Sweetheart (Mariah Carey Song)
American singer Mariah Carey recorded a cover version with American rapper Jermaine Dupri (credited as JD) for his debut album, Life in 1472 (1998), and her first greatest hits album, #1's (1998). So So Def and Columbia Records released it as the third single from the former album on September 7, 1998. Carey was inspired to create a remake of "Sweetheart" as she liked listening to the song as a teenage girl. Critics categorized the cover as a dance, hip-hop, and R&B song, and its instrumental features synths and bass runs. The lyrics describe a woman's desire for a person with whom to share a romance.
"Sweetheart" was promoted with a music video directed by Hype Williams in Spain. Although American and British music magazines predicted it would experience success on major record charts, its performance in those countries was restricted to the US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 and UK club charts due to the absence of a commercial release. It fared better in mainland Europe, where it charted in the top twenty on Dutch, German, and Swiss record charts. In reviewing "Sweetheart", music critics focused on Carey's vocal performance, Dupri's rapping style, and the cover's perceived sexual nature.
Rainy Davis original
"Sweetheart" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Rainy Davis | ||||
from the album Sweetheart | ||||
Released | 1986 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 6:56 | |||
Label | SuperTronics | |||
Songwriter(s) |
| |||
Producer(s) |
| |||
Rainy Davis singles chronology | ||||
|
"Sweetheart" is a freestyle, hip hop pop, and synth-funk song recorded by American singer Rainy Davis from her debut album, Sweetheart (1987). Davis and Pete Warner wrote the lyrics, composed the melody, and produced it with Dorothy Kessler. It was mixed by Tony Humphries. SuperTronics, a Brooklyn-based independent record label, issued the song in early 1986. A representative from the label stated that the release was part of a strategy to expand beyond promoting songs made for dance clubs by finding and issuing ones suitable for radio airplay. The radio edit has a runtime of three minutes and forty-seven seconds, and the 12-inch vinyl single is six minutes and fifty-six seconds long.
"Sweetheart" appeared on R&B and dance music-based record charts in the United States. According to a 2020 Billboard article, it experienced minor success on the former. The song peaked at numbers twenty-three, twenty-four, and twenty-seven, respectively, on charts published by Cash Box, Billboard, and Radio & Records magazines. Reflecting on its commercial performance, a writer for the Hartford Advocate newspaper described it as a "huge club/dance hit". In 1986, "Sweetheart" ranked at number thirty-two on Billboard's year-end 12-inch Singles Sales chart.
Critics commented on the song's production and Davis's vocals. Upon its single release in 1986, Billboard published several reviews. The magazine as a whole described it as "rhythmically intricate", dance writer Brian Chin favored the song's "unpressured beat and nice overall polish", and R&B writer Nelson George compared Davis's vocals to those of Lisa Lisa on Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam's "I Wonder If I Take You Home". Writing for the Hartford Advocate in 1987, George Lane named it the best song on Sweetheart for its restrained production which he thought showcased her voice well.
Chart (Publisher) | Peak position |
---|---|
12-inch Singles Sales (Billboard) | 13 |
Club Play (Billboard) | 42 |
Hot Black Singles (Billboard) | 24 |
12-inch Dance Singles (Cash Box) | 15 |
Black Contemporary (Cash Box) | 23 |
Black/Urban (Radio & Records) | 27 |
Chart (Publisher) | Peak position |
---|---|
12 Inch Singles Sales (Billboard) | 32 |
Jermaine Dupri and Mariah Carey version
"Sweetheart" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Single by Jermaine Dupri and Mariah Carey | ||||
from the album Life in 1472 and #1's | ||||
Released | September 7, 1998 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 4:22 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) |
| |||
Producer(s) | ||||
Jermaine Dupri singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Mariah Carey singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music video | ||||
"Sweetheart" on YouTube |
Background
According to Carey, after divorcing Sony Music CEO Tommy Mottola following the release of her sixth studio album Butterfly (1997), she negotiated an exit from Columbia Records. The earliest release from the multi-year deal was her greatest hits album, #1's. As Columbia planned to release it for the 1998 Christmas shopping season, Carey did not want the album's release to come across as purely commercial. She included four new songs, one of which was a cover of "Sweetheart". Carey felt that covering a song she liked as a teenager in school would be appreciated by other young girls. She conceptualized the remake with Dupri, with whom she had collaborated on songs such as "Always Be My Baby". The duet was announced in February 1998 to be included on his debut studio album Life in 1472, which was released that July. In November, it appeared as the first song on #1's.
Music and lyrics
The single version of "Sweetheart" is four minutes and twenty-two seconds long. Commentators classified it as a dance, hip-hop, and R&B song. It also contains elements of electro-funk and pop music. Dana Jon Chappelle and Brian Frye recorded the cover at KrossWire Studio in Atlanta, Georgia, and The Hit Factory and Right Track Recording in New York. Trey Lorenz, Melonie Daniels, and MaryAnn Tatum provided background vocals. The song was produced by Dupri and Carey, mixed by Dupri and Phil Tan at Silent Sound Studios in Atlanta, and mastered by Bernie Grundman. In a 2018 interview regarding his production discography, Dupri named "Sweetheart" the song he most wished to redo as he "would have made it a little more ghetto".
The lyrics of the song describe a woman's desire for a person with whom to share a romance. Carey yearns, "Baby, won't you be my sweetheart / And we could share a storybook romance", to which Dupri responds through ad-libs and a rapped verse. Synths and bass runs are featured prominently throughout the song. They disappear during the bridge as Carey sings, "A full moon is waiting in the twilight". An explicit introduction in the album version of the song on Life in 1472, in which Carey talks to Dupri on the phone about "fucking", is omitted in subsequent releases.
Release
"Sweetheart" was promoted as the third single from Life in 1472 and the lead single from #1's. So So Def and Columbia Records released it to American urban contemporary radio stations on September 7, 1998, followed by rhythmic contemporary stations eight days later. A commercial release in the United States scheduled for September 29 was retracted for unspecified reasons and instead distributed for free with the purchase of #1's. Spin reported that DreamWorks and Arista Records were concerned that the song might cannibalize sales of their impending release, Carey's duet with Whitney Houston, "When You Believe".
Dupri, Carl-So-Lowe, Lil Jon, Mark Picchiotti, and Eddie Arroyo produced remixes that appeared on several releases. In the United Kingdom, Columbia issued a promotional 12-inch vinyl of the Picchiotti mixes. Sony Music Taiwan released a commercial CD maxi single subtitled "The Story" on October 14, 1998, followed by Sony Music Japan on November 6, 1998. CD and CD maxi singles were issued in Belgium on November 2, 1998. The Lil Jon remix was later included on an enhanced CD of Carey's 1999 single "Heartbreaker". The song appears on some of Carey's subsequent compilation albums such as Greatest Hits (2001) and The Remixes (2003). In September 2020, as part of her campaign anticipating The Rarities, a digital extended play of "Sweetheart" was released.
Critical reception
Critics commented on Carey's vocal performance and Dupri's rapping, many praising Carey's restrained singing style. Writing for the Popular Music and Society journal, Vincent Stephens thought this helped make "Sweetheart" one of her best R&B songs. According to Ron Rollins of the Dayton Daily News, it demonstrates her confidence in her vocal abilities. Other reviewers commented on how well Dupri's rapping complemented Carey's singing, and some argued that the song was more a showcase for Carey than Dupri. The Baltimore Sun's J. D. Considine said "Carey's effortless carnality makes Jermaine Dupri's sex-obsessed rap seem almost silly". In contrast, Time's Christopher John Farley felt the two complemented each other well. Andrew Unterbeger of Billboard echoed similar comments in a 2020 retrospective review. The incorporation of hip-hop elements in "Sweetheart" was also analyzed; in the view of Boston Globe writer Joan Anderman, they come across as sanitized.
The song's sensuality was another topic of commentary. Critics described Carey's vocals as sexy and likened her personality in "Sweetheart" to that of a vixen, a dirtier version of Lisa Lisa, and a submissive Barbie doll. A few argued the song was well-suited to erotic dancing, deemed "booty-bouncing" and a strip club anthem. Others gauged how explicit the song's lyrics were: Richard Harrington of The Washington Post opined it was more toned-down than other songs on Life in 1472; The Philadelphia Inquirer's Tom Moon felt was more explicit than most songs discussing sex. In The Indianapolis Star, Scott L. Miley said Carey's romantic advances were "unflattering".
Commercial performance
Music magazines predicted "Sweetheart" would thrive on record charts. British publication Music Week described it as the song on Life in 1472 most suited to commercial success. In the United States, Billboard thought it would be the most-played song on pop and R&B radio stations in late 1998. Following its radio release, eligibility for the US Billboard Hot 100 chart was changed to include non-commercial releases and airplay data from R&B stations. In the first week of the rule change on December 5, 1998, it entered the Bubbling Under Hot 100 at number twenty-five and remained on the chart for one week. Writing for Complex in 2013, David Drake said that the song underperformed compared to Carey's 1998 standards and questioned Sony's decision to cancel the September 29 commercial release. Internationally, "Sweetheart" peaked within the top twenty of record charts in Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Remixes peaked at number sixteen on the UK Record Mirror Club Chart published by Music Week.
Music video
![A side view of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/Bilbao_-_Guggenheim_aurore.jpg/260px-Bilbao_-_Guggenheim_aurore.jpg)
The song was promoted with a music video directed by Hype Williams. Like with many music videos for other songs by Carey such as "Honey" (1997), the video for "Sweetheart" features an exotic setting. It was shot at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, in August 1998. As with other media projects filmed there, the Guggenheim was chosen for its unique appearance; Williams persuaded Carey to travel there after showing her pictures of the building. Williams had often used a fisheye lens to produce perspective distortion in past music videos, but he did not use it for "Sweetheart" because the Guggenheim, an example of architecture in the deconstructivist style, is inherently distorted.
"Sweetheart" depicts Dupri dancing on top of the museum, while Carey twirls in a dress to reveal her underwear and rides on the back of a motorcycle with her lover. She wears a metal mesh outfit that matches the museum's motif. The Morning Call's Paul Willistein called the video "even hotter" than the song itself and The Advertiser felt it would not have been filmed if Carey were still married due to the "sexy, fleshy" visuals. In her book Experiencing Music Video, scholar Carol Vernallis wrote that the Guggenheim represents a departure from the typical iconography of R&B music videos. Irene Nero stated that the video contributed to the museum's perceived celebrity-like status for its many depictions in media.
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Life in 1472 and #1's.
|
|
Charts
|
|
Notes
- ^ Attributed to Vincent Stephens in Popular Music and Society, Ron Rollins of the Dayton Daily News, and the Bristol Post.
- ^ Attributed to Jeff Hall of the Camden Courier-Post and Natalie Nichols of the Los Angeles Times.
- ^ By Larry Flick of Billboard, Vivian Host of the Dallas Morning News, and David Browne of Entertainment Weekly, respectively.
- ^ By Vivian Host of the Dallas Morning News and Brian McCollum of the Detroit Free Press, respectively.
- ^ When "Sweetheart" was released, Carey had a streak of five consecutive number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 dating back to 1995.
References
- ^ Flick, Larry, ed. (September 12, 1998). "Singles". Billboard. p. 32. ProQuest 1506071948.
- ^ Nelson, George (June 7, 1986). "The Rhythm & The Blues". Billboard. p. 25. ProQuest 1286447481.
- ^ Unterberger, Andrew (October 5, 2020). "The 100 Greatest Mariah Carey Songs: Staff Picks". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 19, 2022.
- ^ Lane, George (April 20, 1987). "The New Soul". Hartford Advocate. p. 26. Archived from the original on October 18, 2022. Retrieved October 18, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Sweetheart" (12-inch vinyl). SuperTronics. 1986. RY 013.
- ^ "Dance Trax". Billboard. February 9, 1986. p. 63. ProQuest 1286508330.
- ^ "Despite Hits, New Indies Maintain Narrow Focus". Billboard. June 28, 1986. p. 81. ProQuest 1438643682.
- ^ "Sweetheart" (7-inch vinyl). SuperTronics. 1986. RYS 013.
- ^ "Reviews: Singles". Billboard. March 8, 1986. p. 85. ProQuest 1438651887.
- ^ "Top Black Contemporary Singles". Cash Box. August 9, 1986. p. 15.
- ^ "Billboard Singles". AllMusic. Archived from the original on March 6, 2014.
- ^ "The Back Page: National Airplay". Radio & Records. July 18, 1986. p. 88.
- ^ "Top Dance Sales Singles/Albums". Billboard. December 27, 1986. p. Y-26. ProQuest 1286451231.
- ^ "Top 12" Dance Singles". Cash Box. August 16, 1986. p. 17.
- ^ Carey, Mariah; Davis, Michaela Angela (2020). The Meaning of Mariah Carey. Andy Cohen Books. pp. 215–218. ISBN 978-1-2501-6468-1.
- ^ Shapiro, Marc (2020). Mariah Carey: The Unauthorized Biography. ECW Press. p. 116. ISBN 978-1-55022-444-3.
- ^ Smith, Danyel (November 1998). "The Vibe Q: Higher and Higher". Vibe. p. 95 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Farley, Christopher John (July 20, 1998). "The Hit Man of Atlanta". Time. p. 63 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Samuels, Anita M. (February 21, 1998). "Former Brand New Heavy Has Brand-New Bag; Grammy Tour Explains Music Biz for Students". Billboard. p. 22. ProQuest 1505961225.
- ^ "Dupri Debut". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. July 20, 1998. p. B2 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Ones" (in Japanese). Sony Music Japan. Archived from the original on August 14, 2024. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
- ^ Hall, Jeff (August 14, 1998). "Dupri's First Solo Effort Is Up and Down Affair". Courier-Post. p. 9E. Archived from the original on June 20, 2022. Retrieved June 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Stephens, Vincent (Winter 2000). "Ones". Popular Music and Society. 24 (4): 115-116 [115]. ProQuest 208069971.
- ^ Browne, David (July 31, 1998). "Jermaine Dupri Presents Life in 1472". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020.
- ^ Baker, Soren (July 19, 1998). "Watch Out for Jermaine Dupri". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 18, 2022.
- ^ Life in 1472 (CD liner notes). So So Def Recordings. 1998. 69087.
- ^ #1's (CD liner notes). Columbia Records. 1998. CK 69670.
- ^ Ju, Shirley (2018). "Jermaine Dupri Breaks Down What the Five Essential So So Def Songs Are". Okayplayer. Archived from the original on January 22, 2022.
- ^ Anderman, Joan (November 27, 1998). "Dueling Divas". The Boston Globe. p. D17. Archived from the original on October 19, 2022. Retrieved October 19, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Ex, Kris (September 1998). "Jermaine Dupri Life in 1472". Vibe. p. 284. Retrieved October 18, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Jones, Alan (August 8, 1998). "Chart Commentary". Music Week. p. 20. ProQuest 232187210.
- ^ "Mariah Carey And Jermaine Dupri Get Artistic For New Video". MTV News. August 12, 1998. Archived from the original on December 16, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
- ^ Kadir, Zainal Alam (November 4, 1998). "Contest in Conjunction with Carey's New Album". Life and Times. New Straits Times. p. 4. ProQuest 266398484.
- ^ Jermaine Dupri & Mariah Carey (1998). Sweetheart (CD single liner notes). So So Def. CSK 41331.
- ^ "Addvance Notice". Radio & Records. September 4, 1998. p. 132. ProQuest 1017314194.
- ^ "New Releases". Radio & Records. September 11, 1998. p. 41. ProQuest 1017319067.
- ^ Sandiford-Waller, Theda (September 19, 1998). "Hot 100 Singles Spotlight". Billboard. p. 105. ProQuest 1506072000.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2005). Joel Whitburn's Bubbling Under the Billboard Hot 100 1959–2004. Record Research. p. 49. ISBN 0-89820-162-4.
- ^ Fleischer, Joe (December 1, 1998). "Hush Hush". Spin. p. 73. ProQuest 1286656854.
- ^ "Sweetheart EP". Sony Music and So So Def Recordings. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022 – via Spotify.
- ^ Davis, Sarah (November 7, 1998). "On the Airwaves". Record Mirror. Music Week. p. 3.
- ^ "Sweetheart" (12-inch vinyl). Columbia Records. 1998. XPR 2448.
- ^ "甜心-瑪麗亞凱莉" ["Sweetheart" – Mariah Carey] (in Traditional Chinese). Sony Music Taiwan. Archived from the original on October 18, 2022.
- ^ "スイートハート" ["Sweetheart"] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on May 5, 2022.
- ^ "New Releases This Week". Sony Music Belgium. Archived from the original on March 6, 2000.
- ^ "Heartbreaker" (enhanced CD). Columbia Records. 1999. 668301 2.
- ^ Cinquemani, Sal (December 10, 2001). "Review: Mariah Carey, Greatest Hits". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on November 19, 2021.
- ^ The Remixes (CD liner notes). Columbia Records. 2003. COL 510754 2.
- ^ Lovece, Frank (September 8, 2020). "Mariah Carey Releases Spanish-Language EP". Newsday. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022.
- ^ Rollins, Ron (November 27, 1998). "Recordings on Review". Go!. Dayton Daily News. p. 19. Archived from the original on June 20, 2022. Retrieved June 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Single Reviews". Bristol Post. October 29, 1998. p. 12.
- ^ "Single Reviews". Music Week. September 26, 1998. p. 12.
- ^ Considine, J. D. (November 17, 1998). "Carey Queen of Charts". The Baltimore Sun. p. 5E. Archived from the original on June 20, 2022. Retrieved June 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Nichols, Natalie (November 8, 1998). "Record Rack". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 19, 2022.
- ^ Host, Vivian (August 7, 1998). "For the Record". Weekend Mag. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Dallas Morning News. p. 25. Archived from the original on June 20, 2022. Retrieved June 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ McCollum, Brian (November 17, 1998). "Mariah Carey Collects Her Hits". Detroit Free Press. p. 3E. Archived from the original on June 22, 2022. Retrieved June 27, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Harrington, Richard (August 5, 1998). "Jermaine Dupri Presents Jermaine Dupri". The Washington Post. p. C5. ProQuest 1619984113.
- ^ Moon, Tom (July 28, 1998). "2 Producers Learn Humility". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. D4. Archived from the original on June 22, 2022. Retrieved June 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Miley, Scott L. (August 9, 1998). "Record Picks". The Indianapolis Star. p. I4. Archived from the original on June 20, 2022. Retrieved June 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Urban Cuts". Record Mirror. Music Week. October 3, 1998. p. 5.
- ^ Mayfield, Geoff; Sandiford-Waller, Theda (December 5, 1998). "A New Hot 100 Reflects Changes in Music Business". Billboard. pp. 1, 129. ProQuest 1505960408.
- ^ "Mariah Carey Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 17, 2021.
- ^ "Mariah Carey Chart History (Billboard Hot 100)". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 1, 2022.
- ^ Drake, David (January 29, 2013). "The 30 Best So So Def Songs". Complex. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021.
- ^ "JD & Mariah - "Sweetheart"" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Archived from the original on July 16, 2022.
- ^ "JD & Mariah - "Sweetheart"" (in German). Hung Medien. Archived from the original on October 29, 2021.
- ^ "JD & Mariah - "Sweetheart"" (in Dutch). Stichting Nederlandse Top 40 . Archived from the original on January 1, 2022.
- ^ "The Club Chart". Record Mirror. Music Week. December 5, 1998. p. 5.
- ^ Jones, Steve (October 9, 1998). "Another Life Step: Hitmaker Dupri Inspires His Own Record". USA Today. p. 4E. ProQuest 408742407.
- ^ Barker, Rachael (May 12, 2012). "Six Degrees". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on November 1, 2022.
- ^ Tran, Johnny (2022). "Guggenheim Museum Bilbao". In Bonfitto, Peter Louis (ed.). World Architecture and Society: From Stonehenge to One World Trade Center. Vol. 1. ABC-CLIO. p. 227. ISBN 978-1-4408-6585-5.
- ^ "Carey on Gehry". ARTnews. Vol. 97, no. 9. October 1998. p. 29.
- ^ Cooke, Sekou (2021). Hip-Hop Architecture. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 191. ISBN 978-1-3501-1615-3.
- ^ Taylor, Sam (November 22, 1998). "The Year Mariah Changed Colour". Review. The Observer. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Hot Design". Architectural Record. Vol. 187, no. 2. February 1999. p. 61.
- ^ Willistein, Paul (November 28, 1998). "Disc Reviews". The Morning Call. p. A51. Archived from the original on June 30, 2022. Retrieved June 30, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Mariah Goes Her Own Way". The Advertiser. November 14, 1998 – via Nexis Uni.
- ^ Vernallis, Carol (2004). Experiencing Music Video. Columbia University Press. p. 79. ISBN 0-231-11798-1.
- ^ Nero, Irene (2007). "Baroque Tendencies in Contemporary Architecture: The Guggenheim Bilbao". In Wacker, Kelly A. (ed.). Baroque Tendencies in Contemporary Art. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 191. ISBN 978-1-84718-387-3.
- ^ "JD & Mariah - "Sweetheart"" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Archived from the original on March 1, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
- ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles". Music & Media. December 12, 1998. p. 10.
- ^ "JD & Mariah - "Sweetheart"" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Archived from the original on May 3, 2022.
- ^ "JD & Mariah - "Sweetheart"" (in Swedish). Hung Medien. Archived from the original on January 27, 2021.
- ^ "The Pop Chart". Record Mirror. Music Week. December 5, 1998. p. 6.
- ^ "The Urban Chart". Record Mirror. Music Week. November 7, 1998. p. 6.
- ^ "Dance Airplay Forty". Record Mirror. Music Week. November 28, 1998. p. 3.
- ^ "Crossover Airplay". Top 40 Airplay Monitor. October 30, 1998. p. 24.
- ^ "Mariah Carey Chart History (R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay)". Billboard. Archived from the original on July 18, 2022.
- ^ "Mariah Carey Chart History (Rhythmic Airplay)". Billboard. Archived from the original on April 29, 2022.
- ^ "CHR/Rhythmic Top 50". Radio & Records. December 11, 1998. p. 48. ProQuest 1017318453.
- ^ "Hip-Hop Top 20". Radio & Records. October 30, 1998. p. 50. ProQuest 1017316612.
- ^ "Records Reaching Top 15". Radio & Records. December 11, 1998. p. 60. ProQuest 1017322012.
- ^ "Jaarlijsten 1998" [Year list 1998] (in Dutch). Top 40 Web. Archived from the original on February 7, 2022.
- ^ "Most Played Rhythmic Top 40 Songs of 1998". Airplay Monitor. December 25, 1998. p. 46.
- ^ "98 of 1998". Radio & Records. December 11, 1998. p. 43. ProQuest 1017326961.