Writing and Recording
Having intended to work with Kanye West in the past, Carey collaborated with him on "Stay the Night". During one of her routine visits to the recording studio, Carey produced a beat with The Legendary Traxster. She later met American rapper Twista backstage at one of his shows. After discussing her collaboration with Traxter, Twista revealed that he had already written lyrics, and expressed interest in what later became "One and Only". By November, Carey felt that she had composed enough material for The Emancipation of Mimi. After Reid listened to the album, he suggested the singer compose a few more strong singles to ensure the project's commercial success. Based on Reid's recommendation, Carey met with Jermaine Dupri in Atlanta for a brief studio session, since she had written some of her best work with him. During this two-day trip, the two wrote and produced "Shake It Off" and "Get Your Number", which were released as the album's third and fourth singles. Following this recording session, "Shake It Off" was briefly selected as the album's lead single, replacing the other contenders "Stay The Night" and "Say Somethin'". Carey later returned to Atlanta for a second meeting with Dupri; they then penned the last two songs for the album: "We Belong Together" and "It's Like That". In an interview for Billboard, Carey described her sentiments regarding "It's Like That" during the production stage:
I had the chills. I had a great feeling about it when we finished writing the song, and I was flying back from Atlanta at some crazy hour of the morning ... But we were listening to it on the plane ride on the way home, and even from the demo version, I really felt something very special.
Carey and her management then decided to release "It's Like That", which Carey called "the right fire-starter", as the album's lead single. "I am so grateful I went to Atlanta," Carey later reminisced about her experience with Dupri. The singer praised Dupri for being "focused", and felt that together they had composed some of her favorite songs on the album. Carey told MTV, "The album is not about making the older executives happy by making a bring-down-the-house, tearjerker ballad, or steeped in the media dramas of my life. What I tried to do was keep the sessions very sparse, underproduced, like in '70s soul music ... " According to Reid, Carey intended for the album to feature a more unpolished sound than her previous releases. The singer described her frustration with the overproduction on many of her previous albums, due to the inclusion of what she considered unnecessary "bells and whistles". Carey opted to record the majority of The Emancipation of Mimi live. Following its recording, Reid felt that the live vocals made the album sound more authentic, whereas on older records, he heard the singer's voice, but not her spirit. Although usually opting to lay her vocals down in privacy, she was eventually joined by Snoop Dogg and Nelly at the recording studio.
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