Mariah Carey has just released her new album, Here For It All, and seems to be taking it a step further with her rumored boo, Anderson .Paak.
The elusive chartreuse has given fans her 16th studio album with heavy-hitting features like Kehlani, The Clark Sisters, and Shenseea; however, one guest appearance really has tongues wagging. On the flirty track “Play This Song”, Mimi collaborates with Silk Sonic frontman Anderson .Paak, on what some fans are calling confirmation of their rumored romance.
In a recent sit-down with Gayle King, the 56-year-old icon shied away from putting a label on what she and her maybe-boo are.
“He just likes to hold my hand,” she said. “He just grabs my hand — I don’t know what he’s doing—but it’s something special.”
.Paak seemed to take it all in stride by referring to himself as “her professional hand holder” after the interview. It’s nice to see a man knowing his role and playing it well when it comes to being paired with a legend. Carey also took time to address her ex-husband and co-parent Nick Cannon during her interview with King. When asked how she manages raising their twins—Moroccan and Monroe, 14—she responded the way only Mariah can.
“Hmmm,” Carey said. “I kinda feel like it’s best if I don’t talk about him because he can just be in his own world. No offense to him”
We may have finally gotten a Mariah quote that holds a candle to the infamous “I don’t know her” she once used to describe J Lo. Nonetheless, fans and music critics alike are loving the songbird’s latest musical offering calling it her best work in a decade. Carey herself is calling her current mode her “era of me” and relishing in her status as one of the greatest artists of the century.
“I’m D-I-V-A, that’s MC … I ain’t checked a price since Emancipation Mi … I’m the movie and the muse/and you couldn’t walk a mile in my shoes,” she sings on the album’s opening track, “Mi.”
Not all legends get to stand the tests of time while still releasing new music that’s widely lauded by audiences. 16 albums is no small feat and Mariah has weathered every storm that has come during her 30 year career. When critics wrote her off following the lackluster success of both Glitter and Charmbracelet, Mariah went back her roots and dropped the culturally acclaimed album The Emancipation of Mimi. The album’s lead single, “We Belong Together”, spent an unprecedented fourteen weeks at No.1 on the Billboard charts.
The Emancipation became the highest-selling album of 2005, selling over 10 million copies. Her next offering, E=MC², would also dazzle and please fans with the lead single “Touch My Body” tying her with Elvis Presley as the solo artist with the most number one singles in US music history. That record stood solid before Carey, herself, surpassed it by claiming more number ones in the years following. Still, fans had been desperate for new music from Madame Butterfly after she teased them with rereleases in years prior. Now, it seems, there’s a new era of Mariah and everyone is here for it.
Watch Mariah Carey and Anderon .Paak’s new music video for “Play This Song” below.
