Random J Playlist: Mariah Carey - A Gospel Moment

Whilst Mariah is known for her whistle, her ballads, that Christmas song and high maintenance lifestyle, a constant in her career which oft gets overlooked is Gospel. Gospel music has been a part of the fabric of Mariah's music since the very beginning of her career, and there are traces of it in pretty much every album she's put out. The Lambs know the Gospel through-line is there and acknowledge it, but it's not something that the mainstream always does.

Given that Mariah was marketed as a Pop star first and that the Gospel angle, or any religious angle for that matter, isn't the most marketable for any artist wanting to go mainstream and achieve mass stardom. But I think it's a real shame that Mariah's Gospel forays get brushed under the carpet. It's another example of a key component of Mariah's artistry which gets put in the footnotes, much like her songwriting and her impact on music and the ways in which she helped shaped it.

For an artist that many thought was white to come out the gates signed to a big ass label like Columbia, with an album which had a Gospel ass song like "Vanishing", and then release a flat out Gospel bop like "Make it Happen" for her second album is a far bigger deal than it was ever made out to be. Mariah was taking risks in plain sight.

So here's a playlist to shed a light on all of Mariah's Gospel and Gospel adjacent songs. And quite frankly, we could all use a playlist of songs to soothe and uplift us.

In the words of Mariah Carey, no matter how bad shit gets, you gotta try and pick yourself up, and make (sh)it happen.

🎧 Listen: Spotify | YouTube Music

💿 Album reviews: Caution | Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse | Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel | E=MC² | Glitter
🔊 More Mariah playlists: Mariah Carey featuring... | Merry Christmas, from Mariah
🎛️ A mashup that nobody asked for: Mariah Carey x Sonic the Hedgehog