TGJ Replay: Celebrating 20 Years of Mariah Carey’s ‘Emancipation of Mimi’ – the ULTIMATE Comeback Album

Designed much like our ‘Retro Rewind’ and ‘From the Vault’ segments, ‘Replay’ is That Grape Juice‘s retrospective segment – a written quest, if you will, to re-spin the gems and jams of yesterday.

Unlike its ‘Rewind’ and ‘Vault’ predecessors, ‘Replay’ looks to dust off and showcase entire albums (and eras) from a library of Pop and Urban Pop music hits.

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of its release, this week we’re reflecting on Mariah Carey‘s timeless tenth studio album ‘Emancipation of Mimi.’

Join us inside:

There’s no question ‘Emancipation’ set the gold standard for comeback albums, but to fully understand its impact one must consider the factors that led to the project being hailed the triumphant return to form it was.

With MTV’s ‘TRL‘ being the temperature gauge of what was “hot” in the early 2000s, the daily video countdown series catered its content to currency – a status owned in earnest by Teen Pop, Hip-Hop, and eventually Latin Pop at the time.

Subtly putting the stars of the 90’s out to pasture, the divas o’ the day (in the famous words of Carey) like Whitney, Madonna, Janet, Toni, Mary, and Mariah were far-from-discriminated against, but were easily not given the amount of showcasing their younger counterparts could boast.

Yet, while the previous decade’s dominating divas were enjoying some level of being welcomed into the new millennium with their various hits from ‘Music’ to ‘All For You,’ ‘He Wasn’t Man Enough,’ and ‘Family Affair’ (to name a few), Whitney and Mariah – better known for ruling the 90’s with their high-powered balladry – saw their transitions challenged by their respective personal struggles.

Recent history been kinder to the edit surrounding the semi-biographical ‘Glitter‘ film and its accompanying soundtrack due to its release on September 11, 2001, but – despite context – the project was considered a significant bomb that ultimately signified Carey’s hitmaking streak from the 90’s had come to a close.

Said belief was only underscored with the (relative) commercial failure that was her first studio album of the century, 2003’s ‘Charmbracelet,’ as well as a waning popularity fueled by murmurs about her mental health and more.

Challenged by the aforementioned and an evolving musical landscape threatening to leave her behind, Carey took to the drawing board with a slew of the time’s hottest Urban music producers and songwriters including Jermaine Dupri, Swizz Beatz, Bryan-Michael Cox, The Neptunes, Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, Kanye West, and more.

Together, they unknowingly crafted one of the century’s greatest compilations of songs: ‘The Emancipation of Mimi.’

Released April 12, 2005, ‘Mimi’ spawned six official singles.

• ‘It’s Like That’ (#16 Hot 100 peak)
• ‘We Belong Together‘ (#1 Hot 100 peak)
• ‘Shake It Off‘ (#2 Hot 100 peak),
• ‘Get Your Number‘ (N/A – Hot 100 peak)
• ‘Fly Like a Bird‘ (N/A – Hot 100 peak)
• ‘Say Somethin‘ (#79 Hot 100 peak)

On the strength of its first two singles alone (particularly the history-making ‘We Belong Together‘), ‘Mimi’ debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 with Mariah’s highest first-week sales at that point (404,000). By 2005’s end, the LP was the best-selling of the year after moving a whopping 5 million units.

At writing, the project and its subsequent reissues have pushed that figure to over 10 million units sold worldwide – making it one of the best-selling albums of the century.

Beyond its commercial acclaim, the critics couldn’t get enough of ‘Mimi.’

Beyond being listed as one of the greatest albums of the century by Billboard, NPR, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and more, the LP was afforded no shortage of  industry recognition.

‘Mimi’ was nominated for 10 GRAMMYs across its entire era including Album of the Year (ultimately taking home the Best Contemporary R&B Album, Best R&B Song, and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance trophies).

Arguably, the industry had not seen that strong a comeback storm since Tina Turner‘s ‘Private Dancer‘ sashayed into history books 20 years prior.

Fast forward to 2025, ‘Mimi’ serves as an unwavering declaration of Carey’s artistic resilience, ability to visually and sonically transform with the times, and the ultimate “f-u” to the naysayers who had once written her off (including industry insiders and executives like Tommy Mottola allegedly who attempted to wield their power to silence the Songbird Supreme).

As we spin our jams like ‘Mine Again’ and ‘I Wish You Knew’ from this masterpiece, tell us:

What’s your favorite song from ‘Emancipation of Mimi’?

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