MARIAH CAREY is back with her first album in seven years, Here For It All, today.
But there is one person who may be giving it a wide berth, as she appears to let rip at her backing dancer ex-boyfriend Bryan Tanaka on the record.
The couple got together on her US reality show Mariah’s World in 2016 but split in 2023, when he insisted they’d gone through an “amicable separation”.
However, Mariah’s new tracks paint a very different picture.
On one track, I Won’t Allow It, she sings: “Wanted the fame, used my name. But you thought you could do that.
“I wanted to change all your narcissistic ways.”
She later bluntly continues: “What you gonna do when you’re feeling low? Cos I don’t love you any more. No more.”
If there was any doubt she was singing about Bryan, who has unmistakably recognisable facial fluff, Mariah adds: “See you walking by with your dirty moustache.”
Continuing on her brutal streak on Confetti And Champagne, she sings: “I don’t need no closure over you, as I didn’t lose.
“Never a doubt, look at me now. My new baby text me ‘I’m on the way . . . ’”
She goes on: “I stay surrounded by Confetti and Champagne. Cheer cheer cheers cheers cheers, to me, not you. Just me.
“I bet you thought it hit me deep, took me about a week.
“Ask me if I’ve ever faked it, you know that I did.”
As well as taking swipes at former flames, the singer, whose nickname is Mimi, also uses Here For It All to play into claims she’s a diva.
The record opens with Mi, in which she sings: “I don’t care about much if it ain’t about me, let the money talk first, conversations ain’t free. I’m the D.I.V.A that’s MC.
“Diamonds in my hair, that’s luxury. I’m a bad bitch but I’m good company.”
Away from the bravado, Here For It All also includes some of Mariah’s strongest vocals in years.
Stand-out song In You Feelings is reminiscent of Whitney Houston‘s I Have Nothing.
‘Pay for heartache’
Mariah pines: “I thought we could fly. Guess you’re probably scared of heights. I’ll let you go. Watching him walk out, let myself fall down. Why do we feel so estranged?
“Pay for my heartache, we are back where we started. I can’t keep playing these games.”
As for Mariah’s favourite? The title track Here For It All.
Speaking about the record, Mariah said: “It’s a very eclectic mix of music and the reason I named it Here For It All is because my favourite song on the album is called Here For It All.
“I made it the last song in the sequence. And I’m just hoping that people would listen to it because of that, like, ‘Oh, it’s interesting, it’s the title, let’s see.’ I love that song so much.
“It’s a ballad, then it goes into a mid-tempo and then it goes into a gospel thing. So I wanted to make sure people heard it.”
But it won’t be long until the Queen of Christmas is back singing bops without as much barb, because she will kick off her festive Las Vegas residency at Dolby Live in November.
