Ranking My Top 10 Favorite Mariah Carey Videos
Happy Anniversary Mimi!!!
Mariah Carey is officially the songbird supreme, but did you know that she invented looking sexy in music videos??? It’s true! Look it up in the bible: Kiaralations 3:16! Thats why for her anniversary today I decided to rank my favorite videos of hers!
Truthfully, I just don’t think she gets enough credit for her music videos. Mama literally jumped off a balcony into a pool and then rode a jet ski into a helicopter in the Honey video and then had the nerve to film ANOTHER version of her INSIDE the helicopter!!! Like????Where is her Video Vanguard Award???? What’s funny is I actually like the Bad Boy Remix version better because I love the brown two-piece outfit she wears.
These are just MY personal favorites, not what I think are necessarily her best. Honey isn’t even on this list but if I were making a best music video list it would definitely be on there. This is about to be a very clear view into my psyche so just get ready. Make sure you listen to my Mimi Essentials playlist today in honor of her Anniversary Dahhling!
Honorable Mention
Aud Lang Syne (2010)
The amount of joy that this video brings me alone grants this honorary mention placement. This is Mariah at her most Mariah. She’s however many months pregnant with Roc and Roe, she’s laughing, she’s festive, she’s in front of a green screen, she’s whistling, she’s wearing my entire college debt as jewelry, what more could you want? I do not acknowledge other versions of this song. Personally, I think when everyone gets tired of her being the Queen of Christmas, she should pivot to being the Queen of NYE! If I ever become famous; I want to be what Mariah is to Christmas, but for NYE. I can’t thank her enough for having so many Christmas songs and also having a song I can listen to on MY favorite holiday. So generous.
10. Fantasy (Remix) (1995)
This is the first music video that Mariah ever directed. She was tired of people getting her shit wrong! Not to mention it is the definition of a classic. She didn’t invent putting rappers on pop songs, but I feel like she popularized it for her time. This is one of the best duets of all time! ODB walked into a mall saw that wig and said “I wanna make history” and that’s what this is.
9. Crybaby ft. Snoop Dogg (1999)
The Jazz Agenda!!!! Probably my favorite song on Rainbow. This woman said, “Trying to find relief on the radio…and the next song I hear is the song I wrote.” A LOT OF YOU BITCHES CAN’T SAY THAT! This was 1999 mind you! Mama already had enough hits to be able to retroactively talk about them years later! When will your fav ever?!?! Mosty, I have never been able to get over how she is just screaming for the last two and a half minutes. As an expert lamb, I could probably sing this song my sleep. One day I will get very drunk and sing this after a bad breakup at karaoke I just know it. This is also where that iconic picture on the bed eating the lollypop comes from. If you look on Davey’s Instagram (@selenawandadavis) he actually was there with her that day. True story!
8. Touch My Body (2008)
When I found out this guy played Fix Tt Felix in the Wreck it Ralph movie my first thought was “omg the guy from the Touch My Body video!” No, I have not seen 30 Rock. The silver dress she wears is honestly the reason this is above crybaby. Every time I see it, it just awakens something inside of me. I need one just like it. She just looks so GOOD my god. Also, it showcases her funny side! People don’t give her enough credit for how funny she is when she’s not being shady. Could have gone without the pink dress she wears with my horse but that’s just me!
7. Boy (I Need You) (2001)
A very underrated video to go with a very underrated song! I’m pretty sure she filmed this in Japan. She has a HUGE fanbase there it’s actually insane (see: live performances at the tokyo dome.) She probably wouldn’t do the chopstick hairstyle today but it was 2001 and the girls had other things to be worried about! That is my favorite placement of butterflies in this video though….. Every single look in this video is incredible but my favorite is the one with the matching denim skirt and jacket that has the pink fuzz at the end. I’m sorry Cam’ron but I think she kinda ate you up on your own song…….
6. It’s Like That (2005)
One of the best album openers of all time. And when I get “Them chickens is ash and I’m lotion” tattooed on me what then? I just love any song where Mimi is talking her shit. My favorite look is black cut out number she has in the middle of the video with them long ass extensions and her hair is straightened to perfection. I feel like this is just a dramatized version of how she met Tommy Mottola and how she wishes a young man would have come and saved her. Not to mention it’s the pt.1 to the We belong together video. There are throughlines people!
5. Loverboy Remix (2001)
Glitter had just bombed. The Twin Towers literally got bombed. She had just got exposed for going to a mental health facility (that she had no business going into, but she gets into that in her book.) She had one chance to make history and she thankfully did. I also need every single outfit in this video specifically the racing one. She was PEAK white passing here. I implore everyone to go and listen to the Glitter soundtrack because the movie doesn’t even matter once you realize that we got this album out of it. Somebody tells Mariah to stop playing and release this damn video officially! This is a mess!
4. Heartbreaker (W/Jay-Z) ft. Jay-Z (1999)
Specifically, the version where Jay-Z is there and not the cartoon for the bridge. Now miss ma’am was acting!! Idc!! I may or may not want to get into crocheting because I want to make myself a replica of this top. She infamously claims that she started the trend of ripping the top off your jeans because she did that for this video. Fun fact: this was Jay-Z’s first number one hit. So, let’s just remember Mariah put him on when we start to have these best rapper conversations okay? Another Fun fact: Jackie Chan choreographed the fight scene with her and “Bianca” in the bathroom.
3. Breakdown (1997)
It’s the cowboy hat for me. This is one of the saddest songs I've ever heard, and she still manages to look beautiful. If I didn’t think these next two songs were also underrated, I would say it’s her most underrated video. Every shot is just stunning. This song will always be the first song I play when I’m sad. “You called yesterday to basically say that you care for me but that you’re just not in love” Talk about relatable sheesh Mimi. I will never understand how someone could say that to Mariah Carey but as we know men are fucking stupid.
2. The Roof (Back in Time) (1997)
I think this is genuinely one of the best R&B songs ever made. People have been trying and failing to do what Mariah did on her album Butterfly for years! If you are a true music nerd, then you should at least know the significance of this album. If you are a true lamb, then you should know and love this song. The use of the Mobb Deep sample came from when she was come back home from hanging out with Derek Jeter (whom this song is about), Shook Ones (Part II) came on the radio, and she got the idea for the song. She looks so beautiful in this video even with that weird ass wig she decides to wear in one of the scenes. The longing that this song makes me feel is ridiculous. I was not on this roof that night but at this point I’ve streamed this song so many times I feel like I was! Derek and Mariah briefly dated while Mariah was separating from Tommy Mottola. She recalls it being more like puppy love, but she was really smitten with him. I get it Mimi he was really cute in the 90s! She remembers their relationship as being the first time she actually felt romantic feelings for someone. She hilariously points out in her book that she doesn’t know why Tommy thought those love songs she was singing when they were married were about him! For some bonus fun I implore everyone to listen to the song Did I Do That on Rainbow. No one can tell me Did I Do That isn’t about Tommy. Recently Mariah remade the song with Brandy in her butterfly lounge for her Master Class in singing. I don’t like this version more than the original but it’s fun for a little bonus moment!
1. Up Out My Face ft Nicki Minaj (2011)
Gun to my head, 10 seconds to live, you ask me what my favorite Mariah Carey song is, I will probably say this one. It’s just such a MOOD! Sometimes up out my face is really all you need to say! This was such a simpler time when her and Nicki were “friends.” Two years before their beef on American Idol. At least Nicki recognized how significant this song was for her when she thanked Mariah during her VMAs Video Vanguard Award acceptance speech. I was shocked but, as she fucking should!! Mariah did not have to put her on this song! Yet, this song would not mean nearly as much to me if Nicki wasn’t on it. It is the perfect collaboration. Probably the best bridge in this history of songs. The ad libs. THE VIDEO (even though we could have done without the Target boarders tho.) She looks incredible. I can sing this song in my sleep. My favorite look is probably her in the nurse outfit with those pigtails. Second is the red dress because my GOD she has bodyodyody!! I think part of the reason this song didn’t go #1 is because you have to listen a bunch of times to figure out what she’s saying!!
Not one but TWO Nicki verses! She even showed up for the video! Also, the subtle stomp on the ground Mariah does when Nicki says “M&Ms in a yellow bag.” Its the shade subtle darling!! Eminem pissed her off so bad that she shades him in not one but two songs on the same album!! That’s why I personally do not give a single fuck about that man, and he will never mean anything to me as a person or rapper.
It’s a Wrap is having its moment in the spotlight when will Up out my Face have its moment!! I need you girls who understand how to use TikTok to get on this!! When me and my friend went to the 2019 VMAs they locked our phones in those little pouches and we didn’t know any other way to pass the time than singing this song over and over. That is one of the fondest memories I have of this song. Whenever a man inevitably pisses me off or ghosts me, just know I played this song to get over it.
This song is to me what steroids are to cheating ass athletes. It picks me up when i’m down. It’s the best friend you wish you had. That’s why when making this list I already knew what was going to be #1. If YouTube had a end of year wrapped this would be number one no question. Every time it autoplay’s I have to let it play it’s the law! One can only hope that something will happen where she has to acknowledge this songs existence, but until then I will be keeping the legacy alive 👩🏿⚖️