Oh, Manchester, So Much To Answer For

The first single from Mariah Carey's The Emancipation of Mimi, "It's Like That," was an awful mash of Run-D.M.C. lyrics, a messy Jermaine Dupri beat, and a completely irrelevant cameo by the completely irrelevant Fatman Scoop. Fortunately, things have turned around on follow-up single "We Belong Together," which is fairly great. This is a ballad with a beat, something Mariah's sorely needed for years now. It sounds like JD took an old Bone Thugs-N-Harmony beat and recycled it to fine effect, with MC working it until it works. And her lyrical references to Bobby Womack and Babyface - the latter regarding hearing him sing "I only think of you..." on the radio, but Mariah doesn't finish the lyric ("...on two occasions," from the Deele's "Two Occasions," natch), which makes it all the better (proving that she's doing this one for the R&B fans). Welcome back, Mariah. It's about time.