Mariah has always been open about being biracial and having a white mother and black/Venezuelan father and getting a lot of grief for never "picking a side".
Yes, I vividly recall Mariah and her mom, Pat, being on Oprah and discussing this very issue. When I saw Mimi in concert (her first tour), her audience evenly reflected her ethnic makeup, which, IMHO, is a wonderful thing.
A lot of people criticized her love for hip hop in the late 90's like she was trying to "claim" her black side, but last time I checked music has no color.
Mimi broached this topic on Charlie Rose. She said that the European press, in particular, were wondering why she was working with hip hop artists. Can't remember if it was with Charlie or another interview but she had a good comeback: in '99, her label frowned on her recording with Jay-Z;
today singers would kill to collaborate with Beyonce's husband. Haha (Sidebar: my French friends, dating back to "Vision Of Love", always thought Mimi was white. But...starting with "Honey", they said in fractured English how Mariah was becoming "urban", hahahahahaha)
Thanks for the Real clip, Peggy. Garcelle is hilarious. "Is there work for me on Telemundo?" I've that happen to me too. Not being mistaken for a nanny though.
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Glad you enjoyed it; yes, Garcelle cracked me up as well. Gave Tamar a side-eye, though, because there was a little how-could-that-happen-when-all-nannies-are-Hispanic posturing in her reaction to the story. Oh, I haven't been mistaken for the nanny but an elderly white woman did ask me "what agency do you work for?" This was 5 years ago. I was at Bloomingdale's. There was this hat rack. The woman was short and the hat she wanted was way up top. Saw her struggling, asked which hat she wanted and retrieved it for her. She (I'd say in her early 70's) thanked me, I smiled, wished her well and started to leave. "What agency do you work for?", she asked. She saw my confusion. "I can call your agency and give you a good recommendation. What family do you work for?" I politely declined, walking away thinking "it's 2011 and this sh*t still happens". (sigh)
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Keep the faith.
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rmcrae_deluxe
8 years ago
"Yes, I vividly recall Mariah and her mom, Pat, being on Oprah and discussing this very issue. When I saw Mimi in concert (her first tour), her audience evenly reflected her ethnic makeup, which, IMHO, is a wonderful thing."
Here's a clip of it: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoY73Cibpbg. I'd like to get an update on both of those girls.
"Mimi broached this topic on Charlie Rose. She said that the European press, in particular, were wondering why she was working with hip hop artists. Can't remember if it was with Charlie or another interview but she had a good comeback: in '99, her label frowned on her recording with Jay-Z; today singers would kill to collaborate with Beyonce's husband. Haha (Sidebar: my French friends, dating back to "Vision Of Love", always thought Mimi was white. But...starting with "Honey", they said in fractured English how Mariah was becoming "urban", hahahahahaha)"
That was a good comeback. I think Mariah popularized the trend of pop artists collaborating with hip hop artists off of the ODB remix of Fantasy. People would've never put the two together before, but they made magic happen.
"Glad you enjoyed it; yes, Garcelle cracked me up as well. Gave Tamar a side-eye, though, because there was a little how-could-that-happen-when-all-nannies-are-Hispanic posturing in her reaction to the story. Oh, I haven't been mistaken for the nanny but an elderly white woman did ask me "what agency do you work for?" This was 5 years ago. I was at Bloomingdale's. There was this hat rack. The woman was short and the hat she wanted was way up top. Saw her struggling, asked which hat she wanted and retrieved it for her. She (I'd say in her early 70's) thanked me, I smiled, wished her well and started to leave. "What agency do you work for?", she asked. She saw my confusion. "I can call your agency and give you a good recommendation. What family do you work for?" I politely declined, walking away thinking "it's 2011 and this sh*t still happens". (sigh)"
Don't eva let nobody tell you you ain't strong enough
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Poetist
8 years ago
Mimi broached this topic on Charlie Rose. She said that the European press, in particular, were wondering why she was working with hip hop artists. Can't remember if it was with Charlie or another interview but she had a good comeback: in '99, her label frowned on her recording with Jay-Z; today singers would kill to collaborate with Beyonce's husband. Haha (Sidebar: my French friends, dating back to "Vision Of Love", always thought Mimi was white. But...starting with "Honey", they said in fractured English how Mariah was becoming "urban", hahahahahaha)
Sorry, I'm late to the party, but Mariah had no one to blame but herself. Since, the early part of her career she was hesitant to mentioned her dad was black. She would give this long list of her mixture and then end with Venezuelan.
I'm glad she finally gain some courage to be herself, and if it were others influencing her decision, I'm glad she broke away from that.
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