Throwback Thursday: Mariah Carey – “Fantasy”

Throwback Thursday: Mariah Carey – “Fantasy”

March is Women’s History Month, so throughout this month, the TBT posts will feature historic songs by women.

This week’s selection is Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy,” which was the lead single from her fourth studio album, Daydream. Written and produced by Mariah and Dave Hall, the song samples Tom Tom Club’s “Genius of Love” and its iconic remix features Ol’ Dirty Bastard and additional production from Diddy. The remix marked a turning point in Mariah’s career and in pop music at large: It was her first collaboration with a rapper, and due to its immense popularity, established the singer-rapper collabo as the standard for top 40 radio.

The focus of this post, however, is the original version, which is the one I prefer. The ODB verses are dope, but the one major flaw of the remix is that it doesn’t keep the original chorus. The original “Fantasy” hook is one you can’t help but sing along to, and no matter what anyone says, that is the mark of a good song.

The song was so good that it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the first song by a woman to accomplish this feat and the second overall (following Michael Jackson’s “You Are Not Alone”). The song went on to spend eight weeks at No. 1, making it one of Mariah’s biggest hits. And almost a quarter-century later, it still bangs. A sweet fantasy, indeed.