Migrate (Mariah Carey Song) - Composition

Composition

"Migrate" is a fast-paced tempo song, which draws influence from R&B, hip hop and pop music genres. The song is built on a heavy electronic beat, and incorporates whistles and several studio-created synthesizers into its melody. Additionally, the song features the inclusion of auto-tune and several vocal manipulators, which are used heavily on both Carey and T-Pain's vocals. Written by Carey, Nathaniel Hills, Faheem Najim, and Balewa Muhammad, and produced by the former two, the song was described as a "club-banger" by several music reviewers. Sarah Rodman from The Boston Globe described it as "a frivolous, funky, self-referential jam, charts the flight patterns of your modern, fabulously talented urban diva", while several took notice of its electronically crafted production. Carey opens the song with several high notes in the whistle register, before repeating "bounce" several times as the beat kicks in. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by W.B.M. Music Corporation, "Migrate" is set in common time with a tempo of 91 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of G Minor, with Carey's vocal range spanning from the low-note of F♯₃ to the high-note of D₆. The song follows in the chord progression of Bm₇–Am₇–Gmaj₇ Lyrically, the song finds Carey during a night out, migrating from several locations: from the car to the club, from the bar to the V.I.P, from the party to the after-party, and finally to the hotel. According to Brian Hiatt from VH1, she "hops from "my car into the club ... from the bar to VIP ... from the party to the afterparty ... afterparty to hotel" with T-Pain, who urges her to "bounce, bounce, bounce." In his review of the album, The New York Sun's Jayanthi Daniel described the song's lyrics and production:

"Migrate," a hip-hop track about conscious independence on which Ms. Carey sings about living her life without any attachments. Sung in sassy tones over a repeating, upbeat chorus, it's the kind of assured single one would expect from R. Kelly, who's known in no small part for his macho tendencies. "Migrate" displays a confident, social forwardness that is new to Ms. Carey, but it's one that she manages proudly. She's no longer looking for a "Dreamlover" to come and rescue her, as she did in 1993: In "Migrate," she's already rescued, and enjoying the after-party.