The One (Mariah Carey song)

Infobox Single
Name = The One


Artist = Mariah Carey
from Album = Charmbracelet
Released = December 2002 (U.S.)
Format = Promo CD single, promo 12" single
Recorded =
Genre = Pop, R&B
Length = 3:59
Label = Island
Writer = Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Bryan Michael Cox
Producer = Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri
Certification =
Chart position =
Last single = "Through the Rain"
(2002)
This single = "MC... Move the Crowd"/
"The One"
(2002)
Next single = "Boy (I Need You)"
(2003)Extra tracklisting
Album = Charmbracelet
Type = studio
prev_track = "Boy (I Need You)"
prev_no = 2
this_track = "The One"
track_no = 3
next_track = "Yours"
next_no = 4Extra tracklisting
Album = The Remixes (CD #2)
Type = remix
prev_track = "Miss You"
prev_no = 11
this_track = "The One (So So Def Remix)"
track_no = 12
next_track = "I Know What You Want"
next_no = 13

"The One" is a song written by American singer Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri and Bryan Michael Cox, and produced by Carey and Dupri for Carey's twelfth album, "Charmbracelet" (2002). Its protagonist laments that she may have indeed found "the one" but, out of fear of being hurt, has already promised herself that she wouldn't love again.

Promotion

The song was originally scheduled to be the second single from "Charmbracelet", and promotional CDs had been pressed and released to radio stations in December 2002, with a set impact date of January 13 2003 (see 2003 in music). Initial public reaction to the song was favorable, and Carey approved a treatment from director Joseph Kahn for the single's video. Filming was set to begin in Japan on November 25 2002, and the final scenes of the video would be shot on location in Los Angeles.

Fans mobbed Carey and the film crew on the first day of production, forcing police to shut down filming and issue warnings to Carey, Kahn, and the rest of the crew for creating a nuisance; MTV highlighted the making of the video in a special documentary. Carey's fans in Japan lobbied for a different song to be released as the second single. When the video was being completed in Los Angeles, Carey and her label MonarC decided not to release a slow jam following the failure of the album's first single, "Through the Rain", in the U.S. Though not a ballad like its predecessor, "The One" was abruptly withdrawn and replaced with the uptempo and hip hop-oriented "Boy (I Need You)". All promotion was directed toward the new single, and the footage shot in Japan was edited into a video for "Boy (I Need You)".

Remixes

"The One" was commissioned to various remixers before its release was cancelled, and the remixes created by the duo Widelife leaked onto the internet in January 2003. Morel's Pink Noise remix was released through Carey's official fan club. Although the remixes were commissioned by MonarC, the label never officially released them.

Universal Music Group re-released "Charmbracelet" in 2003 in Asia, and the four new tracks on the re-release included a So So Def remix of "The One" with Bone Crusher as a guest artist. Carey reunited with original producer Jermaine Dupri to rewrite part of the lyrics and re-record her vocals on the remix. Bone Crusher added a rap bridge to the song, and Dupri's vocals are heard throughout the track. Because Carey and Dupri used elements of Guy's "Goodbye Love" for the remix, songwriting credit for it was shared with Teddy Riley, Gene Griffin, Aaron Hall, and Timmy Gatling. A slightly different production of the So So Def remix was included on Carey's thirteenth album, "The Remixes" (2003).