Mariah Carey Has Been Friends With Jay Z For Over Two Decades, But Are They Still Close?
It’s hard to believe that it’s already been well over two decades since Mariah Carey released her smash hit “Heartbreaker” featuring rapper Jay-Z. While the latter already had three albums out at the time, teaming up with Carey for their collaborative track was ultimately going to benefit both of their careers.
For the mother of two, it was another No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, with sales of over four million copies worldwide, while Jay-Z nabbed himself some crossover appeal outside of the US, subsequently growing his international fanbase thanks to how popular the song had become.
Over the years, Carey, who is worth a reported $500 million, and Jay-Z have remained close friends. In fact, the self-proclaimed elusive chanteuse even shares close ties with the rapper’s wife, Beyonce, who she has often deemed as one of the most talented women she knows in the music industry.
Recently however, Carey’s friendship with Hova was put into question when it was claimed that MC had decided to leave Jay’s Roc Nation management after an intense disagreement concerning the future of her career, but what’s the truth to their supposed feud? Here’s the lowdown…
Mariah And Jay-Z: Friends or Foes?
It’s unclear whether or not Jay and Carey were already close before their collaboration with “Heartbreaker,” but any major industry events that occurred after 1998, the two were always posing beside one another for photos and conversing alongside their mutual friends.
“Heartbreaker” also wasn’t the only time the pair had joined forces to collaborate, having also worked together on the remix version to Carey’s 2007 single “Bye Bye.” The track didn’t fare as well as their previous collab, but it was nice to see that after almost 10 years, these two were still close buddies and enjoyed working together.
Then, in November 2017, it was announced that Carey had signed a deal over at Roc Nation, who would be managing her career moving forward, which many fans considered a wonderful move for the iconic songstress.
After all the drama that came with hiring Stella Bulochnikov, Carey wanted a new team around her right before she would gear up to commence work on her next studio album — and what better way to stage her comeback with a new team appointed by music mogul Jay-Z?
“[Mariah’s] cleaning house. She is getting legitimate people, assistants, a lawyer, and Stella is not happy about it,” a source told Page Six at the time. “Previously, there were all kinds of people involved [in her career] and Mariah didn’t even know those people. She had to distance herself from all that and she’s now cleaning house.”
With the help of Roc Nation;’s management, Carey went on to release her fifteenth studio album Caution in November 2018, which remains one of the highest-rated projects she has ever released.
With the help of Roc Nation, Carey also saw a lot of success with her Christmas song, “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” which first went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2019 — 25 years after its release.
It then went back to No. 1 the following year following an enormous promotional campaign along with an Apple TV+ special, which was said to have earned MC millions in revenue.
On top of that, Roc Nation also helped Carey secure three tours, generating tens of millions in revenue for the R&B superstar — but in June 2021, it was alleged via The Sun that things had turned ugly between Hova and MC following a meeting about the future of Carey’s career.
“She will formally depart in the next few weeks. It is a shame because they had done some great work in the last few years. But this meeting couldn’t have gone much worse,” a source explained.
“Mariah has been talking to other managers and thinks she has found someone who she feels has full belief in her as she takes her next steps. There is a heavily R&B- influenced album being finalised at the moment and she is planning a world tour for next year, so she isn’t letting this stand in her way.”
While she’s not the one to respond to rumours and fabricated reports, Carey took the time out of her day to address claims she has been at war with Jay-Z, which she says couldn’t have been further from the truth.
“The only ‘explosive’ situation I’d ever ‘get into’ with Hov is a creative tangent, such as our #1 song ‘Heartbreaker’!!” she penned alongside a visual clip from the music video. “To the people who make up these lies I say ‘Poof! —Vamoose, sonofa*****’!”
Jay-Z has yet to respond, but according to Mariah, all is well between the two. As for her time with Roc Nation, she stills plans on leaving but denies any drama between herself and her longtime pal.
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