Background and Recording
While Carey was writing and recording Daydream in early 1995, she began searching for different producers, in order to give her work a new sound. Jermaine Dupri, who had risen to fame during that period, began working with Carey on material for her album. After recording the song in December 1994, Carey recalled that she chose to work with Dupri because he had a "very distinct vibe." Additionally, Carey commissioned the assistance of hip-hop and contemporary R&B producer, Manuel Seal. As Seal played different keys on the piano, Carey led him with the melody she was "hearing inside her head" and began humming the phrase "always be my baby." In an interview with Fred Bronson, Carey discussed the process it took to write and produce the song:
"Jermaine, Manuel and I sat down and Jermaine programmed the drums. I told him the feel I wanted and Manuel put his hands on the keyboards and I started singing the melody. We went back and forth with the bridge and the B-section. I had the outline of the lyrics and started singing 'Always be my baby' off the top of my head."
Like producers before him, Dupri commended Carey's vocal abilities, "she can pretty much do anything with her voice. She's really strong vocally." Another musical craft the song featured was the inclusion of heavy background vocals of her lower registers, with Carey then belting and singing the higher notes over the her background vocals and melody, creating a "double voice effect." When discussing the technique used in the background vocals, Carey said:
"The background vocals are an important part of the picture for me. That's why I like to do them myself a lot of the time, or initially I'll lay down the tracks. I'll double my voice or do a couple of tracks of my own voice. It's easy for me to match my voice. And then if I'm going to use other background singers, I'll let them go on top of mine.
Read more about this topic: Always Be My Baby
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