them and it's like wow.

It's a gift.

It truly is something that I'm thankful for.

And what if we did [VOCALIZING].

Should we go to--

this just a question-- should we go to [VOCALIZING]??

Let-- you know, hit them with the--

Yeah.

[VOCALIZING]

Yeah, that might be it.

Up even in your top register that I--

[VOCALIZING]

Right.

[VOCALIZING]

Yes.

Yeah.

MARIAH CAREY: But I live for how you do in the beginning.

[VOCALIZING]

1, 2, 3, go.

Can the last go [VOCALIZING]

Yeah.

1, 2, 3.

Can we put a little accent on at the top F?

[VOCALIZING]

Yeah.

[VOCALIZING]

DANIEL MOORE: Yeah, that F.

[VOCALIZING]

MARIAH CAREY: Yeah.

Yes, this was a slight pause.

[VOCALIZING]

Not too-- not too staccato but, you know--

MARIAH CAREY: It's like a clip.

Like a clip exactly.

But make it-- and then make it accent.

Because I love when you're doing it

and it's and when it's less staccato because it's so--

It's the heart.

MARIAH CAREY: I feel it.

It's the heart.

Yeah.

DANIEL MOORE: Yeah.

Yeah.

Not too staccato.

She just wants that little breath.

MARIAH CAREY: Yeah.

So let's do a one time together,

then we should be good.

OK.

Here we go.

1, 2, 3.

Yes.

DANIEL MOORE: All right, awesome.

[CHEERING]

Yeah.

MARIAH CAREY: Oh my gosh, no, you

have no idea how nice it is to, like--

it's a song I wrote, and it really matters to me

and then to, like, be here and be able to do this, it's great.

(RAPPING) To the killers and the $100 billers.

MARIAH CAREY: I do wish I had the ability

to know how to read music, to play,

but, like, the point is I'm thankful for these types

of moments and for the fact that Daniel and I can sit together

and, you know, work on things.

And he can chart it and show it to, like,

an incredible group of musicians,

and then we are able to take it to the next level.

There's a song I wrote called "Looking In"

that is from the album "Daydream,"

and that was written, like, amidst one of the biggest

albums I ever had, after having realized so many dreams

but still in such a sad place as a person.

So I'll look at it and listen to like,

"She smiles through 1,000 tears and harbors adolescent fears.

She dreams of all that she can never be.

She wades in insecurity and hides herself inside of me."

I used to always really focus on that.

I used to really focus on keeping things general

but still trying to reveal a specific emotion that I was

feeling in hopes that other people could take it

and it wouldn't be too specific to me

that they couldn't relate to it, you know what I mean?

Like I always wanted to make sure

people could take it like I did when I was growing up.

Every song that'll have, like, one sentence

that reminded me of whatever little moment I was going

through, I was like, oh, this is my song,

because that stuff really matters to somebody that

listens to lyrics and really applies

those moments to their lives.

I don't know.

I've chosen to be very, very specific

and real about certain things in certain songs.

"The Roof"-- if we talk about the lyrics to that song,

you know, "Every time I feel the need,

I envision you caressing me and go back in time to

relive the splendor of you and I on the rooftop

that rainy night."

I'm not saying that's the best thing I ever wrote,

but it's real, and it was real for a very long time to me

how I felt with regards to that song.

It wasn't raining yet, but it was definitely

a little misty on that warm November night,

and my heart was pounding, my inner voice resounding,

begging me to turn away, but I just had

to see your face to feel alive.

And then you casually walked in the room,

and I was twisted in the web of my desire for you.

My apprehension blew away.

I only wanted you to taste my sadness

as you kissed me in the dark.

Like, that's real.

I wrote "Outside" about specific feelings

of otherness that I felt as a child.

Anyone who has ever felt like an outsider

can find themselves in this song.

MARIAH CAREY: (SINGING) It's hard to explain.

Inherently it's just always been strange.

Neither here nor there, and always somewhat out

of place everywhere.

You know, I think a lot of different people

can relate to it, but for me, it was about being biracial

and how that has really become such a--

I don't know.

I don't know the word to actually--

I don't know that there's one word that I

can use to describe what that's done to me,

but it's sort of like the bane of my existence.

It's kind of like to be Black and biracial

is a very specific thing.

You could be a bunch of different mixtures of things,

but that is very specific, and especially

when you grew up in white neighborhoods

and you go through the different things that I went through.

It's been an interesting journey.

Like, it is what it is.

This is not woe is me, this is just the truth.

And, you know, that song "Outside,"

specifically, as a writer I'm very

proud of in terms of the lyrics because they're very honest

and they're real and, you know, they're

a reflection of my life.

MARIAH CAREY: (SINGING) Ambiguous

without a sense of belonging to touch.

Somewhere halfway feeling there's

no one completely the same.

Standing alone, eager to just believe

it's good enough to be what you really are, but in your heart,

uncertainty forever lies.

And you'll always be somewhere on the outside.

I'm the youngest of three, and my parents were married

in the '60s, and I think it was illegal in many places for them

to be married when they were married.

So they had a rough time of it.

And again, I wasn't there because I'm the youngest,

and I came along after.

And they were about to become divorced when I was,

like, you know, 3 or whatever.

But what I did experience were a lot of really difficult moments

where yes, you are that outsider.

Yes, people look at you differently than other people.

People that you think are supposed

to be the same as you sometimes think,

"You think you're privileged, you think you're better,

you think you're different," when

in reality, my experience was I felt like less of a person.

I felt like, okay, I'm not even worthy of existing.

I didn't understand why my parents

made the decision they made to be this interracial couple.

And it's like, they did it.

That's what they wanted to do.

But I have to say that it did affect

my songwriting and my self-esteem

and who I am as a person.

And look, I don't want to be sitting around going, oh

my gosh, I'm so misunderstood, but a lot of my friends,

after they read my memoir, were like, I never

knew this happened to you.

How come you never told me this?

And I'm like, because when is it appropriate to sit

here and talk about growing up around pimps

and prostitutes and drug addicts and drug dealers and, you know,

all the different hateful things that happened to me when

I was a kid?

There's no reason to ruin a moment.

I'm festive.

I like to stay festive.

There's no reason to sit here and be like, let me tell you

more stories of woe.

Like yes, they happened, but for me, it's

always been like, if you take a song like "Make It Happen,"

that was deliberately written to inspire other people to get

through their difficult times.

It's also about faith, and it's about perseverance,

and it's just about getting through it no matter what.

And I think, you know, that's not specific.

That doesn't mean like, oh, you have to be exactly

like me to relate to this.

A lot of people have their own issues

that made them feel like they couldn't survive, they wouldn't

survive, you know?

And for me, music saved my life in many, many ways,

and if I can do the same for other people,

then that's everything.

MARIAH CAREY: (SINGING) Oh, and God

knows that you're standing on your own--

blind and unguided-- into a world divided.

And you're thrown where you're never

quite the same although you try, try and try to tell yourself

you really are.

But in your heart, uncertainty forever lies.

And you'll always be somewhere on the outside.

Now you're shining like a-- shining

like a sunflower up in the sky.

MARIAH CAREY: My song "Sunflowers for Alfred Roy"--

that's for my dad.

It's an important song to me.

And one day I hope that my kids will know why it's important,

what all the little nuances mean, you know what I mean?

For me, even when there's something that's like--

you would think it's a small detail,

but to have it in a song and then listen back to it years

later, you're like, oh yeah, that's why I put that there.

MARIAH CAREY: (SINGING) Thank you

for forgiving hurtful things I've

done as a child, adolescent, or woman.

Thank you for embracing a flaxen-haired baby,

although I'm aware you had your doubts.

I guess anybody would have doubts.

I guess anybody'd have had doubts.

There's one moment where I was in "Fiddler on the Roof,"

and I was performing at a performing arts camp.

And, you know, my mom's boyfriend

paid for one year, my dad paid for another year.

And actually, when my father came,

he brought me some daisies.

And I think the kids at the camp, the people,

they didn't know what to think of me-- what I was, you know,

ethnically.

Nobody really asked.

And my best friend was an Israeli girl,

and we had kind of similar-textured hair,

and da-da-da.

And so no one really--

they were just like, oh, they're probably the-- like,

no one really ever asked me that question.

And so when my father came and he brought me the flowers,

and I was on stage, I had sung the song called

"Far From the Home I Love" from "Fiddler on the Roof,"

and he gave me the flowers on stage,

everybody was looking at that.

And it's just-- it's very difficult

to explain people's faces as they take it in.

And when I say everybody, it's not

like it was an audience full of mixed-race people

or a predominantly Black audience.

It was a very white audience.

And that's nothing-- it's just that people aren't used to it.

People aren't used to seeing somebody and not

understanding how to categorize them ethnically.

But after that point, I never got another role at that camp

again.

MARIAH CAREY: (SINGING) Please be at peace, Father.

I'm at peace with you.

Bitterness isn't worth clinging to after all the anguish

we've all been through.

Thank you for the mountains, the lake of the clouds.

I'm picturing you and me there right now as the crystal

cascades showered down.

With the song I wrote, "Sunflowers for Alfred Roy,"

it was actually because died of cancer.

And when he was in the hospital, I was in Capri,

and he called me, and he asked me to come.

And I kept flying back and forth to help figure

out how to-- you know, if we could do anything to save him.

And it's my tendency to go over the top with things,

as you may or may not be able to imagine,

and I kept trying to bring-- like, I would

bring these big bouquets of white flowers and all

these things and try to make him happy,

and it just made him worse because it made him cough.

And, you know, everything he was going through,

it made it terrible, and I felt so bad.

And then I saw this picture, and there were these sunflowers.

And the picture was from the year before on Father's Day.

And I was like, maybe I'll try sunflowers.

Maybe that'll work.

I don't know what made me know that, but I brought them,

and they were the only flowers that worked

and didn't mess with him.

And so after he passed, it sort of became, like, symbolic.

Like sometimes you'll lose somebody,

and, you know, a lot of times it's

a butterfly for some people, a bird, a this or that,

will sort of symbolize that person.

The sunflowers became symbolic for me with regards to him.

MARIAH CAREY: (SINGING) Strange to feel that proud, strong man

grip tightly to my hand.

Hard to see the life inside wane as the days went by.

Trying to preserve each word, he murmured in my ear,

watching part of my life disappear.

He sort of represented, like, this tall, proud sunflower

for me.

And so when I was writing the song,

I wrote about specific moments in our lives

from when I was a little kid.

I wrote about just overall things I wanted to say to him.

MARIAH CAREY: (SINGING) Father, thanks

for reaching out and lovingly, saying that you've always

been proud of me.

I needed to feel that so.

I needed to feel that so desperately.

Now you're shining like a-- shining

like a sunflower up in the sky.

You're always alive inside of me.

I had to write that out, and it

was very difficult to use that much emotion, you know?

Not to use that much emotion, but to reveal that,

to write that out and sing it.

Singing it was almost impossible because it was real,

it was difficult, and it was something that happened.

But, you know, that was just really

a sad reflection of who I was feeling like at that moment,

at that time.

And sometimes that's what you need to write,

but not everything is that miserable.

Sometimes you're just writing "Sweet, sweet fantasy, baby."

Like, whatever, you know what I mean?

It really just depends on the moment

and what's going on with me emotionally, personally.

And sometimes it's just like, if someone said,

hey, can you write me a happy song for this little

commercial about plants, I would be like, all right, I'll try,

and then do my best, because the truth is I love songwriting.

For me, that's my talent.

That's what I'm best at in terms of just

the whole musical thing.

Mariah Carey, you made it cool for rappers

to jump on R&B tracks.

Those Mariah Carey tracks are really important for just

the evolution of hip-hop.

I feel like you had a vision.

Where did that come from?

[MUSIC - MARIAH CAREY, "FANTASY"]

(SINGING) Whatcha gonna do when you get outta jail?

I'm gonna have some fun.

MARIAH CAREY: I was in Rye Playland in New York

and had pulled up to the Ferris wheel.

And the record was on in the car.

[VOCALIZING] You know?

The "Genius of Love."

[MUSIC - TOM TOM CLUB, "GENIUS OF LOVE"]

[VOCALIZING]

It reminded me of listening to the radio

as a child, the guitar and percussion driving the melody,

and the layered vocals creating this feeling you can't

help but be enamored with.

I was there with my first ex-husband, who

was on the phone or something.

And I started listening to it.

I'm like, this is what this has to be.

The video has to be, like, an amusement park.

And I really want to use a sample

and write something on top of it.

[VOCALIZING]

(SINGING) Oh, when you walk--

This was obviously one of those moments

where the sample truly inspired me.

So I had the idea to loop the record

and use it as the foundation of a new song, which

became "Fantasy."

So I wrote two new verses, two new hooks,

and resang the "I'm in heaven" part from the Tom Tom Club's

original bridge.

A lot of people tell me this combination created

something new but timeless.

And that's how I like to think of it.

(SINGING) It's so deep in my daydream.

[INAUDIBLE] Sweet, sweet fantasy, baby.

Fantasy.

Later, we remixed it.

There was a Bad Boy remix of it, featuring Old Dirty Bastard.

And I have to say, I really do like how Puff--

"Diddy," I'm not sure what we're calling them now.

There's a new name.

Sorry.

I can't keep up with all the names.

And I really liked the section of the song that he looped.

I liked how it just felt better.

And not that I didn't like the first one,

it's just way more pop, not just because ODB's on the other one,

but it just feels different.

For the remix, I wanted to bring in more

of the hip-hop inspiration that I love.

So we got together with Bad Boy and kind

of like went back and forth with ideas.

And Puff suggested that we slow it down and focus more

on the drums.

[VOCALIZING]

(SINGING) --with my boyfriend, my boyfriend.

"Fantasy" was a major turning point

in my career as a recording artist.

There's no doubt about it.

And the collaboration with both Bad Boy and ODB

was so unexpected.

Yet that's exactly what I wanted to be

doing at that point in my life.

--doggy.

Here we go now.

Yeah.

Me and Mariah go back like babies with pacifiers.

That's right.

Oh dirt dog no liar.

Keep your fantasy hot like fire.

Jump, jump.

Music was trying to figure out how to blend hip-hop with pop

and R&B and couldn't do it.

And you were one of the pioneers of this.

(RAPPING) Do it.

Do it.

Do it.

MARIAH CAREY: This song still remains one of my proudest

and happiest moments.

A lot of people come up to me and say,

you helped pave the way, or you paved the way

for a specific genre of rap collaborations.

And I personally know that that was already going on,

and I was part of a movement.

It's just that I was more maybe in the public eye

than some of the other artists.

Whatever it is, the song still makes me smile.

I grew up in New York.

Listening to the radio, you heard

all these incredible hip-hop records.

(RAPPING) --19 but my mind is older.

And I wanted to incorporate those beats into records

that I was making because that's what I liked.

When we talk about, like, musically how

"The Roof" happened, "Shook Ones, Part II"

came on the radio.

And I was just listening and also

going through an experience I had just had.

(RAPPING) To all the killers and the hundred dollar billers,

billers, billers.

For real, they assume we ain't got no feelings, feelings,

feelings.

I got this.

Just watch my back.

I got this.

Like, I'm looking at these buildings.

I'm listening to this music.

There's a certain griminess-- and I mean that in a good way--

like, a certain grit that sort of--

it just emanates from that.

And we just discovered a whole new world with the "Shook Ones"

loop and where that is derivative of.

There's so many different elements to that loop itself.

And I was in The Butterfly Lounge.

We were all sitting there and kind of dissecting it.

This is amazing to me because we sampled Mobb Deep "Shook Ones."

And this was Quincy Jones and Herbie Hancock.

DANIEL: And Herbie Hancock.

So this is Herbie.

[MUSIC - HERBIE HANCOCK, "JESSICA"]

[ETHEREAL PIANO MUSIC]

So it show what happens when you slow it down.

Wow.

Right?

MARIAH CAREY (VOICEOVER): When you slow down Herbie Hancock's

"Jessica," you get this incredible piano

loop that feels, like, mysterious and ominous.

So the Quincy Jones--

Wow.

Yes.

[MUSIC - QUINCY JONES, "KITTY WITH THE BENT FRAME"]

[OMINOUS DISTORTED CHORD]

And that was the part, I was like, it

has to be sampled to Mobb Deep because we need that.

And for me, I was like, that's the grit of it.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

But I didn't know where it came from.

I was just like, please use Mobb Deep's song.

Please don't toy around in trying to recreate that.

How are you going to recreate that?

Right.

Can I hear it again?

I was just kind of mesmerized.

I was kind of in shock about where certain things came from,

how, like, a specific loop, a Herbie Hancock loop,

was like slowed down to become this iconic, melodic part

of a hip-hop song.

It's undeniably one of the best ever to me.

[MUSIC - MARIAH CAREY, "THE ROOF"]

(SINGING) Every time I feel the need,

I envision you caressing me and go back in time

to relive the splendor of you and I on the rooftop

that rainy night.

Every time I feel the need, I envision

you caressing me and go back in time

to relieve the splendor of you and I. Every time,

I feel the need--

Daniel, let's think about Run-DMC right there.

(SINGING) Ding, ding, shooby, shooby.

MARIAH CAREY (VOICEOVER): If you want

to reference other songs in your writing

without a direct sample, you'll need to use an interpolation.

This means you are recreating the melody or another element

of a composition note for note instead of using

the original recording.

(SINGING) Shooby, shooby, ding, ding, shooby, shooby,

ding ding.

Yes.

DANIEL: Yes.

[VIOLIN IMITATES WHAT MARIAH SANG]

Run-DMC.

MARIAH CAREY (VOICEOVER): In this working session,

I directed the players to rerecord the iconic Run-DMC

"Rock Box" bells.

That was the ear candy for the listeners.

[STRINGS PLAY]

MARIAH CAREY: Yes.

[VOCALIZING ON RECORDING]

[CLAPS] Yes!

My only thought was that thing that I just said to you.

So I feel like at some point we should go,

(SINGING) ding ding, da da da da, ding, ding, da da da da,

you know, like, give it that Run-DMC moment.

[VIOLINIST AND PIANIST EXPERIMENT]

Yes, up there.

Yes.

Yes.

(SINGING), Dun, dun, da da da da, dun, dun, da--

[VIOLINIST REPEATES WHAT MARIAH SANG]

Yes.

(SINGING) Da da da da, dun, dun, da da da, dun dun.

Yeah, so I think it goes, dun, dun, ba da da da, dun, dun,

da da da da.

Dun, dun, da da da da, dun.

Dun dun.

MARIAH CAREY: Yeah, Daniel knows how to write it out.

Yeah.

[MUSICIANS PLAY TUNE AS MARIAH SANG IT]

Oh my gosh, that would be sick.

(SINGING) Da da da da dun.

Yeah, da da da da dun.

Right?

I know Daniel can write this out in two seconds.

[MUSICIANS PLAY]

Yeah, yeah.

[VIOLINISTS PLAY]

VIOLINIST: On the last part.

[MARIAH SINGS]

DANIEL: So two B-flats on that 16th.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, so one, two.

So wait.

[MARIAH SINGS TUNE]

[DANIEL SINGS TUNE]

[HE PLAYS PIANO AND SHE SINGS]

Gotcha.

Sorry.

Yeah.

[HE PLAYS CORRECT TUNE]

[MARIAH SINGS]

Mmhmm.

Yeah.

[STRINGS PLAY CORRECT TUNE]

Oh my gosh.

Why do I live for this section?

[SINGS TUNE]

Come on, people!

[SINGS TUNE]

[STRINGS PLAY CORRECT TUNE]

Run-DMC never knew this was going to be this!

DANIEL: [LAUGHS]

MARIAH CAREY (VOICEOVER): If you want

to start writing music with samples, a great place to start

is with your own voice.

You can record it, play with the timing,

and experiment with different effects.

MARIAH CAREY: There might be something

where we want to create something

that sounds like a loop.

Like with Just Blaze, I was working on the song,

"You Got Me."

And you know, this is like at the height

of the Just Blaze moment.

And I've always--

I really loved his music.

And we did this song called "You Got Me."

And I just was singing, (SINGING) you know you got me.

Right?

And then we sped it up, like, really high.

That's why I'm singing it higher,

but that's not how we did it.

I sang it medium.

And then that was his thing.

That was his thing was doing those very, very, like, squeaky

kind of sounds and creating, like, a new beat out of it.

And so that's what we did with "You Got Me,"

which was also featuring Jay-Z and Freeway.

And so I had forgotten.

Like, somebody asked me-- oh, my daughter Monroe said to me,

Mommy, who's singing that part, the little part with the "you

got me?"

And I'm like, oh, that's me.

She's like, I knew it.

So it's funny because we did the whole record together as he sat

and played the (SINGING) da, da, da, da section.

You know what I mean?

It came together, and that little "you

got me" little part that I sang, I love that sample now.

I love that that has become its own sample.

And that's just one of the fun experiences

I've had with, like, looping records,

making records from loops and creating new moments.

[INTRO MUSIC]

MARIAH CAREY (VOICEOVER): To me, background vocals are sacred.

MARIAH CAREY: We haven't song this song,

like I said, since 1901, but we're going to try it.

Just the backgrounds.

Everything fades away.

[ALL SINGING] It only fades, it only fades.

It only fades, it only fades.

Whoa, whoa.

Don't tell me you--

I've been a background singer, like, before I was

known as a professional singer.

And I learned a lot from background singers

and just listening to background vocals on records.

I would notice them and notice the different textures.

[ALL SINGING] Don't tell me.

Don't tell me--

MARIAH CAREY: It's interesting, because there are so

many incredible background vocalists who

never become stars, but they're stars in that world.

And, to me, some of the best singers

are the background singers.

[ALL SINGING] It only fades, it only fades.

[CLAPPING]

There are certain people that just historically

have had incredible background vocals on their records.

There's certain people whose, just

like their style and the way they

do their backgrounds are very identifiable, like Luther

Vandross.

He always had incredible background vocals.

He was a background singer as well when he first started.

And because his tone, again, like,

it's his tone that also when he would stack his vocals

it just sounded amazing.

[LUTHER VANDROSS "NEVER TOO MUCH"] I just don't want

to stop.

Never too much, never too much, never too much.

Chaka Khan, totally different approach I feel, but, like,

her stacks are amazing to me.

[CHAKA KHAN "I'M EVERY WOMAN"] Whoa, whoa, whoa.

MARIAH CAREY: She'll do an ad-lib track going on

over here, and then a couple other things that

are doing the melody over here.

And it's just-- it's iconic.

I mean, that's such an overused word,

but it's really true with regard to that.

There are so many people that I could name that even had,

like, you would know that their live background vocalists were

incredible, Aretha Franklin.

Like the Ain't No Way background vocals

with Cissy Houston singing Ain't No Way,

the top part that she sings during that section.

[ARETHA FRANKLIN "AIN'T NO WAY"] I know that a woman's duty is

to have and love a man.

I don't want to say the person's name,

but I'm pretty sure I know who it

is, a contemporary artist that said to me--

they didn't say it to me, they were talking in the room,

I happened to be in the studio they were like, yeah,

nobody's stacking their background vocals anymore.

But it wasn't like, oh, we wish people

would stack their backgrounds.

It was like, yeah, that's not hot anymore, like,

we're not doing that.

And I'm like, and just for that reason,

I'm going to do it more.

Everybody should do their own thing.

And some people, just that's not their bag.

They don't care about it.

I happen to love it.

But not every song is supposed to be that.

Sometimes I'll only have one little background part, or none

at all.

But it's something I like doing.

[ALL SINGING MARIAH CAREY "THE ROOF"] You and I.

MARIAH CAREY: My favorite thing about The Roof

is the background vocals.

[ALL SINGING]

MARIAH CAREY: It already has in its original form

so many overlapping parts that I just

did, because I love doing that.

I think because it's also the track itself,

the beat is so kind of dark, it's

got like a different sort of an edge to it.

[SINGING "THE ROOF" IN THE BACKGROUND]

MARIAH CAREY: To remake it is actually really difficult,

but I love being able to really re-imagine it, re-think it,

just bring it to a new place.

I invited Brandy to help me re-imagine

these background vocals because I

knew her tone and natural trills would add something

so special to this song.

As a producer, it's not about recreating what I've done,

but adding something new and unexpected.

I've always been a huge fan of Brandy.

She's an incredible vocalist and, on top of that,

an incredible good hearted person.

She's the perfect artist to hop on this song with me.

[SINGING "THE ROOF" IN THE BACKGROUND]

MARIAH CAREY: We are here with the world-famous Brandy.

So we've been trying to do this and get this together

for a long time.

We're both here in Hotlanter.

I know.

I love it here.

She's some time to come here and we're

going to do these vocals.

It's kind of like backgrounds, but they're

like lead backgrounds together.

And we're going to play and see how much time we have to do

what we were trying to do.

Sometimes you're under the gun.

So for this MasterClass, this is what

you learn when we're doing background vocals that are very

specific, yet under the gun.

But because Brandy is a master at trills and making things

her own, we're going to not try to make it exactly like it was.

We're going to just play it, learn it, do it.

She's going to go in the booth, hit it twice, we'll be done.

I love it.

I'm so happy to be here.

This is a dream.

I'm just saying.

MARIAH CAREY: But the background and stuff are loud, right, Bri?

MAN: Yeah.

OK.

We can start at the beginning if you want.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

[BOTH SINGING]

Yes.

Here is us.

Yes.

[SINGING] He was definitely--

Hounding--

Definitely when me and Brandy sat down,

we were just communicating as vocalists.

And I love her background vocals.

She has a lot of signature moments with the way she'll

trail off with her voice.

[BOTH SINGING]

Yeah.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Yeah.

Yes.

I did my stuff with no--

except on the u.

So just go back to that really quick.

I just want to see if you like that better.

[BRANDY SINGING]

So because I'm going (SINGING), every time,

on the lead, on the backgrounds we're

going (SINGING), and every time.

And every time.

OK.

Yeah.

And then we might-- play those again

because we might do a little vibrato at the end of it

(BOTH SINGING), and every time.

D and the other one is saying (SINGING), go back in time.

Go back in time.

That's how they blended over the other ones

so the vibratos weren't clashing with each other.

That's what we tried to do a long time ago

when we did this song.

I was two when it started.

OK.

You sure were.

(SINGING) Go back in time.

But I did like (SINGING), go back in time.

Back in time

Back in time.

Back in time.

That's great.

You and I.

You and I.

Yeah.

You and I.

You and I.

Yes, air queen.

You know, I was teaching her the parts as they existed.

And then we decided, hey, let's do this differently.

Let's see how this will merge with what I've already done

here, with what already exists.

(SINGING) And started really liberating.

Started really liberating.

Yeah.

Yeah.

[BOTH SINGING]

Yeah.

And if we wanted to do a bit--

That's tones.

Right.

It's tones merging. (SINGING) Caught up in the moment again.

Caught up in the moment.

Like it's very (SINGING), caught up in the moment.

(BOTH SINGING) Caught up in the moment.

Caught up in, up in, up in.

Oh-- up in the moment.

Yes.

Yeah.

I think we should go into the bridge,

just to go through it once. (SINGING) Last night,

whispered the words that I love you, boy.

[SONG PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND]

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

(BOTH SINGING) Kiss, kiss, why, why.

Like it's a little slower.

Umm-mm.

OK.

[INTERPOSING VOICES]

Please.

[SINGING IN BACKGROUND]

I remember when I first started doing backgrounds

and I was like 12 years old and I really

didn't understand how to blend with other people.

I didn't understand, OK, this has to be tighter

or that this timing isn't right.

It's really playing with it and seeing what sounds the best.

I had a friend named Clarissa, and she was a singer.

And we used to work together sometimes

and we would do background singers, she had a studio.

We used to do background vocals, I should say, together.

And we would blend.

But it was a totally different thing.

Like she would do her thing, I would do my thing.

Sometimes I would sing higher, sometimes

I would do a counter melody that was lower.

And this like, again, before my first album.

So it's just always been something I've loved to do.

And I can't say that there's a certain--

I mean, I'm sure with some singers,

I know with some singers, there's like let's do this,

we would do this by the book.

This is how you do this.

You do x amount of harmonies, you do x amount of the melody.

And certainly the classically trained singers

are going to have their own approach.

Different people have their own approaches.

But with me, I kind of just like live with it, see if I like it.

Oftentimes I'll go back in like two days later to the studio

and be like, I want to change this part.

Because I live with it and I either think, OK, first of all,

that wasn't tight enough, or it wasn't--

I like a different melody better.

For me, that is the glory of songwriting

because it's up to you to change it, if you want.

Nobody can tell you you have to sing it like this

because that's how it was written a hundred of years

ago by whomever.

That's why I like my mom being a classical singer,

it's amazing to be able to have grown up

seeing her sing different Arias or doing whatever she would do,

but I could never do that.

It's just not within me.

I like to be free.

I honestly like singing backgrounds better than

leads, I really do.

I mean, not that I don't like singing lead,

it's just that I have--

it's not always fun, but I enjoy doing background vocals.

I think that they've been important to specific songs

that I've done, because they added texture that can lift you

up or it can bring things to, like, an ethereal place,

you know?

I don't know, I just have fun playing with it.

Honestly, I never really get tired of that.

Like, that's a fun thing for me to do.

Here you go.

This is actually the second double, so let's get this one.

Well, you just did a harmony.

Are you going to double the harmony?

I'm going to double the harmony, yeah.

Here we go.

(SINGING) Every time I feel the need,

I you caressing me, and go back in time,

to relive the splendor of you and I on a rooftop

that rainy night.

(SINGING) Ahh.

MARIAH CAREY: Whoever the singer is,

I'm sure I would want them to give their thing to it.

But with Brandy, I just love her intonation, and also the way

she'll do something sometimes where she sings something

and then she has a very specific way she'll

trail off at the end.

It's her wheelhouse.

Everybody has their own wheelhouse.

(SINGING) --and it was definitely.

MARIAH CAREY: And if you want to do any

of your trills going downward--

(SINGING) It was definitley.

MARIAH CAREY: --whatever, you know.

(SINGING) It was definitely.

MARIAH CAREY: Yeah!

(SINGING) It was definitely.

MARIAH CAREY: Yes.

When I do my part, my plan is not

to try and do it like Brandy.

My plan is to do it where it's supporting those tracks,

and also I'm doing my own little thing on top of it.

So I think you just have to play with it.

And I really liked the fact that we were able to capture that,

and we're going to be able to blend those two

things together.

(SINGING) Yeah.

It wasn't raining yet--

Yet.

--but it was definitely--

--but it was definitely--

--a little misty on a warm November night.

And my heart was pounding.

Pounding.

My inner voice resounding--

Ah.

--begging me to turn away, but I just

had to see your face to feel alive.

Can I hear that?

That was beautiful.

BRANDY: (SINGING) To feel alive.

Brandy, let me ask you a question.

BRANDY: Yeah?

You want to double that real quick while you're at--

BRANDY: Want me to?

--that first part?

(SINGING) But it was definitely.

MARIAH CAREY: Let's say I'm going (SINGING) time.

Right?

And I want to do it the same (SINGING) time.

But I didn't feel like I did it perfectly together,

I'll just keep trying to get it tight.

And then sometimes I'll just add something

different to the end of it, or add an octave below it.

So-- so a double, for me, is when you do something

and then you do the same thing on top of it

similar to what I just did.

But that was a terrible example.

[LAUGHS]

(SINGING) Da, ba, da, da, da.

Time.

And every time.

OK.

Or however you really feel it--

BRANDY: I love that.

MARIAH CAREY: --from you.

OK.

It seems that--

(SINGING) --to feel alive.

Are you going (SINGING) ah-ah-ah?

Are you doing three?

BRANDY: (SINGING) To feel alive.

Yeah.

BRANDY: OK.

OK.

BRANDY: I'ma do it like you, OK?

No, no, no, do it like you, please.

[LAUGHS] OK.

Ah, you're totally playing with me!

However you feel most comfortable here, do that.

Yes.

(SINGING) Ah, ah, ah, ah.

Oh, my gosh.

[APPLAUDS]

BRANDY: You like that?

Yay!

Sometimes what I've noticed is, when every single part is not

exactly perf, in like, not completely lined up with each

other, you might want to do a couple tracks that are

different and add those to-- to the ones that you've kind

of perfected, because then it sounds like, you know,

it might be--

there's more people, you know what I mean?

It becomes more like--

almost like in a choir, everybody's

not going to sing the same thing, the same exact way,

you know, perfectly.

Some choirs they can.

Those are the incredible choirs.

But, I mean, like, most--

most of the time, if you have eight singers in the room,

they can-- they're going to maybe hear it and sing

it pretty close to each other, but everybody

has slightly different nuances to their tones,

to their vibrato, to their voices.

So, you know, it may come out sounding amazing,

but you may-- that may be a situation where, you know,

if you're recording rather than it being a live thing,

you might want to have, you know, two people sing

at a time, you know, together, or one person, you know,

sing and then double themselves, and then, you

know, so on and so forth.

Did you go--

Brandy, did you go (SINGING) to feel alive.

Like a little more--

BOTH: (SINGING) To feel alive.

(SINGING) --live.

BRANDY: (SINGING) --live.

Did you swell to it a little bit?

BRANDY: I can.

You want me to?

Can we do it again? (SINGING) To feel alive.

Do you-- because it's sounding beautiful.

And then they're-- even if they're not the same--

BRANDY: Uh-huh.

You have it.

--we need to get your personality into it, I think.

BRANDY: OK.

Yes.

(SINGING) Started feeling liberated.

I love when you throw some of the low parts in there, too.

(SINGING) [INAUDIBLE] as you took me in your arms.

I was so caught up in the moment.

Couldn't--

Finally.

(SINGING) Da, ba, da, ba, da.

BRANDY: (SINGING) --take me--

take me in your arms.

(SINGING) Arms.

We'll do that.

BRANDY: Like that?

(SINGING) Take me in your arms.

(SINGING) Take me in your arms.

Yeah.

Ooh!

Can I come out?

MARIAH CAREY: Come on out of the heat box in there.

Play what she just did so we listen back?

Yes.

--the words that--

that I loved you, and touched you so very subtly as we

were kissing goodbye.

Yes.

(SINGING) Pretty baby.

(SINGING) Pretty baby boy.

Yes.

[MUSIC PLAYING] --how I'm missing you.

Yeah!

I love it.

[MUSIC PLAYING] Every time.

Every time, every time.

Yeah.

Yeah, and you hear, (SINGING) da, na, na, na, na.

Listen to how his--

yeah, he's like right--

MARIAH CAREY: (SINGING) Every time I feel the need, I go--

Yeah, I know, we don't have it.

Give me the words.

So-- here.

(SINGING) And go back in time.

(SINGING) Time.

It's dope.

(SINGING) To relive, to relive,

to relive the splendor--

(SINGING) Go back in time.

[LAUGHS]

Uh-huh.

Yeah.

So-- so we have that part.

Can you record that just for us, Brian, so we--

[INAUDIBLE]

OK.

(SINGING) And go back in time--

(SINGING) Time.

(SINGING) Time.

I'm not-- I'm trying to get your cadence in that.

(SINGING) And go back in time.

(SINGING) Oh, (SINGING) time, time.

(SINGING) Time.

OK.

(SINGING) And go back in time.

(SINGING) Time.

Uh-huh.

Yeah. (SINGING) Time.

Uh-huh.

Uh-huh.

Yeah.

So let's-- we got that part.

(SINGING) When-- when I--

when I feel the need.

When I feel-- when I feel, feel, feel the need.

(SINGING) When I feel the need.

That's nice. (SINGING) When I feel the need.

(SINGING) When I feel the need.

Yes.

Now, that could be you-- that could be you doubled,

and I can do some other stuff after.

(SINGING) When I feel the need.

You want to go to cut that right now?

Yeah, and you go (SINGING) when I feel the need.

Uh-huh.

Yeah.

Give her the Brandy ending. (SINGING)

Whenever I feel the need, I envision-- envision.

Ooh, that's hard. (SINGING) Whenever I feel the need,

I envision.

MARIAH CAREY: Yeah. (SINGING) Envision.

Yeah.

(SINGING) Whenever I feel the need, I envision.

MARIAH CAREY: Uh-huh.

Yes!

So she's just going to play with it.

(SINGING) Whenever I feel the need, I envision.

MARIAH CAREY: (SINGING) Whenever I feel the need, I envision.

(SINGING) Whenever I feel the need I envision.

(SINGING) You and I, you and I on that rainy night.

BRANDY: (SINGING) You-- you--

you and I on--

you and I-- you and I on a rainy night.

Yes.

BRANDY: (SINGING) You and I--

(SINGING) --on the rainy night.

(SINGING) On the rainy night.

BRANDY: (SINGING) On-- on a rainy night, on a rainy night.

That's nice.

I did something slightly different.

I like yours.

BRANDY: (SINGING) --on a rainy night.

Yes.

Yes.

BRANDY: (SINGING) It was all so sweet.

Yeah, that's nice.

(SINGING) It-- it was all so sweet.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Ooh, I love you!

(SINGING) That I loved you.

MARIAH CAREY: Do a "baby."

Like, throw a "baby"--

(SINGING) That I loved you, babe.

Yeah.

OK.

(SINGING) It was all so sweet, but I loved you, baby.

Sorry.

Yeah, because we could do that and I could echo it.

BRANDY: (SINGING) I loved you, baby.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. (SINGING) Baby.

BRANDY: (SINGING) Babe.

Mm.

BRANDY: (SINGING) Baby or babe?

I like the (SINGING) baby.

But whatever feels--

(SINGING) Baby.

OK.

Yeah.

(SINGING) It was all so sweet, but I loved you, baby.

[HUMMING] Just want to go.

[HUMS]

One more time?

Yeah.

[HUMMING], he's doing.

But you need to do just a--

just a little mm something.

BRANDY: (SINGING) Ahh.

Yeah.

(SINGING) Ah, ahh.

MARIAH CAREY: Yes.

(SINGING) But I loved you, baby.

Ahh.

Ahh.

[LAUGHS].

Ooh!

[LAUGHS] Ahh.

Ahhh.

Yes!

Oh, my god, girl, we did good!

I love it!

I love it.

We did the whole thing.

[MUSIC - MARIAH CAREY AND BRANDY, "THE ROOF"]

(RAPPING) To all the killers and the hundred dollar

billers, dollar billers, dollar billers, dollar billers.

To all the killers and the hundred dollar billers,

dollar billers, dollar billers, dollar billers.

[STRINGS PLAY TUNE]

(SINGING) Yeah, but it was definitely--

MARIAH CAREY: Using your voice to write and arrange music,

that is producing.

(SINGING) --pounding, ah.

Ahh.

And I was twisted.

Every time I feel the need, I envision you caressing me

and go back in time.

MARIAH CAREY: These backgrounds build upon what

I did on the original record.

We came to the studio to experiment,

iterate, and most importantly, have fun.

That's what it's all about.

Music is expression, a way to put a piece of yourself

in the ear of the listener.

(SINGING) --and touched you so very subtly

as we were kissing goodbye.

Ah-ah-ah.

MARIAH CAREY: And you can create magical moments, too,

whether you sing, hum, whisper, whatever.

Don't be afraid to use your instrument.

[VOCALIZING]

MARIAH CAREY: As a songwriter, the instrumentation

of your songs can communicate as much emotion as your lyrics.

Working with a quartet, I'm going

to accentuate the background vocals

I've recorded with Brandy and focus

on how you can express emotion through instrumentation.

Let's get into it.

One, two.

[ORCHESTRA PLAYS]

Yes.

Even (SINGING) mm, mmm, like--

Very exaggerated, yeah.

ORCHESTRA MEMBER: It's a lot like sign.

Yeah.

Yeah.

MARIAH CAREY: I just want to hear it.

It's real.

You've gotta feel it in your heart.

Feel it in your soul.

[LAUGHTER]

The soul stirring.

The soul stirring.

ORCHESTRA MEMBER: OK.

Like somebody died or something, right?

No.

They didn't die.

They just love somebody.

DANIEL: [LAUGHS]

They just love somebody, and they're sad.

ORCHESTRA MEMBER: Longing, the longing, the longing of it.

DANIEL: Yeah.

MARIAH CAREY: It's the longing.

It's the misery.

I call it misery.

I call it misery

[LAUGHTER]

ORCHESTRA MEMBER: Yes.

DANIEL: Here we go.

ORCHESTRA MEMBER: OK.

So one, [SNAPS FINGER] two.

[SNAPS FINGER]

[ORCHESTRA PLAYS]

How about, (SINGING) ohh, hum?

That's the backgrounds we're doing.

[MUSIC - MARIAH CAREY, "THE ROOF"]

(SINGING) Me to turn away, but I just had to say--

DANIEL: Two, three, four.

One, two--

MARIAH CAREY: Things like how fast

you play, or using vibrato and intonation,

can help you communicate different feelings

to your listener.

[MUSIC - MARIAH CAREY, "THE ROOF"]

(SINGING) I was twisted, my desire for you, my apprehen--

Can we go, (SINGING) and I was twisted.

Mm-hmm.

[ORCHESTRA PLAYS]

MARIAH CAREY: (SINGING) Da, da,da, dee, tee.

Yes!

[ORCHESTRA PLAYS]

If we can listen to the B, G, Vs.

Mm-hmm.

(SINGING) And I was twisted.

Yeah, there are two lines in the background

vocals of "The Roof" that convey how

I was feeling in the moment.

[MUSIC - MARIAH CAREY, "THE ROOF"]

(SINGING) And I was lifted.

Brandy.

And--

[MUSIC - MARIAH CAREY, "THE ROOF"]

(SINGING) And I was twisted.

Well--

[ORCHESTRA PLAYS]

--we have (SINGING) twisted.

You know, we have Brandy.

WOMAN: Mm-hmm.

[LAUGHS]

[ORCHESTRA PLAYS]

DANIEL: Mm-hmm.

MARIAH CAREY: "I was twisted" was the misery, as I call it.

It was longing.

And I want to convey that with this new string arrangement.

Can it go.

Daniel.

Can it go, a little beat before the (SINGING) daa?

Gotcha.

Yeah.

[ORCHESTRA PLAYS]

(SINGING) Ohh.

Yes, yes.

[ORCHESTRA PLAYS]

Yeah.

Yeah.

[LAUGHS]

Yeah.

Yeah.

[ORCHESTRA PLAYS]

(SINGING) Huh, ohh.

[ORCHESTRA PLAYS]

Yeah.

Yes.

[ORCHESTRA PLAYS]

But put--

Yes.

--the C on 4.

[ORCHESTRA PLAYS]

Yeah.

MARIAH CAREY: A little more.

[ORCHESTRA PLAYS]

(SINGING) Mm mmm.

Can someone go (SINGING) Laa hah?

Maybe the--

[ORCHESTRA PLAYS]

One, [SNAPS FINGER] two, [SNAPS FINGER] three.

[SNAPS FINGER]

[ORCHESTRA PLAYS]

MARIAH CAREY: Yes.

Can you go (SINGING) Uh, uha?

[ORCHESTRA PLAYS]

Yeah.

DANIEL: No.

See, Daniel knows what I'm hearing.

DANIEL: No, no, no.

So go to--

[LAUGHTER]

ORCHESTRA MEMBER: Yeah.

DANIEL: --your C to B flat.

So-- [PLAYS PIANO]

(SINGING) Mm mmm.

DANIEL: [PLAYS PIANO] You know what I mean?

ORCHESTRA MEMBER: Mm-hmm.

(SINGING) Uh, uhh.

[ORCHESTRA PLAYS]

Yes.

[ORCHESTRA PLAYS]

Oh, come on.

[LAUGHTER]

It's so good.

I love it.

It's perfect.

It's incredible.

DANIEL: One, [SNAPS FINGERS] two, [SNAPS FINGERS] three.

[SNAPS FINGERS]

[ORCHESTRA PLAYS]

Yes, ma'am.

A session like this is magical.

It really is.

And I say magical because when you put all of these pieces

together and you get everyone onboard with the emotions you

want in the song, you're making space for something

surprising to happen.

DANIEL: So that particular line is on 22.

MARIAH CAREY: Come on.

Come on, alto.

Oh.

[ORCHESTRA MEMBER PLAYS]

DANIEL: That particular line is at 20--

MARIAH CAREY: Ooh.

DANIEL: --22.

[LAUGHTER]

(HIGH-PITCHED SINGING) Oh, uh, uh, uh.

[ORCHESTRA PLAYS]

You might want to do that.

I didn't do it on the vocal, but that might be--

I'm with you.

Uh-huh.

(HIGH-PITCHED SINGING) Uh, uh, uh, uh.

ORCHESTRA MEMBER: Is it the--

DANIEL: Yeah, 22.

(HIGH-PITCHED SINGING) Uh, uh, uh.

Can you go, (SINGING) da, da, ca, daba, da, da, da, da?

[ORCHESTRA PLAYS]

ORCHESTRA MEMBER: I'll fix that.

MARIAH CAREY: Can it go, (SINGING) twisted, da?

ORCHESTRA MEMBER: Like three, inside four.

[ORCHESTRA PLAYS]

Go like a grace note--

ORCHESTRA MEMBER: Yeah.

[PLAYS PIANO] Like an E flat to E.

[ORCHESTRA PLAYS]

MARIAH CAREY: Yes.

DANIEL: Yeah.

MARIAH CAREY: No.

[ORCHESTRA PLAYS]

[PLAYS PIANO]

That's gonna match perfect with the backgrounds.

DANIEL: Yeah.

(SINGING) And I was twisted.

DANIEL: [PLAYS PIANO]

(SINGING) Ohh, ohh.

[ORCHESTRA MEMBER PLAYS]

[VOCALIZING]

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Well, where you been?

Where you been?

A flat.

Yeah.

[VOCALIZING]

But should there be a pause?

[VOCALIZING]

Just a quick--

So--

Pause.

Yeah.

Wow.

Why is this best thing that's ever happened to me?

I just have to remember it.

Because I'm not going to even write it.

I know.

But for real, like, how much more fun is that?

It's so much more fun.

That's why I'm here.

That's why I'm in the city.

Yes.

[VOCALIZING]

Okay, yo.

[VOCALIZING]

Slow on--

[VOCALIZING]

B-flat, E.

And that was twisted.

That's a little bit longer, on that step--

I just want to hear, like, uh--

what is it?

The misery.

The misery.

I need misery on part.

I'll make it cry.

Don't worry.

Yeah.

Okay.

Thank you.

Okay.

[VOCALIZING]

Okay.

Okay.

Yeah, a little more swing.

Like you're really--

yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

Y'all sing it.

Okay.

Oh, what a beautiful instrument.

Maybe we should sing it, and then we can actually--

Yeah.

Sing it.

Oh.

He wants to sing.

I already know you sing.

I'm with it.

Let's sing it.

Okay.

So, 1, 2, 3.

[SINGING]

I think it goes--

[VOCALIZING]

Wait.

[VOCALIZING]

So she's really exaggerating that beat four.

[VOCALIZING]

Yeah.

Yeah.

A little breath.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay.

With a 1, 2, 3.

[VOCALIZING]

Yeah.

That's not how it goes on the original record.

But I mean, between-- when me and Brandy redid

it, and whatever, like, the first part

is the old school one.

Right.

Right.

And the second part--

[VOCALIZING]

Like, you know, that's what happened then.

Let's try to play it.

Let's try to play it.

If we can sing it, we can play it.

All right.

I believe that.

Okay.

I do too, actually.

Okay.

20.

Intel was twisted

in the web of mass the way I

Do you think it should be a tiny bit more back?

On the backside?

Beat-wise.

Like, just like--

[VOCALIZING]

Yeah.

So we take a more exaggerated breath on beat 4?

Let's try it.

Yes.

Can we-- I think she wants a legato from the C

to the D-flat.

[VOCALIZING]

Yes.

So.

Yeah.

So let's get that one.

Mark it.

And then we'll go to 20.

Yes.

Do you think the--

[VOCALIZING] - E flat.

E. E-flat.

D-flat.

And I was twisted--

[VOCALIZING]

Yeah.

So 1, 2, 3.

Yes!

That was amazing.

Absolutely.

You guys are so great.

Thank you.

[HOWLING]

MARIAH CAREY (VOICEOVER): There are so

many ways to use your voice.

But understanding it, taking care of it,

and expanding your range as a vocalist

can allow you to have a long and successful career.

Yeah.

[CLAPPING]

[VOCALISING]

[MUSIC - MARIAH CAREY AND BEN MARGULIES, "VISION OF LOVE"]

MARIAH CAREY (VOICEOVER): (SINGING) Treated me kind.

In the beginning, there was this need

that I had that I think people kind of like--

I don't-- I won't say other people forced it on me.

I'll put it on myself--

to try to not impress people but to always be like how

high can I sing.

How loud can I sing?

And really it wasn't about that.

It really was about learning how to balance that.

(SINGING) Prayed through the night.

MARIAH CAREY (VOICEOVER): Stretching for the high notes

and pushing the limits of your voice

are not the only ways to sing.

And I think the delicate moments are sometimes stronger.

(SINGING) the weight on my own.

Had to be--

MARIAH CAREY (VOICEOVER): Singing can be as much

of an emotional exercise as a physical one.

But sometimes it depends on the mood I'm in.

Like, I'll go into the studio and be

like I'm just going to do the backgrounds tonight

because that's what I feel like doing.

I don't feel like putting my head in a space where

I'm doing lead vocals because that's a different space to me

sometimes.

And also sometimes I'll--

I'll write the backgrounds.

And I haven't finished the lead yet--

writing the lead, so I'll wait and do that afterwards.

Let me do-- I would like to do two overlap tracks,

just so we have them.

Mm-hmm.

MARIAH CAREY: OK.

Here we go.

MARIAH CAREY (VOICEOVER): (SINGING) On the rooftop

that rainy night.

(SINGING) Last night I dreamed that I--

that I loved you, boy.

Touched--

For me, it's the best when I have a couple of songs

that I'm working on.

And I can decide in that moment, OK, I'm going to--

I'm going to work on this song because I'm

in the mood for that type of festive--

you know, I want to sing something like that right now,

a happy song.

I'm into it.

But if I'm not in that mood, I don't

want to fake it and have that come out.

Like, you know, I'd rather do something

that's representative of how I'm actually feeling

and then go in and sing from that place.

My mother was a vocal coach.

She was an opera singer.

She did scales to prepare to sing.

She would go from as low as-- she was a mezzo-soprano.

She'd go from as low as she could to as high as she could.

And I remember growing up and hearing that.

What I usually do-- the only thing I'll usually do that

people will hear me do, I usually go--

[CLEARS THROAT]

[TRILLS]

And just see, I'll be like if I can

do that, then I could probably hit the high notes today.

So some are going, like--

[TRILLS]

You know, and just like--

just because-- I don't know.

There's something-- there's a reason,

and a vocal coach could probably analyze why that is.

But you're just using that part of your voice,

if that's a part of your voice that you have.

And you're just checking it out, seeing if it's there.

You could do it low.

You can do it, you know-- it's just something

that, without having to use words,

it's just something that, you know,

you're working the chords up and down.

MARIAH CAREY (VOICEOVER): Luther Vandross,

the late, great Luther Vandross, he

taught me a couple of things about my voice.

Like, you need to be in a humid environment.

You shouldn't be in the desert.

You shouldn't be in these dry environments.

You know, your best place for your tone

is going to be in a very humid environment, like, in wherever,

the Bahamas, Florida, you know, places that are just humid.

And so I try to tell everybody that's

with me because sometimes I'll forget.

Humidifiers, humidifiers, humidifiers,

have them on all the time.

Please help me make sure I turn all the humidifiers on tonight

when I go to sleep because it really does--

I breathe it in, and it really does help.

Me, I'm just my own thing.

Like, sometimes I'll be, like, I will actually just--

and I'll call this a vocal exercise

if you're asking, even though it's not an exercise at all.

It's called silence.

[CHUCKLING]

I just have to have vocal rest and humidity and say nothing.

So, you know the setting on the phone

where Siri can talk for you, but like she can actually

talk for you.

You type it and--

anyway, I use that.

Or I'll just jot something down and really,

really not talk if I get into a place where I feel hoarse.

Because there was a time when I really had overused my voice,

really gotten into a place where it was

not where it should have been.

And thankfully over the past few years,

I've been able to get to a place where, no, I don't have

to go on stage every night.

I don't have to travel around, schlep around, and do

this and that, you know.

And I've been able to, with the Butterfly Lounge, take my time.

Write my lyrics.

Sing whatever I feel like singing that night.

Work with the band.

Experiment with different vocal textures, different feelings,

you know, as many tracks as I feel

like doing or as few tracks as I feel like doing.

(SINGING) I envision you.

This is just me playing around with ideas.

I envision you.

Listening to [INAUDIBLE] piano.

(SINGING) When I feel a need, I envision you.

[VOCALISING]

(SINGING) And I go back in time to--

I use the term whisper with whisper singing and whisper

register.

I think it's kind of two different things.

When I wrote about it in the book, I just--

I literally meant singing really softly to myself.

And then when people would first ask me about,

like, the very high end of, you know,

the upper part of my register, I was

told it's called the whisper register, not

the whistle but the whisper.

And I guess that's because when you

use just the upper part of your chords,

that's the part that comes out.

And you're sort of squeezing a specific part of your chords.

But I have a raspy voice when I wake up.

You hear me.

I sound like this.

But when I was a little girl, I would wake up and be so raspy

that I'd be like, (IN A SQUEAKY VOICE) "Hi, how are"--

I would talk like that, like a little-- like a little squeak.

And then I learned how to make that into something

that became like a whistle.

Like, you were whistling but with your vocal chords.

So I don't know.

That was a very long-winded explanation of something.

But it's really difficult for me to explain

because I don't know all the terminology

for every specific--

for every specific thing within the vocal register.

But I do know how I make things work.

And I also have--

I actually have nodules, and I've never had them removed

because I was just told not to.

And then one of my vocal doctors told me

that that's the reason that the high note thing is--

you sort of like--

sort of like when they're bigger sometimes,

that part of my voice is stronger.

It's weird.

I don't know, depends on the day.

When they're more soft, sometimes the belted register

is stronger for me.

(SINGING) Vision of love and it was all--

whoa-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, ah-ah-ah-ah, oh-oh-oh-oh,

that you turned out to be.

Oh, yeah.

Heh-yeh-yeh, oh, yeah, mm.

[AUDIENCE APPLAUDS]

I'm not queen of knowledge with this.

I just do what I do.

And when I get a lucky--

a good day, I'm lucky.

The music business has changed so much since--

I mean, since certainly since I started.

So when I first started out, I was like, oh my gosh.

Now they're not-- like, I can't have, like, vinyl.

I can't have, like, a regular album.

Like, it has to be a CD.

You know, it was like this whole thing

I was-- my whole life I waited to have that,

and then it was like now we're doing this.

Then the next thing you know we're doing something else.

Now basically it's, like, a stream,

which you make, like, 1/16th of a penny on.

It's a whole different thing, and it's another scam.

I'm sorry industry people, but it's a scam.

Like, it's a complete and total scam

because there's no way you can go from-- like, who is actually

making that money?

I'm curious to know-- that used to go--

first, they went from, like, all the big physical things

that were sold, whether they were, like--

I mean, they still sell vinyl now.

It's, like, big again, but I'm just saying, you know,

all those other things that whether it was CDs or, you

know, DVDs or whatever, like, now it's

a whole different thing because pretty much anybody can get

on YouTube, can be heard, can be noticed, can be discovered,

which is great, but what does discovery mean?

Like, you're already on YouTube.

You already sing your song.

There's your moment.

You have to carry it from there, so

how do you carry it from there?

There's a whole lot of different parts of the industry.

There are record companies, publishing companies,

management companies.

There's touring, and as a developing artist,

you have to be knowledgeable about all

of these areas of the music business.

I mean, it's difficult because--

sorry-- but a lot of these record companies,

they do these 360 deals with young artists

and they're taking advantage of them.

And they're taking everything they have.

A 360-deal is when an artist is signed to a recording

contract that gives the label a percentage of earnings

from all of an artist's revenue streams

rather than just recorded music sales.

The artist only makes a percentage

of their actual earnings.

But I'm not clear as to how fair that percentage is.

Thank God I didn't have one of those type of deals,

but I still really got screwed over

in the beginning of my career.

And, you know, it takes a long time to come out of that.

Just imagine you wrote something that, like, became a huge hit

or something, and you didn't realize

that you didn't have to sell it to somebody

or give somebody else a part of it or make them--

like, even a lot of the percentages

and splits that I've had over the years are really not fair,

but, you know, whatever.

Eat, drink, dance, rob a bank, whatever.

It's just a phrase I use.

I think music ownership, meaning keeping

control of your own publishing, owning your own publishing,

is huge.

I remember I was growing up and I

was watching some documentary, and it was about the Beatles

and it was about the fact that they didn't own their songs.

And it was just like I looked at it

like how is that even possible.

I had no-- I didn't really understand what it meant.

Even when I got first got into the industry,

I didn't understand what it meant, but that was--

I was a kid when I saw this and I

was like I'm never letting that happen to me.

And then I remember at this particular moment--

luckily, I can't remember what company

it was because I'm not trying to slay people--

but somebody offered me $5,000 for my publishing.

And this is right when I was like about

to have a record deal, whatever, but, OK, so I had no money.

I had, like, $1 a day, and that's

when I had to choose between the subway and, like,

something to eat.

So whatever.

When I was young and determined and knew,

like, I'm going to do this whatever happens,

I believe in it.

There's no question in my mind.

So when this person offered me that deal,

$5,000 sounded like $5 million to me,

sounded like I can't even think of what number

today it would feel like.

But I knew, well, enough not to take

It.

Luckily-- luckily I had seen that documentary.

I kind of had a bit of knowledge about it, and I--

and so I didn't--

I didn't sell it.

And so I still have it.

Today people are-- it's a big business.

Prior to my first album even being released,

like when I was working on my demos,

I didn't know that I was producing.

I didn't realize that in saying you guys please can you--

and mind you like I'm a teenage girl at this point--

and I'm sitting there with grown men going can you

drop everything out musically right here

and we just then bring it right back in here.

And, like, can you raise the string--

you know, synth strings at the time

but whatever-- can you raise the strings here,

or, you, know I want to do just an a cappella

moment right here, and then we'll bring the beat back in.

So in doing those things, that is production.

I didn't really know how to differentiate just

giving an opinion, which was actually more than an opinion.

It was, like, please do this, but I

didn't realize that I should have been asking,

oh, I want production credit for this or I want this and that.

I just did what I did or, you know,

sort of tried to mold the records of the way

that I wanted them to be because that's

how I wanted them to sound.

And especially in the beginning, it

was like I was the one that was really,

like, night and day living for whatever new music was out.

Like, I felt like the people I was

working with weren't obsessed with new records that

would come out and listening to what was popular.

People would drive by in a car, what are they listening to?

I don't think they were paying attention

to that whereas that was kind of, like, my obsession.

A lot of times people that I've watched

evolve in this industry, they have,

like, a really strong person behind them

that wants them to be perceived as a producer

no matter what their contribution

and when writing as well.

But, you know, with me, I think they were always more like, oh,

people we want her to know about her as a singer.

This is her vibe.

This is her look, you know, where

this is our diva that we're promoting,

whatever they used to call me.

She's our franchise, like all these these things.

If you're in the diva layer, people weren't thinking of you

as a producer.

Got Sean Puffy Combs, mogul, rapper, producer, publisher,

clothing, manufacturer, record executive, pop star.

Got, Jewel, it says singer, poet, actress, dah, dah, dah,

dah, dah.

Mariah Carey, singer.

And it just--

And what you want--

Because I write my own songs.

I produce my own records.

How many songs do I have to write until I at least get

that credited?

I don't understand why people have

a problem acknowledging that--

I mean, I'm so involved in my own stuff,

I wish I could relax.

I just always wanted to write.

I just always wanted to be a part of what

the final outcome of the song was, and if I didn't like it,

I didn't like it.

And at times, I would get into, like, you know, even back then

little kind of arguments with the powers that be,

and it'd be over something so simple

as, like, one little line in the lead vocal that I didn't love.

Especially back then, powerful male producers

that have been in the game way longer than you, you know,

even anyone ever heard of you, it's

like what are you supposed to do.

You've got a record company telling you, well, the producer

wants it this way, and, you know,

so we're going to go with what he wants.

And basically whatever he says, he

must be a genius 'cause he has all these hits.

So you're like, all right, well, I guess I got to deal with it.

But for me to still remember it today

just shows you how important that is to me.

So in terms of, like, people encouraging me

to-- as a producer, I don't think people wanted that.

I don't think they wanted me to feel that sense of empowerment.

But I think with the song "Vanishing" on my first album,

there was no way they couldn't give me

production credit because it's only piano and vocal.

There was no doubt that they-- that had to be put on there,

and I probably I don't--

I mean, I don't want to say it was that long ago,

but it's kind of a while ago--

I'm pretty sure I said, you know,

I think I deserve production credit on this.

I hope through this class, you've

been able to see all the different ways you

can use your voice to make music,

to write, stand up for yourself, and to become

the artist you know you have the potential to be.

As you finish my class, I want you

to keep one more thing in mind.

When I was growing up, I just always knew I wanted to sing.

I always knew what I wanted to do,

but I didn't know that it was going to be, like,

the politics involved.

I would say surviving the industry,

there are still people to this day that

exist that are very, very powerful

but are just very controlling.

And, you know, I'm thankful for my--

everything that I have is because of the music industry,

but it's also there are a lot of really bad people

that exist within probably every industry

but a lot of people that have been really screwed over, like,

from the very beginning of I guess rock and roll

or whatever you want to call it, you know,

have been really really screwed over by people in the industry.

It shouldn't be record companies making the majority of things,

and then the artists get, like, the smallest percentage

of what goes on for a song that you created.

I don't know.

Don't seem fair to me but then, again, I'm

very thankful for what I have.

So what am I supposed to say?

It's a-- if you get lucky enough or if you're

blessed enough to have something amazing

and it turns into a lifelong career, that's incredible.

But surviving the music industry,

I don't know if I have survived it yet.

I'm trying.

I'm still trying.

It's hard.

I'm being so honest that it is what it is,

and people are going to be like, OK, calm down.

[INAUDIBLE]

But I don't even know how to give the exact advice except I

would say be really strong in your principles and, you know,

obviously do your best to create the music that you personally

feel strongly about, not what other people are forcing

you or suggesting that you do.

And then just have faith and stand strong.

MOBB DEEP: [RAPPING] To all the killers and the hundred dollar

billers.

MARIAH CAREY: [VOCALIZING] To all the killers and the hundred

dollar billers.

[SINGING]

[VOCALIZING]