Mariah Carey Theory of Relativity: E=MC2

That other "MC", Mariah Carey, has been making the rounds the past few weeks on talk shows and performed her new song on American Idol. In fact, last week's Idol featured the contestants singing Mariah's work. Mariah's last album "The Emancipation of Mimi" sold over 12 million copies after it arrived in 2005. Her new album just dropped last week entitled "E=MC2" on Island Records, and debuted at #1. She's finally enjoying career success once again after her stories of downfall where she had an emotional breakdown, the movie Glitter, a canceled record deal with Virgin, a divorce from her Sony president hubby and her overall questionable image. In a recent UK Guardian interview, Paul Morley talked to the 38 year old pop princess. Here's an excerpt from that interview, discussing Mariah's perceived image: We're sat in front of a large blow-up of the cover for her new album E = MC2, which uses the idea of a sultry, provocative Mariah draped in nothing but a feather boa. Selling yourself so blatantly as a sex object surely distracts from you being taken in any way seriously as an entertainer, or the kind of expressive, inventive soul singer you want to be seen as, and plays into the slimy hands of those who like to reduce you to a cartoon, a figure of fun, a dumb female money-making puppet. 'To be honest, I just like to have fun with my covers. It's like playing dress up. I call myself eternally 12, because I am, and if I was 12 that would be the photo I would like to have of me. I have pictures of me at eight on a piano wearing a boa. But at nine I was reading Norman Mailer on Marilyn Monroe ... The funny thing is ... and you're probably going to be, "Yeah, right," but honestly, this is how I would dress whatever I did, if I was a waitress or whatever. I dress this way not because I'm a promiscuous person ... and on the album cover I'm just selling the idea that I like the boa and it's festive and it's got freaking pink lettering because I like pink and I've turned Einstein's Theory of Relativity into my album title. It's not that deep, it's not that tacky. It is what it is. I've taken so long to be able to have fun with this, so I am now.' The interview has much more to say about the pop princess. Read the rest of Paul Morely meets Mariah Carey at Guaridan.co.uk.