Dear Mariah Carey,
Would you please put on some clothes.
Everywhere your picture appears, you seem to be taking off an article of clothing.
I just received the March 2003 issue of Vibe magazine, and there you are on the cover, undressing. Zip up that shirt and button those pants. You look like trash.
Besides, we've seen it all before. A couple of years ago, when you appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, you flashed the consumer while wearing that skimpy leopard bikini.
When asked by Spin writer Lola Ogunnaike about your image, which she described as "former-sex-kitten-meets-streetwalker," you said it wasn't real. It was just you "playing dress up."
I take issue with those remarks. First off, your current image hasn't changed. You still have the "sex-kitten-meets-streetwalker" look. Second, how can you call it "dressing up" when it's obviously undressing? Third, you acknowledge in the article that you have 13-year-old fans who emulate everything you do.
So tell me, what kind of message are you sending them?
After I read the Spin article, I flipped through the publication's pages. On nearly every ad, there were barely dressed models and singers hawking everything from jeans to cologne to themselves.
It's nothing new. Sex sells. And it's the easy way to make money.
Isn't it demeaning for you to be known more for your slutty looks than your singing abilities? I mean, when your self-titled debut album came out in 1990, I was spellbound by your voice and its soaring range. These days, I can hardly listen to you, let alone look at you.
I took your new album "Charmbracelet" for a spin late one night. It took all my effort not to turn it off. I know, I know. "Charmbracelet" is suppose to be your big comeback album, but it doesn't make the grade. It's boring. You've lost something.
Hmm. Do you know you're not actually producing any good music? Maybe so, which could explain why you feel the need to overcompensate by showing some skin to get people to buy your albums.
Who do you think you are? Christina Aguilera?
Ironically, while flipping through the pages of that issue of Vibe, I came across an editorial commentary titled "Naked Ambition," written by Karen R. Good. She takes aim at pop stars like you — the ones who take off their clothes to sell records. Her question is, "Are female artists confusing stripping with empowerment?"
To tell the truth, I believe they — and you — are.
" . . . lately, I'm catching the whiff of desperation," Good writes. "Mariah Carey and her batty-riding period; Lil' Kim trying to keep up with the white girls. Jeez, Louise. Suddenly it's not at all about who you are, what you're saying, or if you're talented. . . .
"When Aretha was queen, I don't remember my mother talking about anything but her voice."
I used to talk about your voice, Mariah. I thought you were one of the best singers of the '90s. But not any more.
Please get dressed. Maybe that will help you make better music.
E-MAIL: scott@desnews.com