Merry Christmas II You is the 2nd Christmas album and 13th studio album by American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released by Island Records on November 2, 2010.[1] The album features four original songs, covers of traditional Christmas songs as well as a re-recorded version of her 1994 massive hit "All I Want For Christmas Is You." The album debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 chart after selling 56,000 copies and reached the top spot on the R&B / Hip-Hop Albums chart, making it the second Christmas album to ever reach number one.[2]
Background[]
In April 2010 Mariah started working on the album. In an interview with RapUp on April 9th of that year, producer Jermaine Dupri stated “The song of the decade crew is back in the lab,” “This [is] the first day of the new sh*t.”[3] On April 10th Carey tweeted "This song is coming out quite nice I must say: ) LYM" thus confirming she was working on a new song.[4] On April 24, Dupri posted a video to his YouTube channel titled "LIVING THE LIFE (IN THE STUDIO WITH MARIAH)" which showcases behind the scenes footage of the pair working on the album.[5][6] On the same date, Photographer David LaChapelle said that he had shot the album artwork with fake snow and wooden cutout reindeers, thus confirming that the project was a Christmas album.[1] On September 20, Carey revealed the release date to be November 2nd.[7] On October 8th she revealed the track-listing.[8]
The following is a list of known dates on which Carey was in the studio:
- April 20, 2010[9]
- April 26, 2010[10]
- April 28, 2010[11]
- May 4, 2010[12][13]
- May 7, 2010[14]
- July 29, 2010[15]
- August 11, 2010[16]
- September 10, 2010[17]
Track listing[]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" (Intro) | J. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie | Mariah Carey, Marc Shaiman | 0:22 |
| 2. | "Oh Santa!" | Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Bryan-Michael Cox | Carey, Dupri, Cox | 3:31 |
| 3. | "O Little Town of Bethlehem / Little Drummer Boy Medley" | Phillips Brooks, Lewis H. Redner, Katherine Davis, Henry Onorati, Harry Simeone | Carey, James "Big Jim" Wright, Randy Jackson | 3:32 |
| 4. | "Christmas Time Is in the Air Again" | Carey, Shaiman | Carey, Shaiman | 3:02 |
| 5. | "The First Noel / Born Is the King" (Interlude) | Traditional | Carey, Wright, Jackson | 4:32 |
| 6. | "When Christmas Comes" | Carey, James Poyser | Carey, Poyser | 4:46 |
| 7. | "Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane) / Housetop Celebration" | Gene Autry, Oakley Haldeman | Carey, Dupri, Cox | 3:29 |
| 8. | "Charlie Brown Christmas" | Vince Guaraldi, Lee Mendelson | Carey, Wright, Jackson | 2:49 |
| 9. | "O Come All Ye Faithful / Hallelujah Chorus" (featuring Patricia Carey) | Traditional, George Frideric Handel | Carey, Wright, Jackson | 3:38 |
| 10. | "O Holy Night" (Live from WPC in South Central Los Angeles) | Traditional | 5:00 | |
| 11. | "One Child" | Carey, Shaiman | Carey, Shaiman | 4:25 |
| 12. | "All I Want for Christmas Is You" (Extra Festive) | Carey, Walter Afanasieff | Carey, Wright, Jackson | 4:02 |
| 13. | "Auld Lang Syne (The New Year's Anthem)" | Robert Burns | Carey, Jackson, Johnny “Sev” Severin | 3:53 |
| Japan Bonus Track | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
| 14. | "Oh Santa!" (Jump Smokers Remix) | Carey, Dupri, Cox | Carey, Dupri, Cox, Jump Smokers (remixers) | 3:53 |
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Wikipedia: Merry Christmas II You
- ↑ The Mariah Network - Merry Christmas II You
- ↑ RapUp — Mariah Carey & Jermaine Dupri are back by Popular Demand!
- ↑ Twitter — April 10, 2010 Tweet
- ↑ YouTube — Living the Life (In the Studio with Mariah)
- ↑ Twitter — MC in the studio with JD
- ↑ Twitter — MCIIYou Release Date & first single announcement
- ↑ Twitter — Oct 8 Merry Christmas II You Tracklist revea!
- ↑ Twitter — April 20, 2010 in studio with Randy Jackson
- ↑ Twitter — April 26, 2010 On my way...
- ↑ Twitter — April 28, 2010 Back in the Studio
- ↑ Twitter — Back in the Studio May 4, 2010
- ↑ Twitter — Really Happy with this new song (May 4, 2010)
- ↑ Twitter — @MariahCarey May 7, 2010
- ↑ Twitter — July 29, 2010 Just finished singing
- ↑ Twitter — Still in the studio Aug 11, 2010
- ↑ Twitter — Sep 10, 2010 @MariahCarey