Top RnB Songs 2009

By: Roger Friedman

Foreigner’s Mick Jones can start ordering caviar and Champagne again:
Mariah Carey is releasing her own gospel-tinged version of his
masterwork song, “I Want to Know What Love Is.”

It’s the first
“real” single from her new album following the summer release of the
witty “Obsessed,” which is also included on “Memoirs of an Imperfect
Angel.” The album and the single hit the world on Sept. 29th.

I heard the Foreigner song yesterday along with all of “Memoirs” and let
me tell you: Mariah’s got a hit on her hands along the lines of
“Emancipation of Mimi “The hour-long CD is ballad-centric. Written and
produced with The Dream and Tricky (I know, but these are their stage
names), “Memoirs” boasts a lot of singles. Starting with the Foreigner
song is a canny move in these uncertain times. By the time its run is
over, a new generation will think “I Want to Know What Love Is” is a
Mariah Carey song.

Mick Jones, who wrote it, should start picking out some nice new cars thanks to Carey. The money should come rolling in quickly.

The other songs on the album — these are the titles, although the running
order is still being finalized: “Betcha,” “Obsessed,” “H.A.T.E.U.,”
“Candy Bling,” “Ribbon,” “Standing O’s.,” “Impossible,” “It’s a Wrap,”
“Inseparable,” “Up Out My Face,” “More than Just Friends,” and “Angels
Cry.”

Several of these are radio ready.
“Angels Cry” is an
honest-to-god ballad a la “Vision of Love,” and should be a gigantic
success. “Standing O’s” also has potential, as do “H.A.T.E.U.” — which
stands for “having a typical emotional upset” — and “Inseparable.”

Island
Def Jam’s L.A. Reid — who previewed the CD for the first time
yesterday with a clutch of staffers — is playing with the order, to
get it right. But he really can’t go wrong. Carey’s album, is, as they
used to say, “what the kids want.” Plus, it’s got stuff for the
slightly older crowd. I loved the doo-woppy “It’s a Wrap.” And the
Foreigner track is so powerful, it’s going to be everywhere.

Good news, too: no more songs about Eminem. One was plenty.

So,
by the end of September we’ll have new CDs from Whitney and from
Mariah. They’re each top notch and different from each other enough
that their fans should want them both. Maybe we’ll see a return to
record stores (we have but a few in Manhattan now) and diva duels on
radio if programmers are smart.