M.C. Ya'll

There was a brief moment in time when the batcase known as Mariah Carey was actually cool. A sliver of a moment when she was hip, refined, and sexy. That sliver, know as the Butterfly album phase, was all about Mariah reclaiming her independence and breaking out of the pop bubble. She was freeing herself from the shackles that bound her, namely Tommy Matolla, and embracing a doper, iller, fresher alter ego (and this was before alter-egos were Sasha Fierce popular)-- M.C.


M.C. wasn't afraid to show her body, express her sexuality, and experiment with a broader set of reference points on camera. Her look for this album, both in promotional photos and videos, was influenced by a retro pin-up girl aesthetic. From the sailor costumes in the Honey video, to the simple black slinky number in My All , its clear that our girl was trying to glam herself up to become a retro diva, an image which fit a lot better with the overall sultry range she vocally explored on the Butterfly album.

The tour de force of the album, visually and sonically by far, was the Mobb Deep sampled "The Rooftop". M.C. is definitely crushin' in this one without a doubt. The art direction is beyond dope! Deep maroons and navys blend well with flashes of both artificial and natural lighting. The styling of the video was all about recreating the late 70s early 80s pin-up look. The puffer windbreaker, the jordache jeans, big disco curls and platforms-- M.C. in full effect ya'll! I have always been really stylistically inspired by this vid, and I think it has stood the test of time beautifully. Everytime I catch a peak of Mimi's current day, Nick Cannon holding, hoochie pants wearing self, I think back to this video and the sliver of time when Mimi was M.C.!