Playdar: Mariah Carey Debuts New Single. Love It or Hate It?

This week, butterfly queen Mariah Carey released “#Beautiful,” the lead single from her upcoming 14th studio album. The doo-wop tinged number is a vast improvement over her last two efforts, the snoozefest “Triumphant” and the heavily auto-tuned “Almost Home,” but I have mixed feelings about it.

Baby-makin’-song crooner Miguel guest stars on the track and he seems to take over, at some points leaving Mariah fading into the background. (Ring a bell, Nick Cannon?) Also, vocally it’s just not there for me when compared to her catalog of No. 1’s. I do enjoy the raw feel of the song, and I’m sure it will get tons of airplay this summer, but it’s just not a Mariah single that stirs my inner diva.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Mimi. We all have a special place in our hearts for her, right? I’ll never forget the first time I saw her, in 1990, in that scene from her “Someday” video where she attempts the running man — black unitard and all. But let’s face it, girl just hasn’t been hitting the mark lately. My advice? She needs to stop relying on trends (a hashtag in the song title, Mimi? You’re better than that!) and give us a “Fantasy“-esque single with a “Heartbreaker” video to match.

Check out the song below and let me know what you think. I also threw in a hot Pulse remix of “Triumphant” that almost makes up for its trainwreck of a video. Enjoy!