Background
With Daydream, Carey began incorporating contemporary R&B and hip hop into her music, something very noticeable in "Fantasy". After Carey began writing songs for her new album Daydream, she decided to include the hook from the Tom Tom Club song "Genius of Love" into an up-tempo song. Afterwards, Carey and Hall began incorporating the sample into the lyrics and melody she had already produced. Carey described how the idea to sample the song became reality:
I was listening to the radio and heard 'Genius of Love', and I hadn't heard it in a long time. It reminded me of growing up and listening to the radio and that feeling the song gave me seemed to go with the melody and basic idea I had for "Fantasy". I initially told Dave about the idea, and we did it. We called up the Tom Tom Club and they were really into it.
Carey recalled how the writers of the song were really intrigued by the idea of Carey sampling the song, and immediately signed over the rights. After Carey presented Hall with the sample, the chorus and beat, he developed a familiar groove that he felt would "highlight Carey's voice." After they completed the song, Carey's husband and CEO of Columbia, Tommy Mottola listened to "Fantasy" and agreed to include it on the album. The cover of the single was shot by top fashion photographer Steven Meisel. A cropped version of the photograph was used as the album cover as well. Hall described his experience with writing the song with Carey:
was a fun song to do. Mariah brought me 'Genius of Love' and I laid some strings on it and put it into a groove I felt really fit and highlighted her voice. And that song didn't take us but a minute to do, because she really busted that out within two days. We did a rough copy and let Tommy Mottola hear it and he loved it, so all we had to do was bring it back in and mix it.
Read more about this topic: Fantasy (Mariah Carey Song)
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