mariah carey's story

Up Out My Face ft. Nicki Minaj

"Up Out My Face" is a song by American singer from her twelfth studio album, (2009). Carey wrote the song with , and , and produced it alongside and . The remix version featuring American rapper was released as a by on February 16, 2010. It was initially intended as the from Carey's now cancelled remix album,.

The song peaked at the bottom position of the US and at number 39 on the chart. The accompanying music video, produced by Carey and husband, , takes place in a store and features Carey and Minaj as Barbie characters. Soon after release it was announced that Angels Advocate was cancelled and so subsequent promotion and releases of the song ceased.

Background

The original version of the song featured no guest vocals and was featured on . The remix version clocks in at 4:27 due to additional verses from Nicki Minaj; however the video version also adds "Up Out My Face (the Reprise)" from Memoirs to the end of the song bringing the new song length to 5:29.

Minaj spoke to about how surprised she was to be asked to work with Carey and admitted that she didn't actually expect to appear in a video with Carey even before she released her debut album. Additionally, the pair entered the studio for a day to record the remix together, the featured vocals were not recorded separately and then simply inserted into the song.

Critical reception

Alison Stewart from the gave the song a somewhat positive review, stating: "Sometime in the past six months, Minaj became the go-to girl for artists who wanted to add some skank to their tracks without sullying themselves in the process. Here, she enlivens an otherwise polite track from Carey's upcoming remix disc". Robbie Daw of hailed the remix of the song calling it a standout of then to be released Angels Advocate which was the remix album of Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel but has been suspended due to the underwhelming performance of the album. He added: "More Mimi has leaked, this time in the form of the re-swizzed "Up Out My Face" from her forthcoming Angel's Advocate remix album. Twenty-five-year-old rapper Nicky Minaj [sic] lends some spunky rhymes to the cut, such as, "Mariah, I was in the million dollar meetin's, he was cheatin'/ All up in the church he was sneakin' with the deacon."" Daw also compared the song to Carey's 2005 hit , "Overall "Face" rings a little too similar to Mariah's winter 2005 smash "Don't Forget About Us," which itself copped from her mega-hit from earlier that year, "We Belong Together." But still, if Mimi's going to mine from her own extensive back catalog of ballads, those are the primo melodies to go for."

Anna Pickard of hailed the unusual hooky way Mariah looked in the song while reviewing the music video. Pickard added: " It is important to remember that is not the Mariah we know. The last time we had dealings with the Mariah we know in this column, she was poncing about with a unicorn." She continued "And now Mariah's back. Not boring belting ballady Mariah, either; the other, much more fun one. That's why we're so pleased to announce that this video, and everything in it, are brought to you by the letters W, T and F, and by the colour red."

Music video

A music video was shot in December 2009, along with the video for "" featuring . Both videos were co-directed by Carey and her husband Nick Cannon. They premiered together on on January 27, 2010. Cannon makes a cameo in the video in a reference to his 2002 film, .

The video features Carey and Minaj as several different characters. In one scene, they are dressed as Barbie dolls who escape their boxes. In another scene they are dressed as nurses. Another finds them in a nail salon. There are also several scenes of the two attending a shopping store wearing large dresses. Minaj said that Carey said, "Everybody's gonna say 'she's doing Nicki.' But I told her, she's always had a doll persona, like all that 'doll baby' [stuff]. So it goes perfect with Barbie and we had fun. That's all that matters."

In a review of the video, Chris Ryan of said, "No offense to the imperfect angel or anything, but Nicki kinda steals the show here, dressed up like Nurse Barbie, referencing ' "" in a British accent, she basically pops balloons all over this thing." Shaheem Reid of MTV said that "the two bust out and have a good time changing outfits and playing with men," and that "The doll angle plays perfectly with Nicki's "black Barbie" personality." The video also features an appearance by TV personality .